Turtlenecks and Sweaters

Red spandex, red ski boots, gnarly mustache, tacky red Christmas sweater, and greased back hair, that was the scene last night of what I would have to say is one of the greatest parties I will probably ever attend, until next year of course when I come back for an even bigger and better bash. I attended the 4th annual Windigo Turtleneck and Sweater Party at the La Jolla Brew House. If you want to see people who are passionate about their Christmas sweaters and everything that’s tacky about the holiday these guys bring it and they bring it hard.

It was a thrill for me to surprise Teddy and Kristy (my Boise, ID hosts and two of my best friends) here in San Diego. They had been begging me for weeks to show up at this party. Well, I wanted to surprise them. Being this close I wasn’t going to miss it for the life of me, especially after how much I’ve heard about the Hicks brothers. The brother’s consist of Teddy and his twin brother Hooter (or Squan) who are 22, Pug (27), and Dayton (30). They welcome Kristy as a part of the group, and there is also Tammy, Pug’s wife. And then there is “hometown invasion guy,” that would be me.

The party brought in a couple hundred people that only pictures could describe, and believe me, there are a lot of those, about 270 photos from the night. Until last night I have never seen a dance off of people dressed in the most ridiculous, tackiest Christmas outfits that you can find.

The four brothers are some of the most real people I’ve ever met. The way they support each other is phenomenal. They are the coolest, most fun loving, gnarly, funniest people I’ve met on the trip (and alcohol free, people often see photos like the ones I’m going to post and assume they’re drunk, but they’re just crazier than anyone you have ever met in a gnarly cool way). Honestly, I don’t know how to sum these guys up. We closed out the brew house and car pooled over for some late night pizza, and didn’t get back to Squan’s until super late. I got to bed between 4 and 5 a.m. In Squan’s tiny apartment there must have been over a dozen people, two ladies and about ten or more guys. The house was a mess with people in every corner, one huge slumber party of 20-year olds. I reached another big first of the trip, something there’s a good chance I won’t do again on the trip, and that’s sleeping on the kitchen floor, but I did have a little mattress, sleeping bag, and pillow. That’s honestly all I can say, I’ll let the photos speak for everything else.

***Here is one cool side note. This world is a small place. Out of all places, at a sweater party in San Diego, while on a 50 state tour of the U.S. I met Action Rod, who I snowboarded with at least six years ago back at Mont Ripley. At the time I was probably only 17 and looking up to all the older college riders. Well one day when I was practicing 540s I stomped one and this dude (who I was watching all day ‘cuz he could tear it up) said, “Dude, that was sick, come ride with us.” So how does something like this work? He is a friend with the Hicks brothers who used to run a skate/snowboard shop back in Houghton. That’s how I originally got connected with Teddy. Well I didn’t even think about how all these guys I knew from Houghton would have snowboarded with the brothers back in Houghton long before I ever knew them. And I was in their skate shop years ago and now I’m out crashing with them for a couple nights in San Diego many years later. I could not believe it. Gnarly.