At 71 years old, Dr. Norman Beisaw has been accumulating grandchildren for some time now. He has six between the ages of 12 and 20. Since long before they were born, their parents have unfailingly repeated a family holiday tradition of spending Christmas week at Sugarloaf in western Maine.
Which means, says Beisaw, who lives with his wife, Nancy, in Shrewsbury, that not one of the grandchildren has ever known a Christmas season without skiing, boarding, sledding, skating, feasting, pageantry, and plain old kick-back-with-the-family time at Sugarloaf.
Oh, and the magic show put on by Abnormal Norman the Magician, a.k.a. Beisaw, who has been known to break out the harmonica if the tricks aren't going over so well.
"I try to start practicing new tricks around the first of December," he said. "I try to practice, but it doesn't always happen."
Like most family traditions, this one began simply enough in 1975 when Beisaw and his wife returned to the sport and a mountain that was so important during their courting years in the early '50s.
Their story is familiar: After college came medical school, career, kids, houses, so skiing was put on hold. Their return, which continued to grow with the family each year, became one of their staples.
For the Beisaws, and all Ski Country celebrants, this Christmas in the mountains may be a bit merrier. All of the resorts have had plenty of natural snowfall and cold weather to stockpile man-made cover. Long-range forecasts seem to be agreeable at this point, and the Christmas season is ready to go full swing.
Though their tradition is not as old as the Beisaws', for Kari Arienti, her husband, and 11-year-old son, Christmas week at Butternut Basin is just as important a staple.
After making the 2 1/2-hour drive from their New Jersey home, the next week they will spend skiing Butternut, spending the most cherished family time of the year in the Berkshires.
"It's just so nice and peaceful getting back to the mountains after all the holiday shopping and stuff," said Arienti. "It's just a time for family and friends. And that's what's most important."
If Christmas revelers are looking forward to some peace and joy in the mountains this year, the ski areas themselves are delirious about the conditions.
"It's like we were writing the script ourselves," said Steve Wright, vice president of sales and marketing at Jay Peak in northern Vermont. "Last year, we had eight trails open at this time and the tram wasn't working. This year, we have all 76 trails open - along with the glades - and the tram's been operating for a month."
Though Jay averages the greatest natural snowfall among New England ski areas, last Christmas season, Wright says, was grim. The number of skiers and riders reflected those conditions. Though he is reluctant to divulge raw numbers, this year the entire resort is booked for the holidays with reservations and ticket-buyers up 400 percent over last season. In fact, Jay had to double its reservations staff to meet the demand.
"I've been in the business for 12 years," said Wright, "but I've never seen a December like this one."
And further good news: Though the forecasts call for some mixed precipitation, Christmas week could be near perfect - slightly overcast and in the 30s.
But to many who have forged a tradition of Christmas in the mountains, snowy years are better, but the lean years don't keep them away.
"There have been some years, back in the '70s," Beisaw said, "when there was no snow anywhere, not even in the woods, so that we couldn't cross-country ski. But even when the snow isn't that good, it's a great and important family time. This is the highlight of the year for all of us, which is why none of us has ever missed a year."
By day, tastes vary in the Beisaw family, and activities range from Alpine skiing and boarding to cross-country skiing, after-hours sledding, and hockey. But at night, as they gather for dinner, each member of the family is assigned a night to prepare his or her own gastronomic specialty. The family has grown so large, eating out as a group just doesn't work too well.
Another assignment comes New Year's Eve, when they decorate one of the downstairs rec rooms for the talent show, with everyone contributing an act of dancing, singing, or playing instruments. At some point, Abnormal Norman steps up to perform his latest round of magic tricks.
"We call it the Sugarloaf Nightclub," said Beisaw. "It started as a small thing with the grandchildren - toddlers and young children would find a way to entertain us. Well, it kept growing as the family grew, and now the show goes on for an hour or more, with oldest grandson Michael acting as emcee and everyone performing an act. Now, it's gotten so that someone has to be the lights man and someone is the audio man. Very big deal."
Before he went to Bowdoin, then off to medical school, Beisaw, who grew up in Franklin County, was already skiing in these mountains. But the family's reentry in skiing began at Ward Hill, a small, historic ski area in Shrewsbury where locals learn and practice for trips to the bigger mountains. It was the beginning of a sport that would hold the family together through generations.
And there's no way, at this point, that Beisaw, nor any in his clan, would miss the annual holiday ski trip to the mountains.
"At 71 years old," he said, "I'm just beginning to realize that family and education - that's where it's at. Family has sustained me through the ups and downs, and education has given me the opportunities we enjoy today. It's very fundamental to us."
