Skida: Warm, Comfy and Charitable

It was midnight when I rolled into the Jackson Gore Inn for Okemo's Media Weekend. Tired and wanting to get sleep for the morning runs, I took the goody bag and placed it on the table in the suite before turning around headed to bed.

Then I stopped.

“Whoa, what's that?" I asked myself after spying the light-fabric hat with the blue, black and white design tucked into the bag. "This is cool."

The Skida Nordic hat, a lightweight, form-fitting lid caught my eye. It only took an afternoon ride down the Timber Ripper mountain coaster to prove its warmth and functionality (it can also be worn as a helmet liner). And, it’s fashionable ("You have one of those?" the attendant said.).

Skida began in 2007, when Vermont skier Corinne Prevot picked up what she calls "some fun fabric" and started making hats for her Burke Mountain Academy teammates and some friends.

Prevot said that the demand for the colorful hats grew, as did the variety of prints. New products (like bandanas) soon joined the line, she said.

Prevot graduated from Burke in 2009, and is currently attending Middlebury College. She still owns and operates Skida from Vermont and "on the road."

The unlined Nordic hat retails for $30 and the lined Alpine hat goes for $36 and comes in a variety of patterns.

Ordering can also benefit cancer patients when ordering through the Skida - Plus One program. For every order placed with a special promotional code, Skida donates a hat to a selected cancer center.

By the way, I have received about seven compliments on the hat in two weeks.