CALGARY -- He may have died in August 1977, but there were still a fistful of Elvises skiing the slopes at Sunshine Village on Wednesday, which happened to be the date Elvis was born in 1935.
Staff at the ski resort west of Calgary started celebrating The King’s birthday a handful of years ago by offering free lift tickets to anyone who came dressed as Elvis.
Felix Arnone from Canmore and couldn’t pass up the chance to ski for free while wearing sequins.
"I’m a big fan of Halloween. I wish Halloween could be celebrated more than one day a year, so any opportunity to dress up and dive into the Tickle Trunk, I jump on it," Arnone said.
"When I heard it was Elvis Day, I thought aw perfect, I got just everything I need.”
Micah Skelton was at the hill a year ago with his wife and two children for Elvis day. This year their kids stayed home, while Skelton and his wife were challenged to find the right outfit for him to wear.
"We went to the costume shop and we weren’t happy with that," Skelton said. "Then we hit up the old Value Village and were up to midnight last night, gluing all these little sequins on, We found a bag of them at Michaels."
George Kay, with Sunshine Village, dressed up for the one-day event with his name tag reading The King and he was only one of many skiing Elvises spied on the slopes Wednesday.
"At last count it was at least 15," Kay said. "We get great response from it. It’s fabulous. Everybody comes and has a good time and the tourists that come want pictures. It just works out great for us."
The next opportunity to dress up at Sunshine Village is on Jan. 25 on Robbie Burns Day, where if you wear a kilt you get a free lift ticket. No poems necessary.
