After a whopping 729 days without snow in Washington, D.C., 2024 brought a wintery gift to snow lovers in our area.
The District has been celebrating closed schools and shuttered federal offices with gusto: Early Tuesday morning, members of the Washington D.C. Snowball Fight Association gathered for a snowball fight on the National Mall.
Clad in colorful coats, hats and gloves, dodging and weaving and yelling war cries into the soft white haze near the Capitol, the crew of fighters was small but mighty when the fight began around 8:30 a.m.
"You stay successful by continuously giving yourself ammunition," said Michael Lipin, one of the association's founding members. "And just, you know, you've gotta have targets."
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It may sound like a solid game plan, but as Lipin found out in the middle of an interview with News4, anything goes on the battlefield once the snow starts flying.
Lipin was in the middle of explaining how the association began in February of 2010, when more than 2,000 people showed up to Dupont Circle for a fight -- when he was hit squarely above the left eye by a snowball.
"Apparently people don't get tired of making these things and chucking them at strangers," Lipin laughed.
And the enthusiasm showed.
"This is what life is all about, here," said one woman participating in the snowball fight. "Being with people, making new friends, having fun with people we don't even know."
"It's the coolest thing in the world," said another participant.
When can I join the next D.C. snowball fight?
The D.C. Snowball Fight Association holds snowball fights every time it snows.
"If it's only a couple inches, we'll probably come [to the National Mall] because the snow's nice and spread out on the grass, and there's a lot of material to work with," Lipin said.
"If it's really big, we might go back to Dupont Circle Park where it all started."
Sledding on Capitol Hill and around D.C.
D.C. congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton reminded residents around the District that sledding is allowed for all ages on Capitol Hill.
"As schools + federal gov offices close due to a rare DC snowfall, I reminded DC residents that my provision allows sledding on Capitol Hill," Norton said in a statement on social media. "It’s the least we can do for DC residents who continue to be denied voting representation in Congress."
Capitol Police confirmed that sledding is allowed. Norton noted the West Front of the Capitol as "one of the best hills in the city" in a statement on her website.
Other popular sledding destinations include:
- Shepherd Elementary Field, found behind the elementary school, has a relatively steep hill that families visit when it snows. Head to Jonquil St. NW and Kalmia Rd. NW between 14th Street and 16th Street.
- Fessenden St. NW and Belt Rd. NW, near Alice Deal Middle School, also has a large hill that families head to for sledding.
- The steps at Malcolm X Park, also known as Meridian Hill Park, make for excellent sledding if the District sees enough snow -- but that may mean waiting until the next big snowstorm.
- Battery Kemble Park. According to a column by WTOP's Mike McMearty, the park includes both "a kid's hill" where children can go with their families for a safer, more conventional sledding experience, and a larger "iconic" hill with "numerous built-in risks: moguls, a tree in the middle of the hill, and a dangerous jump at the bottom." Proceed with caution.
