2015 snowball fight, Winter Wonderland: a shot as things start to wind-down after 90 minutes of mayhem! (Flickr) – click any image for full size

The Challenge was met with gusto: the first residents / Lab snowball fight in a fair while saw the Snowball Warzone at Winter Wonderland packed to the gills even before the event was due to start, with more than fifty people packed into it with 20 minutes still to go before launch.

By the time I arrived, there was a fair queue at the weapons vendors; such was the demand that the poor things were conking out under the strain. Enter Vitae Linden, with virtual hammer (well, as the Royal Engineers apparently say, “if it looks complicated, you’ll need a bigger hammer”), and a few swift blows / kicks and we we running up the hill to get started on the fun.

2015 snowball fight, Winter Wonderland: after a skilled use of mis-direction, Guy Linden makes a run past Ziki Questi and Sniper Siemens! (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Once everyone was suitably armed, the strategy for the game quickly became apparent: every avatar for themselves!

While attempts were made to stalk Lindens (and vice-versa), there were simply too many targets of opportunity – friends, acquaintances, names of note (I’m pretty sure Gibson got me around a dozen or more times!) – and mayhem quickly ensued (sorry, Ziki – that was me who got you under the arch of the snow castle. And up on the parapet. Twice 🙂 ).

The Lindens did, in all honesty, seem to be outnumbered just a little bit. Fortunately Xiola, Keira, Vitae, Dan and Guy (who was bravely throwing snowballs rather than relying on any high-tech gizmos) were soon reinforced by Shaman, Torley, Pete, Dee, April, Kelly, members of the Governance Team, and probably others I’ve missed.

2015 snowball fight, Winter Wonderland: Strawberry Singh swings into action, demonstrating her skill with a snowball rifle in a one-handed, from-the-hip snap shot at a moving target! (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Within around 15 minutes of things really getting underway, numbers seemed to have swelled considerably, which slowed the rate of fire with weapons and tended to make everyone impersonate Steve Austin / Jamie Sommers when running, but the fun continued unabated, and not even the vendors continuing to hiccup could dampen enthusiasm.

Some certainly appeared to be enjoying the opportunity to wreak a little havoc, as I (and several others) recovered from a tiny hail of snowballs which pelted us into the air, I spied a tiny Dee Linden sprinting by, accompanied by a little voice raised in triumph:

[10:50] Dee Linden shouts: MINE MINE MINE!

There was vengeance to be had elsewhere, however, as Torley found out, in the midst of a hail of snowballs:

[10:51] Clockwork Puppet (Fenix Eldritch) shouts: I think my trigger is stuck 😀

[10:51] ƬσяƖєу (Torley Linden) shouts: That was intentional <.<

It couldn’t last, however, and shortly thereafter came the forlorn cry:

[10:54] Uccie Galway (Uccello Poultry) shouts: CLOCKWORK DOWN!

All told, a lot of fun was had. What’s more, now we have the Winter Wonderland, there’s no excuse for more fun like this is the future – is there? Even if some of us did have to pause half-way through for a bit of a sit-down to catch our breath :).

2015 snowball fight, Winter Wonderland: Ed Merryman and I decide we’re just getting too darned *old* for all this running around mullarky, and needed a bit of a sit-down! (Flickr) – click any image for full size

If you were at the snowball fight, and you grabbed some pictures, remember you can share them on the official Second Life Flickr group.