Mad River Glen's "Ski it if you can" - How do you interpret?

Cannonball

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“ciscokid”>Is Deer Valley still boarderless? Who besides MRG?</blockquote>

Deer Valley, MRG, Alta.

As far as “older” snowboarders go:   My wife and I are both 48 and snowboard.  

As far as nothing being marketed towards older snowboarders I disagree. There is plenty of “young obnoxious” stuff in both snowboarding and skiing.  But there is also plenty of stuff that’s plenty appealing for someone my age. Brands like Arbor, Never Summer, Jones, etc are making  boards that have either very subdued or very beautiful graphics.  

As far as Burton not even responding.  Yes, Burton probably has the worst customer service of anyone in any industry.

As far as the “obnoxiousness” thing goes: There’s plenty of that to go around in all sports.  But for snowboarding I feel like it generally all stemmed from snowboarding have a cross-over culture with skateboarding.  Which is why parks became a thing concurrent with snowboarding becoming popular.  Meanwhile there was a completely separate branch of snowboarding taking off that was all about powder and not about the park.  30 years later and you still find plenty of obnoxious boarders and skiers in the parks, while the other branch of snowboarders is having too much fun in the woods to bother anyone.

As far as the MRG snowboarding ban goes, it’s a very effective niche-marketing technique.  They don’t have the resources to go head to head with their neighboring ski areas.  So instead they offer a unique experience.  It’s smart and it works. 

lotsoskiing

Snowboarding is losing to twin-tipped skis. You can do all the tricks and hit the park in style without being tied to a plank.

One thing that bothers me about snowboards is the fact that half the time they are not looking the way they are turning/facing (heelside turn). Always struck me as unsafe.

That being said, I have respect for those who are good snowboarders- watching some of the long-time riders shred Rumble is pretty impressive…

rickbolger

meh to “ski it if you can” - i am probably a better snowboarder than most skiers I see   :)   they can keep their ski area for themselves - I don’t like to deal with snobby skiers anyway   :)

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Curious about the split board – as a skier (and former snurfer)  I hope you take on the appropriately snobby attitude when you split it!   ;)  :D ;) ;)

lotsoskiing

MRG snobby? Huh? Pretty much as far from that as you can get, but anyway. Crunchy, throwback, old-school, eure, but snobby is a stretch.

Cannonball

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>MRG snobby? Huh? Pretty much as far from that as you can get, but anyway. Crunchy, throwback, old-school, eure, but snobby is a stretch.</blockquote>

Mmmmmm, not so much.  MRG reminds me of many parts of CO and CA.  Lot’s of intense Type-A Northeasterners trying to convince you how crunchy, throwback, old-school, laid-back they are.  The facade is pretty thin and cracks easily. 

lotsoskiing

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“Cannonball”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>MRG snobby? Huh? Pretty much as far from that as you can get, but anyway. Crunchy, throwback, old-school, eure, but snobby is a stretch.</blockquote>

Maybe, but hardly snobby… pretentious, sure, but hardly snobby.

Cannonball

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“Cannonball”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>MRG snobby? Huh? Pretty much as far from that as you can get, but anyway. Crunchy, throwback, old-school, eure, but snobby is a stretch.</blockquote>

Maybe, but hardly snobby… pretentious, sure, but hardly snobby.</blockquote>

Well played sir, well played.  

lotsoskiing

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“Cannonball”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“Cannonball”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>MRG snobby? Huh? Pretty much as far from that as you can get, but anyway. Crunchy, throwback, old-school, eure, but snobby is a stretch.</blockquote>

Maybe, but hardly snobby… pretentious, sure, but hardly snobby.</blockquote>

Well played sir, well played.  </blockquote>

Why, thank you! Need to get shut eye…tomorrow will be another keeper- bluebird skies and mid-winter snow. Yummy

trackbiker

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>Snowboarding is losing to twin-tipped skis. You can do all the tricks and hit the park in style without being tied to a plank.

I agree. I’ve heard of a lot of snowboarders switching to skis. They see the skiers in the park doing better tricks, getting higher out of the half-pipe and on the jumps, and they say, “Hey. I think I’ll try switching to skis.”Let’s face it. Skis just do everything better. No snowboarder is going to beat a skier down a slalom, GS, downhill course, or a mogul run. Four edges are better than two.

One thing that bothers me about snowboards is the fact that half the time they are not looking the way they are turning/facing (heelside turn). Always struck me as unsafe.

This bothers me too when I’m passing a boarder who has his back to me.

That being said, I have respect for those who are good snowboarders- watching some of the long-time riders shred Rumble is pretty impressive…Agree. I hate seeing boarders slide down a steep slope with the board 90 degrees to the slope scraping off all the snow. I do admire boarders who can carve.

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bmwskier

So far, the most rude people I have had to deal with don’t fall into a specific category of snowboarder or of skier. I deal a lot with the public as I try to ride the chair with skiers rather than patrollers (I see my job as an ambassador and also try my damnedest to stop people from taking selfies by skiing over and offering to take their photo for them) and I meet a lot, a LOT of very nice people who love to ski. 

Who I do see are rude are in the lodge, where I really can’t do anything about it as there’s a staff to deal with that.  I don’t envy their jobs. 

Those who insist on reserving a table for the entire day when everyone is out skiing and they keep a place holder there for the table, or those who are anal explosive and scatter their gear, clothing and such all over the place, or those who permit their kids to scream and yell inside I consider to be rude. Also, those who are too lazy to pick up their skis in front of the lodge and put them on the rack and get them out of the travelway. I was hauling a toboggan in on Saturday and I had to maneuver with a full sled around all of the skis just left on the ground while other people tried to walk around them as well. Not cool. I might add that there were only skis on the ground, not snowboards. 

bmwskier

I just saw a bumper sticker in Waterbury that said “No one cares if you ski Mad River Glen” 

mtsnow123

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“bmwskier”>I just saw a bumper sticker in Waterbury that said “No one cares if you ski Mad River Glen” </blockquote>

Yes, seen them many, many times around Burlington.

lotsoskiing

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“mtsnow123”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“bmwskier”>I just saw a bumper sticker in Waterbury that said “No one cares if you ski Mad River Glen” </blockquote>

Yes, seen them many, many times around Burlington.</blockquote>

Saw one the other day in the Mt Ellen lot, sticker in the typical red and white layout: “You Ski Mad, We Ride Happy”

bmwskier

The one thing that I have seen go away in the past few years at Mad River was the annual Telemark Festival. I started going in the early 90’s and it was a great time to get together with other telemarkers for classes, exploration and some good times. We had it one year at Sugarbush, the awards at the end were fun and the keg of Catamount Beer (oh, how we miss you) was well worth the trip from Buffalo and sleeping at the rest area on route 100. 

Haven’t gone to the last ones– any one have any ideas why it had it’s end? 

JimK

Ski it if you can is one of the great calls to action in skidom. Like several have said, I think it’s a challenge thing first, but once you’ve been there and seen the friendly and historic side of MRG it becomes the second interpretation. At this point I really dislike the boarder prohibition at MRG, DV and Alta. It seems childish, archaic, and beneath the level of fairmindedness a sensible adult should exhibit. Get over it, snowboarding’s just one of numerous accepted ways to get down the mountain. If the theory is correct that boarder numbers are declining, then the concern of them overrunning or changing the character of a place like MRG should be even less than before. I don’t believe lifting the ban at Taos has changed the character or quality of that mountain.<p class=“MsoPlainText”></p>

lotsoskiing

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“JimK”>Ski it if you can is one of the great calls to action in skidom. Like several have said, I think it’s a challenge thing first, but once you’ve been there and seen the friendly and historic side of MRG it becomes the second interpretation. At this point I really dislike the boarder prohibition at MRG, DV and Alta. It seems childish, archaic, and beneath the level of fairmindedness a sensible adult should exhibit. Get over it, snowboarding’s just one of numerous accepted ways to get down the mountain. If the theory is correct that boarder numbers are declining, then the concern of them overrunning or changing the character of a place like MRG should be even less than before. I don’t believe lifting the ban at Taos has changed the character or quality of that mountain.<p class=“MsoPlainText”></p></blockquote>

Yes, it has its roots in the spat with Betsey P years ago, but now it will take shift in shareholder sensibilities to change policy. Curious if it has been brought up for a vote at the latest SH meetings, and if so, what the result was. My guess is opinions might be moving toward the “get over it” side, but could also be more entrenched in the ban.

Many golf courses require you use a cart and prohibit walking, as well as playing “speed golf”. Seems similar to the snowboard ban. 

I know about a dozen MRG shareholders and none supports allowing snowboarders. Not exactly a representative sample, but anyway…

bmwskier

I’m sure a big part of the decision making process to allow snowboarders asks the question “How would it benefit the area?” “How much of a revenue stream will it bring in and how much would we lose by doing it?”

They’ve got a niche marketing strategy that works for them. They’re a member owned coop that makes decisions collectively. I don’t like some of the decisions my local food coop makes so I shop somewhere else to show my displeasure when it involves a product and I let the leadership know as well. If MRG shareholders want to go snowboard friendly or not, it’s their decision. Heck, they even turned away Governor Dean when he showed up with a board. 

rickbolger

It seems childish, archaic, and beneath the level of fairmindedness a sensible adult should exhibit. Get over it,  snowboarding’s just one of numerous accepted ways to get down the mountain

</blockquote>

My bowling alley won’t let me wear tap shoes on the lane. They say it affects their product and their regular clientele will be bothered by it. Is that childish?

teighs

Sugarloaf is right, last few years Ski it if You Can means if there’s snow.  MRG snow report 12/19/15

Skizix

Mad River Glen - “Ski It When You Can’t Ski Hickory”

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