By Tim Seniff
Negativity, haters, imitators? You may not like the sticker and I know it is OK for Mad River Glen to be a segregated mountain and that fact is accepted by all around the world. But, tell me, is it OK for Mad River Glen to sell T-shirts with a snowboarder with a gun sight on it and selling these T-shirts when a congresswoman from Arizona was shot? Of course it is and Mad River Glen can do no wrong.
So maybe, Val, you need to see the other side of the segregated coin. Or how about all the negative comments about boarders over the years at Mad River Glen at the board meetings (haven't been to one since the beginning of the co-op) at election time (Mad River Glen board members) and at the bar and even when the Mad River Glen staff comes to an all-inclusive mountain and still I heard negative comments about boarders?
So, for some of us who have the guts to speak out in public, I will again get black listed and be thought of as not understanding and let's not forget jerk or something stronger. I was one of the first 100-plus to show faith in this co-op idea and sink money into this fantasy of a mountain that could be affordable to most everyone.
I was also one of the 30 percent (way back when) that wanted to allow snowboarding, and imagine the kind of crap we received from the majority; that's right, majority rules. If Mad River Glen would allow snowboarding, I can be pretty sure there would be a flurry in the beginning but would fade since most snowboarders do not like the bumps. But the ones that can do the woods and do do the bumps would hit the bumps like a tele-skier.
I have done years of study on this subject, in other words a lot of watching, so when I see a tele-skier being followed by a snowboarder and they are taking the same line. It makes me wonder, why are tele-skiers allowed at Mad River Glen? I suck as a skier and took a lot of snow off Mad River Glen when I learned to ski there, but I think the alpine line and tele-lines are different. But remember I suck as a skier, so what do I know?
So ,Val, I think you should get other sides of the story before you go to press, and I suppose back of the bus, separate bathrooms, water fountains and not being served in restaurants and hotels was OK with you back in the old days – you know, separate but equal. That is if you're old enough to remember those days. I don't ski Mad River Glen much anymore because I ski with a lot of boarders, so where do I go?
Also, tell me which is more hateful? A T-shirt with a gun sight on a snowboarder or a bumper sticker that says I don't care that you ski Mad River. Get back to me, Val.
Also, Val, you're making me want to sell my share in Mad River Glen and I love the place but not that segregationist attitude. So please keep making those excuses or strap on a board and see what the fuss is about.
Tim Seniff lives in Warren.
