Hello Everyone –
For the second week in a row this space that I take up with my thoughts on the ski industry in the southeast region is going to be lacking that type of information. As cold weather returns to the region and all of the resort’s snowmakers work around the clock to cover the slopes for the upcoming holiday onslaught, I can’t stop thinking about the senseless act of an evil coward in Newtown, CT. To be honest it’s been tough for me to concentrate on anything but my family right now.
Actually I do know of a number of folks that hit the slopes of Snowshoe Mountain Resort over the weekend to get away from everything. I only wished I could’ve joined them, but I believe I probably wouldn’t have been very good company as I look over at my eight-year old boy watching NFL football as innocent as could be. He is my baby and he is still with me while 20 families in Newtown are mourning the loss of their babies. I don’t know about you but I haven’t come up with any reason why and that really is disturbing me this time around. I only wish this is the last time I have this feeling, but you and I know that isn’t going to be the case.
I was all set this week to talk about how everyone still needed to be patient and as soon as the weather turned colder it was going to amazing to watch the transformation of all the resorts in the region for the holiday skiers and snowboarders headed to the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. That’s still going to happen but without much in-depth analysis from yours truly. Folks it just isn’t in me this week.
I have been in the news/public relations business since 1975 and I will never understand the need to be first without first being factual. Let the facts speak for themselves and not worry about if the other guy is reporting something different on not. People want correct information and if you are providing the most factual product they will find you, you won’t have to find them.
That does get me to a bit of snow industry conversation this week. You see I was reading Mike Doble’s column on Saturday and he made mention that a resort was reporting packed powder surface. Mike called a spade a spade on that one as there is no way on God’s white earth there could be packed powder out there right now. I have said in the past and I am sticking to my story that to have powder or even packed powder Mother Nature has to be involved and that unfortunately hasn’t been the case.
That takes me back to the point I made in an above paragraph, skiers and snowboarders are going to find the resorts that are reporting current conditions correctly. They are also going to ski or snowboard at the resorts that are reporting current conditions correctly. So I ask, are you listening, sure hope you are because there are folks out there that will take you to task and skiers and snowboarders will learn quickly who to trust or not to trust.
Again the holiday season is just around the corner and here’s hoping that you have some great plans to spend time with your family, hopefully on some of the many slopes that will be covered with some fresh man-made snow and maybe even some natural stuff (and then we will have packed powder conditions out there). But as you make those plans please keep in your prayers the 26 families in Newtown that had their holiday dreams and plans scattered by an evil coward. Thanks again for hanging in there with me again this week as I digressed from my normal thought process and that’s Snow News is Good News.
That’s it for this week, more to come as the season continues, just remember whether it be cold or whether it be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather will be. Think about it! See you on the slopes and enjoy the holidays, you deserve it!
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Joe Stevens, a member of the southeast ski industry since 1990 is a regular columnist for skisoutheast.com and serves as the Communications Director for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association.