Beware of Northeast Skiology

[WM78]

I found Matt and the page several years ago when Vail bought Stowe and it became near impossible to find out about local conditions and weather. Despite riding for 20 plus years, I had never really heard the term back end snow (even though I had experienced it). I found the page to be invaluable and when Matt asked for volunteers for moderator, I immediately signed in the first group. Contrary to popular belief, even though Matt has always been transparent about the fact that we have a team of people who discuss what our policies are, people seem to think that he's some sort of tyrant lord and ruler. I actually am the toughest mod, I reject a ton of posts. Initially Matt wanted to shield us from the childish retaliation he suffers so we didn't have Mod badges, but we've always been there. And also, we are a mix of political opinions.
Yes, we delete comments and block people who are repeat offenders, or trolls. The amount of adults who throw a tantrum like toddlers when they have a comment deleted is frankly embarrassing. They throw around things like "free speech" when they clearly have no actual understanding of our constitutional rights - that means yes, you can say things and then yes, we can delete them. Matt has even deleted a few of my comments over the years, and somehow I manage not to take it personally, because I'm a mature adult who doesn't need constant validation. The problem with online forums is that tone is up to the interpreter, and the people who complain about Matt always thinking he is right are only upset because he disagrees with them because, apparently, they also always have to be right.
So those who disagree with Matt and the page are free to not follow, or scroll past the posts that they dislike. It's distressing that they feel like they have to have a voice to bitch and moan, but I guess that's where we are in the world right now. It's terrifying that he posts detailed weather and encourages crowd sourced conditions, and has the gall to occasionally mention a global pandemic that has killed countless people. It least it seems that way to some people.
And to the OP - if you don't think it's a big deal to belong to a stalker group that threatens violence, I suggest you try to have some empathy and think what it might be like to have that sort of vitriol aimed at you.
For those of you who appreciate then page and the work that we all put into it, thank you. I hope it's focus makes it stand out from generic ski pages, and that focus benefits your skiing and riding experiences this season.

 

[ThatGuy]

Hes sending his minions now

 

[deadheadskier]

The problem on Facebook is extreme, my DMs would show that. The problem lies in me being both a content producer as well as the admin, but I take heat for every action a moderator takes if it upsets someone. COVID and political strife has been a bit challenging, just ask school board members. I am merely trying to hold things together, but people will walk all over you if you give them an inch. It wasn't always that way. You don't see that bad stuff by design because it would scare people away. It's a handful of people, 90% of them from one extreme. Can I be better about my approach? Absolutely. I keep trying to figure out what might work best, but I'll never make everyone happy.

A little humility Can go a long way and accepting that some of your members have been skiing their home mountains longer than you have been alive and might know a little bit more about their operation than you do. Or the sport in general

 

[icecoast1]

Hes sending his minions now

Minions or the same guy posting from multiple accounts?

 

[VTKilarney]

I have no iron in this fire SkiologyMatt, but as a Vermont resident I do have a question. Did you travel to Vermont during the Covid Emergency Order and avoid the quarantine requirement as an essential worker? If so, was the basis for being an essential worker your moderation and administration of the Skiology Facebook group - or was it something else?

And if you did this based on your Facebook credentials, don't you think that you fairly subjected yourself to criticism?

 

[SkiologyMatt]

I have no iron in this fire SkiologyMatt, but as a Vermont resident I do have a question. Did you travel to Vermont during the Covid Emergency Order and avoid the quarantine requirement as an essential worker? If so, was the basis for being an essential worker your moderation and administration of the Skiology Facebook group - or was it something else?

And if you did this based on your Facebook credentials, don't you think that you fairly subjected yourself to criticism?

It's a lie. Stalkers have been claiming that I was violating travel restrictions since I was delivering face shields to hospitals at the start of the pandemic. The people who lead this effort were violating travel restrictions themselves and are not in fact in favor of them existing. You've been duped. Believe what you want though, I can't stop you.

 

[snoseek]

There's good content if you sift through the typical fb trash. I don't comment too much but do read. Most of the comment sections are shit as to be expected from social media. Some of the discussions are asking for that. The hate for any Vail properties is kinda overkill and that's coming from a total Vail sucks believer

 

[VTKilarney]

It's a lie. Stalkers have been claiming that I was violating travel restrictions since I was delivering face shields to hospitals at the start of the pandemic.

So to be clear, the only thing you did in Vermont was deliver face shields to hospitals? You did not ski or engage in any recreational activities and you returned home as soon as possible?

 

[HowieT2]

This is great. much better than our usual preseason snowmaking debates. very entertaining. skiology Matt v. Dr. Jeff. Have at it!

 

[rebel1916]

Really ? He was the Douche that sent people around harassing ski areas that were still open when Covid hit the fan. his whack a do followers were threatening ski area employees and video taping the parking lots on the day everything got shut down

That was when I got banned by that loon.

 

[SkiologyMatt]

So to be clear, the only thing you did in Vermont was deliver face shields to hospitals? You did not ski or engage in any recreational activities and you returned home as soon as possible?

I'm probably one of very who actually quarantined before going to VT last winter. It wasn't that hard given my situation. Strange that I'm the one being attacked of course.

I also went to VT 3 times during lockdown to move face shield supplies, but the first claim about me violating travel restrictions were when I delivered our first batch of face shields to a hospital in Westchester County where we met with a state senator and got some media coverage which helped us raise money and get more volunteers. I stood outside that hospital while two people he knew came up and told him that their parent just passed away. It was surreal. On my way home I took a video of some graupel that was falling and posted it because it was May and I thought people would appreciate seeing something frozen falling from the sky. It's not like my stalkers didn't know why I was there, I posted that too later that day. They're just bad people who want attention, and I'm afraid that I'm giving them too much, so I'm done now.

 

[rebel1916]

I found Matt and the page several years ago when Vail bought Stowe and it became near impossible to find out about local conditions and weather. Despite riding for 20 plus years, I had never really heard the term back end snow (even though I had experienced it). I found the page to be invaluable and when Matt asked for volunteers for moderator, I immediately signed in the first group. Contrary to popular belief, even though Matt has always been transparent about the fact that we have a team of people who discuss what our policies are, people seem to think that he's some sort of tyrant lord and ruler. I actually am the toughest mod, I reject a ton of posts. Initially Matt wanted to shield us from the childish retaliation he suffers so we didn't have Mod badges, but we've always been there. And also, we are a mix of political opinions.
Yes, we delete comments and block people who are repeat offenders, or trolls. The amount of adults who throw a tantrum like toddlers when they have a comment deleted is frankly embarrassing. They throw around things like "free speech" when they clearly have no actual understanding of our constitutional rights - that means yes, you can say things and then yes, we can delete them. Matt has even deleted a few of my comments over the years, and somehow I manage not to take it personally, because I'm a mature adult who doesn't need constant validation. The problem with online forums is that tone is up to the interpreter, and the people who complain about Matt always thinking he is right are only upset because he disagrees with them because, apparently, they also always have to be right.
So those who disagree with Matt and the page are free to not follow, or scroll past the posts that they dislike. It's distressing that they feel like they have to have a voice to bitch and moan, but I guess that's where we are in the world right now. It's terrifying that he posts detailed weather and encourages crowd sourced conditions, and has the gall to occasionally mention a global pandemic that has killed countless people. It least it seems that way to some people.
And to the OP - if you don't think it's a big deal to belong to a stalker group that threatens violence, I suggest you try to have some empathy and think what it might be like to have that sort of vitriol aimed at you.
For those of you who appreciate then page and the work that we all put into it, thank you. I hope it's focus makes it stand out from generic ski pages, and that focus benefits your skiing and riding experiences this season.

Found the sock puppet

 

[VTKilarney]

I'm probably one of very who actually quarantined before going to VT last winter. It wasn't that hard given my situation. Strange that I'm the one being attacked of course.

I also went to VT 3 times during lockdown to move face shield supplies,

Can you please just answer my question?

When you traveled to Vermont as an "essential worker" and did not quarantine beforehand, did you engage in any recreational activity in Vermont during a trip?

Also, were you actually employed to deliver those face shields? If not, how do you believe that you fell under the category of an "essential worker", especially when you could have just shipped the face shields?

I am not "attacking" you. Quite the contrary, I am trying to figure out if the criticisms that have been levied against you are legitimate.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

he admitted on his page last year that his skiing was allowed bc he was 'media'. I'm not going to dig the depths of facebook to find it, but yes, he did go to recreate and yes he did use that excuse.

plenty of people here and elsewhere, myself included, bent or broke vermont's rules last year, and generally did so without judgment. its the twisting of the rules and the silly ass contortion of the definition of 'media' that got this guy much deserved flack

 

[VTKilarney]

he admitted on his page last year that his skiing was allowed bc he was 'media'. I'm not going to dig the depths of facebook to find it, but yes, he did go to recreate and yes he did use that excuse.

Is this true, Matt?

 

[ScottySkis]

Is this true, Matt?

I saw that to I follow it on Facebook also

 

[SkiologyMatt]

Can you please just answer my question?

When you traveled to Vermont as an "essential worker" and did not quarantine beforehand, did you engage in any recreational activity in Vermont during a trip?

Also, were you actually employed to deliver those face shields? If not, how do you believe that you fell under the category of an "essential worker", especially when you could have just shipped the face shields?

I am not "attacking" you. Quite the contrary, I am trying to figure out if the criticisms that have been levied against you are legitimate.

I was double-legal when entering Vermont all except one time. I was quarantined and tested as required for all but one minor exception. Your state also had a universal "work" exception by the time the season started, didn't matter if I was delivering Pepsi to corner stores, covering skiing, or doing marketing. Before the season there was a specific media exception, but it was just simply a work exception by October and I didn't need to use that except for just one time when I followed a storm from MA to VT in December. I was fully quarantined the first leg into MA (also required there). I did have a beer with a friend outside from 20' away, I know, risky right? I then visited Magic the next day to give them coverage. There was 30" of pow and I did just 7 runs. I met with the GM and also discussed my status with him before coming. I also discussed this with Ski Vermont, and contacted other ski areas before visiting early in the season to discuss my status (all quarantined/tested) and see if they had any objections since not everyone necessarily wanted coverage due to how polarized travel was at first. And yes, I had obligations that required me to give them coverage as early in the season as possible. I rode chairlifts alone, got enough photos to do what I needed to do, and posted a wonderful story about Magic that they also re-shared. I was wiped out with very little sleep and had to clear 30" of snow from my own driveway in between the two visits. Sucked to not be up for 30" of powder. Every other trip had no exceptions to the quarantine. I of course didn't get COVID nor spread it to anyone either. I got in half my normal number of ski days due to travel restrictions, and didn't enjoy most of them. I explained my status in the group for every trip for about 2 months until it was old news to most.

This all stems from purposeful selective reading of me being transparent about my plans before the season started and a false narrative put out by people attempting to cause me harm. The lead was always that I would quarantine and test regardless. You'll note that the article with false claims repeatedly gives my full name and even my general location. This is not a mistake and it was the 4th time I was doxxed. That article was never published in their social media nor featured on their website. It was a hit piece by one of the members of the stalker group. My complaints in private were answered by, and I'm paraphrasing in the quotes "well don't put your picture on the internet if you feel threatened".

Bad people.

 

[SenorQuesadilla]

Once you start referring to posters here by their actual name instead of their user name I think you lose any ability to criticize people using YOUR name. You've used Matthew [Actual Last Name] in interviews to promote your site and used your name in your facebook group. Doxxing would be publishing your address, not using your name that you yourself put out there many many times. You don't get to go back and delete the internet because you decided to change the name of your company.

 

[Aardvark]

I found Matt and the page several years ago when Vail bought Stowe and it became near impossible to find out about local conditions and weather. Despite riding for 20 plus years, I had never really heard the term back end snow (even though I had experienced it). I found the page to be invaluable and when Matt asked for volunteers for moderator, I immediately signed in the first group. Contrary to popular belief, even though Matt has always been transparent about the fact that we have a team of people who discuss what our policies are, people seem to think that he's some sort of tyrant lord and ruler. I actually am the toughest mod, I reject a ton of posts. Initially Matt wanted to shield us from the childish retaliation he suffers so we didn't

Really? Anyone who knows anything about the weather or Stowe, Mad River or anyhwere in north VT knows to follow Braatencast or a half dozen other good sites. Heck, even NWS Burlington + Wundergground do a better job. Matt basically reads everyone elses reports and posts them as his own. Does the same thing with any ski news. He's not giving out any info that someone else -- usually someone who is paid to do this for a living -- has researched and produced. He basically plagiarizes everything. The fact that people pay him to do that is going to land him on the wrong end of a serious lawsuit one day. Plus, what's up with the "threats" and stalking? Does anyone have any F-ing clue what the F he is talking about? Name one credible. Super paranoid... and f'ing weird dude.

 

[Aardvark]

Take it easy there cowboy. No trolling here. As a member of this community for going on 14 years I made a few comments. I'd make them again. No violence of any sort. For an online personality you need some thicker skin.

Does represent his entire community.... and we all believe the same thing about you, @SkiologyMatt. You're a douche. Get over yourself and stop whining.