Does Mad River Scare You a Little? NO!

[marcski]

we'll have to agree to disagree then.. you see it different than i do (in terms of the "menu"). i haven't been to MRG in years, not because they don't allow snowboarders, other reasons.

i don't see a difference in the two styles of riding. other than my daughter the person i've skied with the most this year is a snowboarder. we ski the same trails and ride the lifts together.

life is full of choices, they've made theirs

+1. Well said.

 

[deadheadskier]

I don't get too angry when restaurants make me put on a jacket and tie. I don't eat at those kinds of places very often, though.

I don't view snowboards and skis as different types of attire. Blue vs Black blazers if you ask me.

 

[Cannonball]

I'm still waiting to hear how much worse the skiing was there from 86-92 when they allowed snowboarders.

My experience with MRG is funny in terms of those dates. From ~85-92 MRG was one of my go-to mountains as a skier. I always loved the terrain and stripped-down style there. That included awesome bump runs that kicked my butt. 93-94 I spent in CO. In 95 I started snowboarding and haven't been back to MRG since. I can't compare the pre/post-ban and its impact on bumps since I haven't experienced the post-ban conditions. I can say that as much as I loved skiing MRG honestly haven't missed it for a second in the past 20 years. New England has so much awesome and diverse terrain that it's easy to find whatever you are looking for. Cannon, Wildcat, Sugarbush, Stowe, Magic, Burke, Smuggs, etc. all have more than enough amazing terrain comparable to MRG's.

Getting back to the original point of this thread. That is a nice marketing piece and hopefully it dispels some of the fear factor that people feel about MRG. But I find it laughable for anyone to pretend that "Ski it if you can" was ever meant to mean anything other than a challenge and a badge of honor. Trying to spin that into something else now is silly. If MRG prides itself in being so 'true' and 'pure' then they should be true and pure about what their motto has always meant.

 

[VTKilarney]

I can say that as much as I loved skiing MRG honestly haven't missed it for a second in the past 20 years. New England has so much awesome and diverse terrain that it's easy to find whatever you are looking for. Cannon, Wildcat, Sugarbush, Stowe, Magic, Burke, Smuggs, etc. all have more than enough amazing terrain comparable to MRG's.

Well said. MRG is silly for banning snowboarders. Snowboarders are silly for thinking that it's a huge deal.

 

[Domeskier]

I don't view snowboards and skis as different types of attire. Blue vs Black blazers if you ask me.

My guess is that a lot of the shareholders at MRG do view them as different types of attire. Just like some diners at some restaurants don't like to eat surrounded by people in blue jeans and tee-shirts, some shareholders at MRG don't like to ski surrounded by people on snowboards. I think it ultimately boils down to an aesthetic preference, so trying to persuade certain shareholders at MRG that boards can ride the single chair and don't ruin moguls will be no more successful than convincing the maître d' at some expensive restaurant that I can observe proper dining etiquette while wearing my MRG - Ski it if You Can tee-shirt.

 

[Edd]

Are any of you at MRG today? Curious to hear a live opinion on the conditions. Wondering if it's worth the trip for tomorrow over Cannon or Wildcat?

As of yesterday, Wildcat was in pretty fantastic shape. Everything was in play. Can't speak for the other two places.

 

[deadheadskier]

My guess is that a lot of the shareholders at MRG do view them as different types of attire. Just like some diners at some restaurants don't like to eat surrounded by people in blue jeans and tee-shirts, some shareholders at MRG don't like to ski surrounded by people on snowboards.

If they were all still stuck in 1986 on 205 Olin Mark IV, yellow Langes and CB jackets, I'd have a little respect for that.

As they ski off in their 125mms waisted Rockered skis and A/T K2 boots? Not so much.

And this premise again ignores why snowboarders aren't allowed. It's because Betsy got in an argument with some boarders.

For six years boarders apparently were there in harmony with skiers.

The whole concept that the ban remains to somehow preserve the "classic old school character" of the place is a complete load of crap.


But if people want to continue to believe that BS, they're free to go right ahead and do so. It's not a view I'll ever respect just like my view is likely not respected by them.

 

[BenedictGomez]

MRG are not the "assholes" in this equation...
Not to say ALL knuckle dragers are dicks. Just the ones who think the Glen should bow to there desire.

Precisely. It's a private entity. Get over it.

Skiers and Snowboarders should be viewed as one in the same by everyone.

What do we want?

CROSS COUNTRY SNOWBOARDING IN THE OLYMPICS!!!!

When do we want it?

NOW!

WHY is this an issue?

It's not; it's a terribly flawed conjecture. Completely ignores or simply forgets obvious historical data on skier/rider numbers.

Snowboarding probably represented something like 0.8% of skier/rider visits in 1986 and maybe (being generous here) 5% or 7% or so total visits in 1990. Immaterial.

 

[deadheadskier]

So you would have had a problem sharing the slopes at MRG with a snowboarder?

 

[dlague]

Bad analogy. The skier and the snowboarder want the same kind of food. The fact that it's 2015 and people STILL consider the two activities so different is bothersome to me.

+1

My experience with MRG is funny in terms of those dates. From ~85-92 MRG was one of my go-to mountains as a skier. I always loved the terrain and stripped-down style there. That included awesome bump runs that kicked my butt. 93-94 I spent in CO. In 95 I started snowboarding and haven't been back to MRG since. I can't compare the pre/post-ban and its impact on bumps since I haven't experienced the post-ban conditions. I can say that as much as I loved skiing MRG honestly haven't missed it for a second in the past 20 years. New England has so much awesome and diverse terrain that it's easy to find whatever you are looking for. Cannon, Wildcat, Sugarbush, Stowe, Magic, Burke, Smuggs, etc. all have more than enough amazing terrain comparable to MRG's.

Getting back to the original point of this thread. That is a nice marketing piece and hopefully it dispels some of the fear factor that people feel about MRG. But I find it laughable for anyone to pretend that "Ski it if you can" was ever meant to mean anything other than a challenge and a badge of honor. Trying to spin that into something else now is silly. If MRG prides itself in being so 'true' and 'pure' then they should be true and pure about what their motto has always meant.

another +1

As of yesterday, Wildcat was in pretty fantastic shape. Everything was in play. Can't speak for the other two places.

As of yesterday, Cannon was in pretty fantastic shape. Everything was in play.


However, it rained pretty hard in Central VT. It rained some in Northern NH.

 

[dlague]

Just a thought - I bet if they opened MRG to snowboarders they would not need the stupid video and would increase revenues by a lot! They will wait until times get really tough!

 

[joshua segal]

Unless MRG is willing to add uphill capacity (and I don't think they are), I'm of the impression that they are pretty close to capacity on skier visits, at least on weekends and holidays.

 

[HowieT2]

Are any of you at MRG today? Curious to hear a live opinion on the conditions. Wondering if it's worth the trip for tomorrow over Cannon or Wildcat?

Im in town but not sking. It's raining and windy.

 

[jrmagic]

When did Paradise officially go on the map? Mid 90s? I distinctly remember an article in either a ski magazine, NY Times, some publication in the early 90s about the shush shush hush hush, Paradise at MRG when it wasn't on the map. It was billed as this mythical expert terrain that put everything else in the east to shame. When you read the article you thought the "waterfall" entering it was a 15 foot mandatory air.

Lol I remember that article too! I was pleasantly surprised when I finally made it there. I expected balls to the wall skiing all day and it wasn't like that.. unless you wanted it to be.

 

[boston_e]

But I find it laughable for anyone to pretend that "Ski it if you can" was ever meant to mean anything other than a challenge and a badge of honor. Trying to spin that into something else now is silly.

This is true I think… at least thats how it has been received over time.

I remember the first time I went there I expected to find some totally different level of challenge. Once I got there I figured out they have stuff that is a lot like what a lot of other New England ski areas have. Perhaps it is true that the ratio of "hard" stuff to "easy" stuff is higher at MRG than elsewhere, I'm not sure. I have not been there enough to say… and haven't been in years.

Regarding what someone else mentioned, I'd be surprised if they are not near lift capacity on weekends and holidays. What do they have there? 4 chairlifts and one is the single?

 

[Cannonball]

Regarding what someone else mentioned, I'd be surprised if they are not near lift capacity on weekends and holidays. What do they have there? 4 chairlifts and one is the single?

If they are at lift capacity and don't care about profits (as some have suggested) why advertise at all? Why put any cost/effort into anything that promotes the product? Are they wasting their advertising dollars or are they actually not at capacity? You can't have both.

 

[boston_e]

If they are at lift capacity and don't care about profits (as some have suggested) why advertise at all? Why put any cost/effort into anything that promotes the product? Are they wasting their advertising dollars or are they actually not at capacity? You can't have both.

Well, you always need new customers, as you always lose existing customers because of one reason or another.

 

[Cannonball]

Well, you always need new customers, as you always lose existing customers because of one reason or another.

Agreed. So the argument that they don't need snowboarders because they already have enough customers doesn't really make sense then. That case has been made a few times (not by you).

 

[skiur]

Send the boarders to the back of the bus!!

 

[Cannonball]

Send the boarders to the back of the bus!!

Relax Rosa