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MRG - What about snowboarders?
- Thread starter SnowRider
- Start date
Kerovick
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.....heck even the monoskiers and snow bladers.
Skiboarders please...Skiboarders
kero
Skiboarders please...Skiboarders
kero
Big Game
New member
The first time I actually saw MRG in person was pedaling up the App Gap this September for the prologue in the Green Mountain Stage Race. Yeah, great prologue. Every skinny bastard Cat. 3 in North America was gunning for the top. Myself, as more "well-rounded" crit racer kind of racer, at 190 lbs, kind of reserved myself to not getting passed by the P/1/2 who started 15 minutes behind us.
So you know, by the time MRG is on my left, I'm already dropped and feel the humiliation of being hefty. But I look up, and I think to myself, now that's a damn attractive hill. Wow. I really would sure like to be there come winter. She's purty. But, knowing full well that "my kind" aren't welcome, it was just further humiliation. It was like this hot, rich girl --- who would never give me a chance because the social strata involved would make sure we could ever fall in love --- was embarrassed for me. But she didn't know me. And she didn't know that I could treat her better than 95% of the creeps who she has been bored with for the last 40 years could. But still, as I rounded the hill to continue my effort with MRG now over my left shoulder, I resigned myself to my burden:
What's wrong don't matter; what's right don't matter. For, as it now stands in the the US of A, it's only money that matters. And right now, the shareholder's money at MRG tells me not to be there.
And there ain't nothing I could do about that.
And what happened at the top of the App Gap? Well, I just got nipped at the line by the first pro finisher (from Team Targetraining I believe). And you know, I just got to think the emotional distance that was so palpaple at the base of MRG had to do something to slow me down. If she was my girl, I know I could have done better.
But daddy ain't going to let that happen. Is he?
So you know, by the time MRG is on my left, I'm already dropped and feel the humiliation of being hefty. But I look up, and I think to myself, now that's a damn attractive hill. Wow. I really would sure like to be there come winter. She's purty. But, knowing full well that "my kind" aren't welcome, it was just further humiliation. It was like this hot, rich girl --- who would never give me a chance because the social strata involved would make sure we could ever fall in love --- was embarrassed for me. But she didn't know me. And she didn't know that I could treat her better than 95% of the creeps who she has been bored with for the last 40 years could. But still, as I rounded the hill to continue my effort with MRG now over my left shoulder, I resigned myself to my burden:
What's wrong don't matter; what's right don't matter. For, as it now stands in the the US of A, it's only money that matters. And right now, the shareholder's money at MRG tells me not to be there.
And there ain't nothing I could do about that.
And what happened at the top of the App Gap? Well, I just got nipped at the line by the first pro finisher (from Team Targetraining I believe). And you know, I just got to think the emotional distance that was so palpaple at the base of MRG had to do something to slow me down. If she was my girl, I know I could have done better.
But daddy ain't going to let that happen. Is he?
BeanoNYC
Active member
I know that I've said this before in similar threads but I'm saying it again. This skiier would love to see a rider get on a lift with a splitboard and stick it to the man. 
dmc
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That's wicked too
it has to be this
http://www.killingtonzone.com/albums/CAPBOY/Retro_Doug1989.jpg
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dmc
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That's it:
Classic!!! Now I know why you took up snowboarding..... :lol:
In the late 80's.... thats the way we rolled...
One more - this one from late May on Superstar ... in the 90's we amped it up a bit... Still backseat slammiing in the big bumps... We hadnt quite figured out how to drive the tips over the bump yet
Last edited:
Skibum_dan
Member
Radical!
In the late 80's.... thats the way we rolled...
Still backseat slammiing in the big bumps... We hadnt quite figured out how to drive the tips over the bump yet
lol, i still havent figured it out. but i have fun so thats all that counts.
Plowboy
Member
I have read a few forums on this website before but this was the first one I felt like I had an opinion on.
Even though I have never skied MRG, I support the ban because I respect the rights of the shareholders. Personally I don't care whether boarders are allowed or not. I have nothing agaisnt boarders, but I am completly against stupid people and jerks.
When reading the forum I was reminded of an article I read I a magazine a couple years ago so I looked it up online. I assume that a good portion of the people on this forum read the article when it was first published but I will leave the link so people can read it. True Believers
"It was that deep-rooted love for the single chair that brought about the resort's infamous snowboard ban. Most skiers forget that in 1986 Mad River was actually one of the first ski areas in the nation explicitly to allow snowboarding. But the way boarders, without ski poles, had to push off when unloading made the single chairs swing and frequently derailed the cable. So Betsy Pratt banned boarders from the single. Since that also eliminated their access to Mad River's best terrain, two high-school boarders cussed her out at the local supermarket. In 1991, she banned snowboards from the mountain altogether.
With support for the ban running strong and deep, shareholders voted overwhelmingly to maintain it during their first meeting as a co-op in 1998-and haven't officially voted on the issue since. "No one is calling for the end of it," says Eric Friedman, Mad River's marketing director. "I don't think anything will change for at least a generation.""
This is probably the most important part of the article. Yes, if they wanted to allow snowboarders then the problem with the chair could be fixed, but really the shareholders dont want boarders.
The ideal mountain is a mountain that allows all kinds of sliders under 3 conditions
1. They have skills (this would limit the skiers and boarders scraping the snow off)
2. They have knowledge about what they are doing
3. They have manners to prevent the ignorant assholes that hit other people and then slide away
It may require and application and an interview to get a ticket, but it would be a truly unique experience
Even though I have never skied MRG, I support the ban because I respect the rights of the shareholders. Personally I don't care whether boarders are allowed or not. I have nothing agaisnt boarders, but I am completly against stupid people and jerks.
When reading the forum I was reminded of an article I read I a magazine a couple years ago so I looked it up online. I assume that a good portion of the people on this forum read the article when it was first published but I will leave the link so people can read it. True Believers
"It was that deep-rooted love for the single chair that brought about the resort's infamous snowboard ban. Most skiers forget that in 1986 Mad River was actually one of the first ski areas in the nation explicitly to allow snowboarding. But the way boarders, without ski poles, had to push off when unloading made the single chairs swing and frequently derailed the cable. So Betsy Pratt banned boarders from the single. Since that also eliminated their access to Mad River's best terrain, two high-school boarders cussed her out at the local supermarket. In 1991, she banned snowboards from the mountain altogether.
With support for the ban running strong and deep, shareholders voted overwhelmingly to maintain it during their first meeting as a co-op in 1998-and haven't officially voted on the issue since. "No one is calling for the end of it," says Eric Friedman, Mad River's marketing director. "I don't think anything will change for at least a generation.""
This is probably the most important part of the article. Yes, if they wanted to allow snowboarders then the problem with the chair could be fixed, but really the shareholders dont want boarders.
The ideal mountain is a mountain that allows all kinds of sliders under 3 conditions
1. They have skills (this would limit the skiers and boarders scraping the snow off)
2. They have knowledge about what they are doing
3. They have manners to prevent the ignorant assholes that hit other people and then slide away
It may require and application and an interview to get a ticket, but it would be a truly unique experience
ctenidae
Active member
"It was that deep-rooted love for the single chair that brought about the resort's infamous snowboard ban. Most skiers forget that in 1986 Mad River was actually one of the first ski areas in the nation explicitly to allow snowboarding. But the way boarders, without ski poles, had to push off when unloading made the single chairs swing and frequently derailed the cable. So Betsy Pratt banned boarders from the single. Since that also eliminated their access to Mad River's best terrain, two high-school boarders cussed her out at the local supermarket. In 1991, she banned snowboards from the mountain altogether.
Your three poitns are good, if impossible (how do you get skills if you can't ski?). But this story has been told, retold, recanted, and told again many times, with no direct word from Betsy on its veracity. It's a nice story, though, that firmly casts snowboarders as unruly, foulmouthed, snot-nosed brats that aren't fit to associate with decent two-plank folks.
Kind of an unfair characterization, don't you think?
Your three poitns are good, if impossible (how do you get skills if you can't ski?). But this story has been told, retold, recanted, and told again many times, with no direct word from Betsy on its veracity. It's a nice story, though, that firmly casts snowboarders as unruly, foulmouthed, snot-nosed brats that aren't fit to associate with decent two-plank folks.
Kind of an unfair characterization, don't you think?
Big Game
New member
I guess I'm a nobody then. Again, why the hurt?
Nosedive, the single-chair derailment conspiracy theory has been discredited a long time ago. The better argument (if you're pro-ban) is simply, that money talks. The shareholders vote, and if you don't have the money to buy a voice, then STFU.
But again, the STFU policy hurts (me). It's poison I tell you. Poison.
madskier6
Member
I think Eric means that no Co-Op shareholder is calling for an end to the ban. He knows there are many boarders out there who would love to have the ban ended so they'd be able to ride MRG. There are just no shareholders that want to end the ban (or not enough of them to make a difference).
AdironRider
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I still think a group of us boarders should hike up right under the single one day this winter and show em what a bunch of good riders can do. Whos with me?
Skibum_dan
Member
Hey Adrion Rider, good idea. Get as many people as you can and be as diplomatic about it as possible to A) Show that there is enough interest out there and B) show that riders are respectful and wouldn't be the a pesky bother to all the old crotchety's. It prob won't make a difference right away but if you do it enough, like make an annual or monthly tradition out of it and make it as public as possible you might change some shareholders minds. Again, i think the key would be to do it as diplomatically as possible otherwise the old crusties are gonna keep talking trash about riders...
The single chair derailment is not the problem, which is why I said in my first post that if they wanted to remove the ban, then the derailment issue could be fixed. My argument is not the single chair derailment theory. I support the ban because I like the idea of a skiers only mountain. MRG is unique to New England because of the ban. I'm not saying all mountains should be skiers only, just MRG.
Something I have noticed on this forum is the number of people trying to disprove the stereo-types about snowboarders. IMO, some snowboarders are assholes, and some skiers are assholes. However I believe that stereo-types are not just made up, there is usually some truth behind stereo-types. In my experience I have scene a lot of assholes out on the hill, and most of them were teenagers on snowboards. Things have changed in the past few years, but it will take a long time before snowboarders can remove the nasty stain on their image. The general public still views snowboarders the same way they view skateboarding, as a bunch of puck ass teenagers. So far I haven't noticed the snowboarding community trying to change peoples minds about this.
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