Free Republic

From Icecap.com's website: The Aspen Skiing Company said Monday that it will open up Aspen Mountain from June 13 to 15 for skiers and snowboarders. The company says record winter snowfall has left the mountain covered with snow, leaving behind an average of more than 3 feet of snow on the upper slopes. So, for this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aspen will open seven runs and about 45 acres of mostly intermediate terrain that is accessible by the Ajax Express chairlift. And Missoula, Montana’s water park is closing due to cold weather ‘to protect children from hypothermia’. In the Seattle...

Aspen Mountain will be open to skiers and snowboarders this weekend, according to Jeff Hanle, spokesman for the Aspen Skiing Co. “Yes, we are going skiing,” Hanle said, though he could not confirm the details. The Skico previously indicated it would consider opening the mountain this weekend, which coincides with the Aspen Food & Wine Magazine Classic. It's unusual but not unprecedented to have skiing on Ajax mountain this late in the season, after Independence Pass already has opened for the summer. But highway crews only last week re-opened the 12,093-foot pass after a particularly snowy winter. Arapahoe Basin, which...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 2, 2008 – Less than six months ago, Army Pfc. Michael Dinkel had his leg destroyed by a roadside bomb while he was deployed to Afghanistan with the Fort Riley, Kan.-based 70th Engineer Battalion. Today, still a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dinkel is shimmying down the slopes of Snowmass Mountain, refusing to let a disability stand in the way of a good time -- or a full, productive life. Less than six months after losing a leg to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, Army Pfc. Michael Dinkel is on the slopes...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 2, 2008 – Seventy-four-year-old Bob Eiden stood on a snow bank overlooking Snowmass Mountain yesterday, mentally preparing himself for his first experience on skis, 16 months after having his right leg amputated. Bob Eiden, a 74-year-old Korean War veteran, isn’t going to let an amputated leg, failing eyesight and failing hearing keep him from showing newly wounded combat veterans there’s still life after a disability. Eiden donned skis for the first time during the 22nd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic at Snowmass Village, Colo. Defense Dept. photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

Professional extreme skier Billy Poole died this afternoon after taking a fall while filming in Big Cottonwood Canyon between Solitude and Brighton ski resorts. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office spokesman Paul Jaroscak said the 28-year-old died around 1:30 p.m. at University Hospital. Poole was filming a jump, had a bad landing, and possibly hit some rocks, Jaroscak said. Earlier reports of an avalanche in the area were false, he said. Poole was filming in the area with Boulder, Colo.-based Warren Miller Entertainment. A spokesman reached at the company's corporate headquarters said the company is still trying to learn details about...

People upset over a man who sued an 8-year-old boy and his father over a Colorado ski collision have subjected him and his wife to "an electronic tar and feathering," their lawyer said. David Pfahler and Marlene Ambrogio left their Allentown, Pa., home for the holidays because angry people tied up their phone lines with repeated, automated calls since news reports of the lawsuit, attorney Jim Chalat said Monday. Some sent angry e-mails and calls to Chalat's Denver law firm, while others called Reader's Digest, where Pfahler works, and demanded he be fired, the Rocky Mountain News reported. The couple...

ST. ANTON AM ARLBERG, Austria — American skier Lindsey Vonn won't be able to fly home for Christmas because of the World Cup schedule. But the way things are going, why would she want to leave Europe? Vonn won a super-combi Saturday for her second consecutive victory, sending her to the top of the overall standings. And for the second consecutive race, Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, Calif., finished third. Stacey Cook of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., finished 13th. According to U.S. team officials, Vonn is the first American woman to win alpine World Cup races on back-to-back days since Tamara...

Boy, 8, sued in ski crash Associated Press Originally published 12:21 p.m., December 20, 2007 Updated 03:42 p.m., December 20, 2007 VAIL — A 60-year-old man is taking an 8-year-old boy and his dad to court, claiming the third-grader caused a ski-slope collision that left the older man with a shoulder injury. David J. Pfahler of Allentown, Pa., filed suit in Denver federal court claiming Scott Swimm, of Vail, then 7, was skiing fast and recklessly when they ran into each other in January. Pfahler's suit says he suffered a torn shoulder tendon. The boy told Pfahler he was sorry...

Man, 60, sues boy, 8, over ski collision Thu Dec 20, 10:51 PM ET VAIL, Colo. - A 60-year-old man is taking an 8-year-old boy and his dad to court, claiming the boy caused a ski-slope collision that left the older man with a shoulder injury. David J. Pfahler of Allentown, Pa., sued in federal court in Denver, claiming Scott Swimm, then 7, was skiing fast and recklessly when they collided in January, the Vail Daily reported Thursday. The suit claims Pfahler suffered a torn shoulder tendon and seeks compensation for physical therapy, vacation time, nursing and medical services provided...

TELLURIDE — A backlash quickly emerged after the Telluride Town Council adopted a resolution last week calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. “It’s huge, unbelievable,” said Telluride Mayor John Pryor. “Ski groups are canceling for the winter. Hundreds of people are bailing. The (town) Web site is flooded with people saying they’re canceling their vacations here.” Pryor called it a “silly initiative.” The council, he told The Telluride Watch, is too busy to weigh in on national global politics. If this was a silly initiative, why did he vote for it? The...

LONDON, England (AP) -- Prince Charles has canceled a traditional skiing holiday in a bid to reduce his carbon footprint, his office said Saturday -- a day after campaigners and a government minister criticized his decision to fly to New York to collect an award for work on environmental issues. Environment Secretary David Miliband expressed reservations Friday about the heir to the British throne traveling to the United States for the ceremony, while advocacy groups urged the prince to use a video link instead. Prince Charles' Clarence House office said the prince had decided last year to cancel a regular...

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - The two dozen FBI agents who swarmed Park City Mountain Resort weren't busting anybody Friday. They weren't even armed - unless you count the sharp ends of ski poles. With the temperature near zero, agents hit the slopes - some on challenging runs, others on bunny hills - in an unusual drive to publicize the FBI and perhaps attract a few recruits. Many skiers and Park City regulars were perplexed or even a bit unnerved. Some thought the whole effort was nutty. Jokes were flying about agents skiing on the public dime, but nobody seemed...

A major snowstorm blew across Colorado toward the Plains on Wednesday, canceling hundreds of airline flights for holiday travelers and shutting down major highways in parts of four states. The National Weather Service posted blizzard warnings for most of eastern Colorado and adjoining sections of Nebraska and Kansas. A day earlier, the storm had pummeled New Mexico with up to a foot of snow. Two feet of snow was possible in the foothills just west of Denver, with 2 to 3 feet a possibility farther north. Up to 20 inches could accumulate on the Plains of eastern Colorado and wind...

In new ads, ski company says global warming could dry up snow during the next century... The Aspen Skiing Co. hopes potential customers are ready for a snow job. On Wednesday, the company unveiled a new advertising campaign for the 2006-07 season that centers around the message that snow — and skiing — will disappear around 2100 if humans don’t take drastic action to slow global warming. Three full-page ads, which show a melting snowflake imposed over Highland Bowl, will run in SKI and Outside magazines in the next few months. One ad portrays a “certificate of death” for snow....

DULUTH, MN (AP) -- It's been a month since Travis Kladivo last rode a kite tube. And doctors say the 20-year-old's body has almost healed. On June 25, Kladivo, whose family owns a resort on Lake Vermilion, joined a growing number of thrill-seekers seriously injured while riding a kite tube, a huge, inflatable toy designed to float in the air with a rider aboard. The day after Kladivo's accident, a 42-year-old man was killed in a kite tube accident on Little St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Since then, the bestselling version of the device, the Sportsstuff Inc.-brand Wego kite tube,...

TULSA, Okla. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa today announced a restriction on kite tubing on all Corps lakes in the Tulsa District. Col. Miroslav Kurka, commander of the Tulsa District, imposed the ban because of the potential for serious injuries caused by uncontrolled flight of these devices. Kite tubes are a relatively new derivative of large inner tubes towed behind speedboats that become airborne. One person died as the result of a kite tube accident this past week in Texas. Many kite tubing injuries are the direct result of the tubes reaching heights of 20...

LES CROSETS, Switzerland - Former Swiss skiing star Corinne Rey-Bellet and her brother, Alain, were shot and killed in their parents' home, and police were trying to find Rey-Bellet's husband. The attack late Sunday night, which also left Rey-Bellet's mother hospitalized with serious injuries, occurred in the Swiss mountain resort of Les Crosets, according to the Valais state police. Rey-Bellet's mother was able to call police despite her injuries. Police said the attacker, who fired five shots, fled and eluded a search. Police spokesman Renato Kalbermatten said authorities were trying to find Rey-Bellet's husband, who lived with her and their...

Before Scandinavia: These could be the first skiers By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BEIJING – Move over Bode. You may have competition you don't know about - among a sturdy skiing clan in northwest China. They are central Asians, Mongols, and Kazaks, living in the remote Altay mountains of Xinjiang province, where some claim skiing was first conceived. Using curved planks whose design dates back 2,000 years, the Altaic peoples are formidable skiers. They might not win a medal on perfectly groomed Olympic trails. But they can break their own paths, track elk for...

SESTRIERE, Italy – Unbent, unbowed and ultimately unsuccessful, Bode Miller said in an interview yesterday he is skiing away from these Olympics on his own terms — content without any medals and impressed by the local nightlife. “I just did it my way. I’m not a martyr, and I’m not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here,” Miller said in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press soon after he skidded off the slalom course in his fifth and final race, completing an 0-for-the-Olympics.

Feb. 23, 2006 - Four months ago, Bode Miller sat across from me in the bar of a New York City hotel and shared his idea of what a perfect two weeks in Torino would look like. “For me,” he said, “the ideal Olympics would be to go in with all that pressure, all that attention and have performances that are literally tear-jerking, that make people put their heads down because they’re embarrassed at how emotional they’re getting, that make people want to try sports, talk to their kids, call their f---ing ex-wives—and come away with no medals. I think...

Brother and sister skiers Anders and Alissa Johnson have trained together in the ski jump for their entire careers, and both are considered among the best jumpers in the country. But at the Olympics today, Alissa will be on the sidelines while her brother goes for the gold. "I'm here [only] to support unfortunately," Alissa, 19, said. "I wish I was here to train and jump, but I'm here to support Anders." The International Ski Federation has ruled that ski jumping is too dangerous for women, making it the only winter Olympic sport that has male competitors and no female...

American skiing ace Bode Miller says he can understand while some athletes turn to drugs in their quest for fame. Miller, who on Tuesday was disqualified from the Winter Olympics' alpine skiing combined event after a slalom slip-up, believes the pressure to succeed forces some competitors to cheat. "Sport was born clean and would remain so if it was about just competing for the fun of it, but the media and the public corrupt it because of the pressure they create," the outspoken Miller told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "Any athlete who isn't doing well is left in the corner,...

Winter sports without fear BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on Feb. 4, 1996.) Skiing is an exciting winter sport, but it is not for everybody. For example, it is not for sane people. Sane people look at skiing, and they say: ``Wait a minute. I'm supposed to attach slippery objects to my feet and get on a frozen chair dangling from a scary-looking wire, then get dumped off on a snow-covered slope so steep that the mountain goats are wearing seat belts, and then, if by some miracle I am able to get back...

NEW YORK - Bode Miller knows he puts his life at risk when he skis drunk, but the outspoken Olympic favorite admits he may try the dangerous activity again. "Talk about a hard challenge right there. ... If you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy," Miller told "60 Minutes" for a segment that will air Sunday. "Try and ski a slalom when ... you hit a gate less than every one second, so it's risky. You're putting your life at risk. ... It's like driving drunk, only there are no rules about it in ski racing."...

Novice skiers will be able to avoid experienced counterparts who treat the pistes like a race track thanks to a speed limit imposed at the Swiss Alpine resport of Grindelwald.The new, 30-kilometers per hour (19-miles per hour) restriction, a Swiss first, has been put in place by authorities in the Bernese Oberland winter sports hub. It covers a two-kilometer (1.2-mile) blue or intermediate run. Officials will check that the rules are being respected, although there are no plans to punish anyone who breaks them, authorities said. The piste will be reserved for children, elderly skiers and anyone else who wants...

REDMOND, Wash. - A professional skiing photographer attempting to document the harsh Argentine terrain where plane crash survivors once resorted to cannibalism died in a 4,500-foot fall, his family said. Carl Warren Skoog, 46, fell from the remote southern face of 22,210-foot Mount Mercedario in the Andes on Oct. 17 while working with a longtime ski partner, Rene Crawshaw. "It wasn't extremely dangerous. He just fell somehow, and he just couldn't get his ice pick in to stop him," said Crawshaw, who needed more than a day to trek out of the remote area to get aid. The pair had...

MAMMOTH LAKES – The Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, a longtime winter playground for Southern California residents, says it will sell a controlling interest to a private investment firm. The $365 million acquisition will be made by Starwood Capital Groups, led by luxury hotel mogul Barry S. Sternlicht. The move is expected to give the resort an upscale character, unlike the raw, unpolished style developed by founder and co-owner Dave McCoy. The deal will give Starwood 70 percent control and the right to operate 4,000 acres of ski terrain at Mammoth and June mountains and allow for some development. The land...

The American magazine Time has recommended the little-known sport of yak skiing in India as one of the 10 best ways in Asia to relax the mind. The magazine's Asian edition says this "implausible extreme sport" involves going at rocket speed uphill attached by rope to a yak charging downhill. The skier attracts the yak from up high by shaking a bucket of nuts, which must be put down fast before the fun begins. "The sport may be a barmy injunction to even barmier tourists," Time says. Nervous wait According to the article, yak skiing is carried out in the...

Okay, so I am probably not doing the fine folks of Moraker, Norway, in revealing one of the best-kept secrets of Norway; a paradise, apparently, for hunters and fishermen and skiiers.Meraker is a "commune"--one assumes that is similar with our "township" or "county" here in the United States--of 2,500 people, or about 3 people per square mile. An ancient (circa 1905) photograph of Norwegian loggers near Meraker. Some mountain that dominates Meraker. If Norway joins the European Union, which forbides the Finns to defend themselves against wolves, probably these women will have to learn marksmanship somewhere else. Apparently even faraway...

Record exodus to the mountains at Easter,Monday (2nd Day Easter) ends the Easter vacation in Norway, and it is already clear that a record number has visited mountain chalets, cabins and ski centers this year.The major alpine centers report an increase of 20-50 per cent, according to public broadcaster NRK.One reason for the record number taking to the mountains is the fact that Easter comes early this year. The other reason is the beautiful weather with perfect skiing conditions (particularly in the Southern part of the country), says Einar Oyo, manager of the Geilo Skilifts.The Norwegian Tourist Association (DNT) reports...

WATERVILLE VALLEY — Nine disabled soldiers who recently lost limbs or became blind fighting for freedom in Iraq got a new sense of their own freedom this weekend at Waterville Valley. They were brought here from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. with their families and as part of their rehabilitation, they got to ski. Their smiles, their laughs and their words reveal the experience was uplifting and liberating to them. Jeremy Feldbusch, 25, of Blairsville, Pa, skis down the mountain with the assistance of Waterville Valley Adaptive Skiing Program instructor BJ Pessia Saturday afternoon. Feldbusch was...

VAIL, Colo., Feb. 24, 2005 – Vail Resorts has joined the Defense Department's "America Supports You" campaign, an ongoing nationwide program designed to showcase America's support to the men and women of the Armed Forces. Vail Mountain and the Vail community will host 19 soldiers over the weekend of February 24-27. These soldiers are all recuperating from the loss of a limb, having been treated at the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C. This is the second annual Vail Veterans' Ski Weekend, and provides the opportunity for soldiers who were wounded in action in Iraq to learn to...

Always dreamed of skiing in the Alps? Better do it quick. Rising global temperatures are bringing shorter winters to Europe and increasing difficulties for its famous ski resorts. Many resorts are already suffering and some winter-sport regions are already beginning to plan for a life, aprés ski. ... Oddly, many scientists believe that global warming may, in fact, eventually lead to a radical cooling of Europe. Continuing melting of the polar ice caps -- already well under way -- could severely disrupt the Gulf Stream which brings warm water from the South Atlantic to the coasts of Europe thus ensuring...

PORTLAND, Ore. - Olympic ski champion Bill Johnson was charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest after punching a sheriff's deputy in the face during a traffic stop, police said. Johnson was stopped in his pickup truck Friday by a Multnomah County sheriff's deputy and a suburban Troutdale police officer. When the officers approached, Johnson pulled out his 1984 gold medal and taunted them by saying, "You don't have one of these," police said. Authorities said Johnson threw his keys at Deputy Jeff Cordes, reached out his window, grabbed the deputy's shirt and punched him in the face. Johnson...

Jahorina, the 1984 Olympic ski mountain, was scarred by war and reputation. It's starting to make a comeback. - Five years ago, intrepid skiers tired of Telluride could have earned bragging rights by taking on the ultimate thrillride: vacationing at this war-scarred ski resort near Sarajevo. Just making the drive along the winding mountain road from Sarajevo to Jahorina, the 1984 Olympic ski mountain now part of Bosnia's postwar Serb Republic, was an adventure in itself. Back then, the mountain was mostly deserted, attracting a small but bizarre mix of Bosnian Serb politicians, vacationing Belgraders and Montenegrins, NATO peacekeepers, and...

Homosexual activists blast man who posted warning to families ___ A promoter of tourism in a Colorado ski town has stirred up a controversy among local residents after posting a warning to potential visiting families about the city's Gay Ski Week. Al Heirich runs an online guide to Telluride, Colo., offering information about the town, its skiing, lodging and restaurants. Telluride is a world-class ski resort with a population of about 3,000. Heirich says promoters of the homosexual event, including the Telluride Ski Resort, have demanded he remove his warning to families on his website, claiming it is discriminatory. The...

Clint Eastwood's Daughter's Boyfriend Dies At Vail Dead Snowboarder Identified Dec 15, 2004 4:37 pm US/Mountain VAIL, Colo. (AP) The body of a snowboarder found near Vail Mountain was identified on Wednesday as Michael Combs, 42, the boyfriend of Clint Eastwood's daughter. Resort spokeswoman Jen Brown said Combs had been missing since Monday. His body was found late Tuesday morning in a closed area near the bottom of Vail Mountain. Combs had been snowboarding with Alison Eastwood, according to the an Eagle County sheriff's department. Ski patrol members and crews that groom the slopes at night had been looking for...

GREAT ST. BERNARD PASS, Switzerland, Oct. 27 - The only dog right now at the 950-year-old hospice of St. Bernard is a very nice golden retriever named Justy. The issue of those other dogs - the famously huge and heroic ones, who toted brandy barrels in legend, who lived here for centuries and sniffed scores of stranded travelers out of the snow - is not one that the Rev. Frédéric Gaillard is keen to talk about. "Now there are helicopters," Father Gaillard, one of four remaining monks at the St. Bernard's hospice here, said with some irritation. "And we have...

Senator John Kerry is now planning to take one last campaign stop at his Ketchum, Idaho vacation home this coming Sunday morning. The purpose of this trip is to test some newly-purchased skiing equipment. Senator Kerry remarked that "this new hat should give me a significant boost among undecided voters, prior to the vote on next Tuesday"

"I love baseball. I love football. I love sports. French skiers. Franz Klammer…" (John Kerry as quoted in Michael Hainey, “A Beer With John Kerry,” GQ, 9/04) 

<p>ARCTIC MAN: Veteran McClurg, rookie Horton hope for perfect match.</p> <p>Missy McClurg tows her partner Suki Horton during an Arctic Man training run on Prator Lake near Houston last week. Though it was Horton's first time being pulled behind a snowmachine, she's comfortable with fast runs. Horton was the top female Alaskan at the U.S. Alpine Championships at Alyeska last month.</p>

John Kerry's shoulder surgery implies one of two things: either the surgery wasn't planned until a short time ago, which STONGLY implies that it was the result of his falling while skiiing and snowboarding in Sun Valley last week OR that John Kerry has a sense of priviledge: what middle class American would take a week off to go skiing and THEN take nearly a week to have surgery. NO, Mr Kerry, that middle class that you want to fight for, but don't clearly understand would have to skip the vacation in order to have the surgery done. Does he...

.... The image-conscious candidate and his aides prevailed upon reporters and photographers to let him have a first run down the mountain solo, except for two agents and Marvin Nicholson, his omnipresent right-hand man. His next trip down, a reporter and a camera crew were allowed to follow along on skis — just in time to see Mr. Kerry taken out by one of the Secret Service men, who had inadvertently moved into his path, sending him into the snow. When asked about the mishap a moment later, he said sharply, "I don't fall down," then used an expletive to...

Seven soldiers who lost legs during incidents in Iraq will get the chance this weekend to schuss down the slopes of Vail, Colo. Vail Ski Association, with support from a broad range of local and national donors, is providing the soldiers, their wives or girlfriends and their children an all-expense-paid visit to one of the world's premier ski resorts. The Vail community and corporate sponsors will roll out the red carpet with free lodging, meals, lift tickets, ski equipment and lessons. Cheryl Jensen from the Vail Ski Association said the weekend will allow soldiers to enjoy the exhilaration of skiing...

It's All Downhill From Here DAVE BARRY Feb. 29, 2004 I haven't attempted to ski for years, but recently I decided to take another stab at it. I was hoping they'd done something about the gravity problem. Gravity is the biggest drawback to skiing. Without gravity, it would be a carefree activity: You'd put on your skis, head for the slopes and just . . . hover for a while. Then it would be time for ''aprs ski'' (French for ''no longer skiing''). Instead, you have gravity. Huge amounts of it. Ski areas are located smack dab on top of...

The communities were declaring their independence; the people of those communities were asserting that no man was born--to use the language of Mr. Jefferson--booted and spurred, to ride over the rest of mankind; that men were created equal--meaning the men of the political community; that there was no divine right to rule; that no man inherited the right to govern; that there were no classes by which power and place descended to families; but that all stations were equally within the grasp of each member of the body politic. --Jefferson Davis, Farewell Speech to Congress, 1861 Grab your guns and...

TURIN, Italy — Global warming is threatening the world's ski resorts, with melting at lower altitudes forcing the sport to move higher and higher up mountains, according to a United Nations study released Tuesday. Downhill skiing could disappear altogether at some resorts, while at others, a retreating snow line will cut off base villages from their ski runs as soon as 2030, warned the report by the U.N. Environment Program. "Climate change is happening now. We can measure it," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the U.N. program. "This study shows that it is not just the developing world that...

Warming has skiing on slippery slope By Andrew Dampf Associated Press TURIN, Italy -- Global warming is threatening the world's ski resorts, with melting at lower altitudes forcing the sport to move higher and higher up mountains, according to a United Nations study released Tuesday. Downhill skiing could disappear altogether at some resorts, while at others, a retreating snow line will cut off base villages from their ski runs as soon as 2030, warned the report by the U.N. Environment Program. "Climate change is happening now. We can measure it," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the U.N. program. "This...

Following years of drought, snow storms battered Mt. Hermon this year dropping meters of white stuff to the delight of Israeli skiers and visiting children. The heavy snowfall this year resulted in an avalanche two weeks ago, the first such incident that the resort has witnessed. The Mt. Hermon Ski School reports that there is still plenty of snow remaining for both the avid Passover skier and the many non skiing visitors who cherish a sleigh ride, a friendly snow ball fight or just a relaxing glass of wine overlooking the green Golan Heights.

ALTA, Wyo. -- Pressure from uncomfortable skiers and other tourists prompted the Grand Targhee Ski and Summer Resort to blank out the second half of the name of one of its ski mountains. Mary's Nipple is now just Mary's. "Nipple" has been covered with tape until new signs arrive in about two weeks. "If things offend our guests, we try to redeem that," marketing director Susie Barnett-Bushong said. "Management was never compelled to take it away until more and more people expressed they were uncomfortable with the signs." But the sanitized signs have rankled some local skiers, who feel a...