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Starting the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, the Steamboat Ski Area will open for skiing and riding and all other snow events. Many of us that live in Steamboat or who visit Steamboat, love the mountain. My teen style topic this week was to ask around at school to find out who people think should own the ski area if they had the choice. I set off around Steamboat Springs High School expecting someone to say "MTV, so we could have concerts," or "Disneyland, so Mickey Mouse could come," or "Six Flags, so there could be roller coasters," or "National Aeronautics and Space Administration, so we could be air lifted instead of taking the gondola." However, I was surprised to find that some of my peers thought logically about my question. In fact, when I asked this question I got all of the same answers.

I started by asking my friend and long-time rider Paige Porteous. She thinks a long time resident of Steamboat should own the mountain. Her reasoning was that they know what the residents like, they know how to keep Steamboat Springs the same or better, and they know how to maintain everything in the snow.

I then asked Emma Lyons at SSHS. She replied with basically the same answer. We may be teenagers that cause problems or according to adults, "don't know what's best for the community because we are to young to understand." But a lot of us were born here and have lived here for more than 11 years. I may dream and aspire to leave Steamboat one day and move to a bigger city because that is the kind of person I am. But for those who love Steamboat because of its small town atmosphere, I agree with my peers. It would be best to have a local own the mountain.

It would also be really cool to not have to drive to Denver for a concert or fly to California to see Disneyland. But driving three hours or taking a vacation is better than compromising our small town.