Home

One of Steamboat's best attributes as a destination resort is our town's friendliness. Perhaps the incident that I will describe is an isolated outrage that comes with hard times.

I was skiing on one of our finer powder days, Thursday, March 26. The maze at the Morningside lift was not being used, so a rather disorganized group of about 40 skiers were forming their own lift line. As a single, I looked for a double to join or another single to join. In short order, the opportunity arose, and I was able to join a double. As we proceeded, I heard a single behind me looking for the same thing. Looking forward, I saw another double ahead, so I asked if I could pass the triple directly in front of me, and I attempted to join them.

They, or I should say the one on the right, tried to brush me off when I asked to join them. Well, we all ended up on the lift together - me on the right - and I was given a lecture by the man who initially tried to brush me off. He said, "Dude, if you are a single and there is no singles line, then you go to the end of the line." This was a rant all the way to the top of the lift. When I asked if he felt no obligation to shorten the line by accepting a single, his rage deepened. The line getting longer was of no concern to him.

As a local, I'm happy to be the recipient of abuse that might well have ruined the vacation of a visitor. We do need them for our economy and the sales taxes that they generate, so I hope that this level of rudeness doesn't prevail. Perhaps an old guy like me is just in search of gentler times that are long gone.

Chris Kipfer

Steamboat Springs