| In the early 80s, less than 10% of all ski resorts in the | | | | modernise, represents an almost politically incorrect |
| USA permitted access to snowboarders. Nowadays, | | | | discrimination, on a par with sexism and racism, and is |
| just 4 anti-snowboard resorts remain. As | | | | something which should have been stamped out long |
| snowboarding entered the main stream - going from a | | | | ago. |
| renegade fad to becoming an Olympic sport - resorts | | | | Indeed, the skier-snowboarder rivalry has for the large |
| across the world have embraced snowboarding | | | | part disappeared from the slopes of the world. |
| customers. | | | | Anyone who has spent extended time skiing or |
| And why not? Skiing was getting stale, and | | | | snowboarding can tell you that whatever animosity |
| snowboarding was attracting a whole new generation | | | | once existed has long since faded, and the only place |
| of snow sports enthusiasts who had no previous | | | | the feud still manifests itself is in the pages of tabloid |
| interest in the two-plank discipline. The more | | | | type media which seek to stir up a story whenever a |
| foresightful ski resorts quickly realised that by | | | | skier and snowboarder have any type of collision on |
| promoting snowboarding, and building areas called | | | | the slope. The truth in these matters is almost always |
| terrain parks which had specially made jumps, they | | | | invariably down to fact that one or both were |
| could reap the financial rewards. It wasn't long before | | | | beginners, rather than having anything to do with their |
| the idea spread to other resorts and people realised | | | | chosen snow sport. |
| that rather than being a fad to be shunned, | | | | No one knows how long the slopes, ski chalets and |
| snowboarding was a cash cow waiting to be milked. | | | | hotels in Salt Lake City will be waiting for |
| But Alta, a renowned ski resort in Utah's Salt Lake | | | | snowboarders to arrive, but for the foreseeable future, |
| City, remains strongly opposed to the snowboard | | | | Alta is sticking to its snow guns and remains the last |
| movement and in doing so, has become a bone of | | | | line of defence for die-hard skiers, who still pine for the |
| contention in snowboarding circles, yet worshipped by | | | | time when the slopes were free of the 'reckless |
| many of the older skier generation, in equal zeal. | | | | snowboard hoodlum'; the fact that Alta have just |
| Snowboarders' opinions vary from bitterness to | | | | brought out a new "no-snowboarders" t-shirt suggests |
| apathy; some don't care and are happy to take their | | | | that the two-planks brigade have no plans to change |
| business elsewhere; yet for others, Alta's reluctance to | | | | their skiers-only policy any time soon. |