Skiers Rule, Snowboarders not welcome: The Alta Ultimatum

In the early 80s, less than 10% of all ski resorts in themodernise, 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. Assomething which should have been stamped out long
snowboarding entered the main stream - going from aago.
renegade fad to becoming an Olympic sport - resortsIndeed, the skier-snowboarder rivalry has for the large
across the world have embraced snowboardingpart disappeared from the slopes of the world.
customers.Anyone who has spent extended time skiing or
And why not? Skiing was getting stale, andsnowboarding can tell you that whatever animosity
snowboarding was attracting a whole new generationonce existed has long since faded, and the only place
of snow sports enthusiasts who had no previousthe feud still manifests itself is in the pages of tabloid
interest in the two-plank discipline. The moretype media which seek to stir up a story whenever a
foresightful ski resorts quickly realised that byskier and snowboarder have any type of collision on
promoting snowboarding, and building areas calledthe slope. The truth in these matters is almost always
terrain parks which had specially made jumps, theyinvariably down to fact that one or both were
could reap the financial rewards. It wasn't long beforebeginners, rather than having anything to do with their
the idea spread to other resorts and people realisedchosen 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 Lakesnowboarders to arrive, but for the foreseeable future,
City, remains strongly opposed to the snowboardAlta is sticking to its snow guns and remains the last
movement and in doing so, has become a bone ofline of defence for die-hard skiers, who still pine for the
contention in snowboarding circles, yet worshipped bytime 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 tobrought out a new "no-snowboarders" t-shirt suggests
apathy; some don't care and are happy to take theirthat the two-planks brigade have no plans to change
business elsewhere; yet for others, Alta's reluctance totheir skiers-only policy any time soon.