Club Colorado  

The following was submitted to the Denver Post by National Ski Areas Association President Michael Berry, but it is unclear whether it will be published by the newspaper.

To the Editors:

In Karen Crummy’s three part series on ski safety, billed as an “investigative” series, Ms. Crummy and the Denver Post do a terrible disservice to readers by what they omit in their coverage, and, in turn, reveal the bias and predetermined conclusions underpinning this distorted piece of journalism. Readers, especially skiers and snowboarders, deserve more from the Denver Post on a series dedicated to Colorado’s favorite pastime.  Quite frankly, so does the ski industry, especially in light of their significant efforts on slope safety. (continue reading…)

This blog comes to Colorado Ski Country from Kristen Lummis, founder of BraveSkiMom.com

In the past, when I’ve written about skiing and riding safety, I received some comments that skiing with me might be “boring” or a “bummer.”

I beg to differ.

(continue reading…)

This blog comes to Colorado Ski Country from Amber Johnson, editor of MileHighMamas.

As a mom, I have a lot of discussions with my peers about teaching my kids to ski. My fellow skiers understand the benefits (health, fun, active lifestyle) and even my non-skiing friends don’t question these and instead cite drawback reasons like “it’s too difficult or expensive.”

But never once have I been asked, “Don’t you think it’s too dangerous?”

(continue reading…)

Some of our readers may have seen the Denver Post series supposedly about ski safety and the industry here in Colorado. In this response letter, National Ski Patrol Executive Director Tim White weighs in on behalf of ski patrollers.

To the editor,

Since 1938, the nonprofit National Ski Patrol (NSP) has dedicated itself to serving the public and outdoor recreation community. As a testimonial to its good work, NSP received a federal charter from the U.S. Congress in 1980. Today, NSP is made up of more than 28,000 paid and volunteer patrollers nationwide. For all these decades, skiers and snowboarders have come to know ski patrollers as dedicated individuals who work tirelessly to make the slopes safer and who often put themselves in harm’s way to rescue those who have become hurt or lost on the slopes. (continue reading…)

Some of our readers may have seen the recent Denver Post series supposedly about ski safety and the industry here in Colorado. Below Colorado Ski Country USA responds to the articles.

One of the major reasons people live in and visit Colorado is the opportunity to participate in the many outdoor activities our great state offers. Skiing and snowboarding are our state’s signature sports. There are 520,000 Coloradans who are active participants in skiing and snowboarding at Colorado’s 25 ski areas. Skiers and snowboarders spend nearly $3 billion each year pursuing their favorite sport in our state, with 60-70 percent of each dollar spent going to support a business other than a ski area. Colorado ski areas provide world class recreation opportunities in conjunction with our partners at the United States Forest Service and introduce many to our nation’s spectacular public lands.

These recreation opportunities would not be possible without the Colorado Ski Safety Act. Originally enacted in 1979 (when the few insurers willing to insure ski areas determined they would leave the state because of excessive and costly litigation), the Ski Safety Act does three primary things: 1) it establishes responsibilities for ski areas; 2) it establishes responsibilities for skiers and 3) it spells out risks inherent in the sport of skiing. All three tenets of the Ski Safety Act are as relevant, reasonable and necessary today as they were when the Act was adopted 34 years ago. It has stood the test of time. Since 1979, 27 states have modeled similar legislation on Colorado’s law.

(continue reading…)

Some of our readers may have seen the recent Denver Post series supposedly about ski safety and the industry here in Colorado. Below, James Moss of Recreation Law weighs in with his response.

The Denver Post wrote three articles starting Sunday March 17 and ran through March 19. The articles attempted to portray the ski industry in a negative light. To do that though it had to stretch and in several cases make up information to support the ideas.
The articles did not make me happy, more because they were so misleading. I wrote responses to those articles. (continue reading…)

Some of our readers may have seen the recent Denver Post series supposedly about ski safety and the industry here in Colorado. In this republished article that ran in yesterday’s Summit Daily News, Sheriff John Minor of Summit County shared his response. Below is his opinion piece.

As the sheriff in Summit County, I read with interest the recent series of articles in The Denver Post about skier injuries and fatalities. While I agree that any fatal accident is tragic, the vast majority of them are just that … tragic accidents. Each person made a conscious choice to ski/board, and each person wanted the thrill and enjoyment that snow sports are known for.
(continue reading…)