Sometimes It Takes Sticking Around for Things to Work Out

Change is the nature of the universe.   Without it evolution would be as worthless as a globe to a Flat-Earther.  However, even as we yearn for a shiny new day, another chance to get things right, we need to take what does work along with us for the ride through time.  Conversely, we need to discard and wave goodbye to whatever holds us back.  Recognizing the difference and having the courage to choose defines the thin line between success and failure, or better, between opportunity and status quo.  Sometimes all you need is time.

This Saturday Magic Mountain is scheduled to open for the 2016-2017 season.  This will mark the 20^th year of continuous operation for the mountain.  It will also be the first season in that time with entirely new ownership and management. 

Over the years the resort has often stumbled towards bankruptcy and permanent closure.  Vision, hard work, generosity and good fortune have saved Magic several times during the past two decades and many good people have supplied the former to help produce the later.  The list is long and contains familiar names, but also contains many whose labor of love often went unrecognized.  It would be unfair to single out the shining stars I’ve known over the years, at the expense of many I never knew.  They would be just the tip of a very large iceberg of devotees who have loved Magic Mountain as their own.

There were heroes in the first days of reopening, working through long cold nights to restore lift ops and snowmaking that had been stripped away after Boston Concessions pulled the plug in 1991.  There were managers who stared down deadlines and debt with little more than an absolute determination to keep the resort open.  There were cooks and carpenters, mechanics and medics; and, of course, scores of season pass and daily ticket customers who knew this was more than just another ski area and acted passionately on that knowledge.  High on the list is the extraordinary effort of the people involved in Greg Williams’ Save Magic campaign that raised capital and stoked interest in the mountain during a time when both were in limited supply.  And, what about Jim Sullivan and Tom Barker who stayed the course through treacherous waters?  Ok, some people have to be mentioned, including the founder of the feast, Hans Thorner.

In the beginning it was Thorner’s bold vision that created the first Tyrolean themed ski village in North America and recruited the use of a helicopter to set lift towers on steep rocky terrain.   Magic is also where snowboarding took its tentative first steps.  Jake Burton built a half pipe here before other ski areas had even seen a snowboard.  Since 1960 thousands of kids have learned to ski and ride at Magic, later bringing their own kids, who in turn brought their kids.  There’s history here and the beat goes on.

With the vertical of Mount Snow without the glitz, the steeps of Killington without the show biz and Mad River’s off piste without the affectation, Magic is unique.  Especially now.  Our hill is cared for by Mountain Manager Matt Cote who, before becoming an employee this year, annually volunteered countless hours performing whatever improvement efforts were necessary. The new President, Geoff Hatheway, has a long relationship with the mountain.  He is also an owner and has a personal investment in the daily decisions he makes.  In addition to Geoff the new ownership group consists of long time Magic skiers and riders who have always understood and cherished the qualities that separate Magic from any other ski resort.

Magic’s journey has been a long, strange and memorable trip.  Its numerous struggles to survive are legendary, as is its stubborn refusal to succumb to them.    I join with everyone who loves the mountain, welcoming a new era that celebrates Magic’s past while at the same time recognizing a bright and shiny future.

Finally, it is my hope that someone someday writes a definitive Magic history.   It would be an amazing read.

  

Thoughts on a Dark Day

This is a shocking and unpleasant day for those of us who never believed that an individual with no experience as a civil servant could assume the title, “leader of the free world.”  At its core, what makes America singularly different from other nations is the absolute belief that our democracy requires the participation of its citizen to function.  We have a true sense of being in it together, whether that “it” be cataclysm or celebration.  The supporters of Donald Trump have much to celebrate, persevering against great odds to convince a majority of uncommitted voters that their candidate was different and a harbinger of change.

 Different, he is.  Unlike any previous president elect, until his improbable run for president, he has largely avoided participating in the democratic process.  To the contrary, he is proud of his record of using tax regulations to circumvent any financial obligation to his country.  Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should, any more than welfare or unemployment recipients should use loopholes to cheat the system.  When the rest of us have our shoulders to the wheel I certainly expect a billionaire, captain of industry and fellow citizen to be right there with us.  And, to the dazed, disillusioned and disgusted who never considered this day possible emigrating to Canada is not an option.  You, too, have responsibilities.  Now more than ever, we need you at the wheel.

As a difference maker Donald Trump has been lukewarm to the distinctly American concepts of equality and respect for those who don’t look like, worship like or share the same sexual orientation he does.  He has been openly anti immigrant, misogynistic and racially insensitive, reminiscent of a mid 19^th Century political party, the Know Nothings.   Abraham Lincoln offered this commentary regarding his concerns for the fragile belief in ‘liberty and justice for all’ found so abhorrent by many of his fellow countrymen:

”As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equals, except negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to that I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

Remove the direct inference to "negroes," insert Muslim in place of "Catholics" and you have a statement that seems to be a core message from the 2016 campaign.

And what of Russia?  Putin’s support of a Trump presidency, a cold war-like challenge to every American position internationally and the chilling probability of computer hacking efforts to manipulate information at the highest levels presents an adversarial threat unprecedented in this generation.   As a nation we’ve exhibited the will and wisdom to resolve, or at least defuse every previous encounter.  The common denominator has been leadership.  In this most uncertain of times, we need more than self serving, self righteous and self aggrandizing bombast. 

Unable to move back in time, we move forward.  It is my sincerest hope that candidate Donald Trump, the man so many of us bitterly opposed, will be changed by the awesome responsibilities he now assumes as President Donald Trump.  I hope he becomes increasingly thoughtful and interested in hearing the voices that challenge rather than constantly praise.  I hope he recognizes the crucial role of a loyal opposition in fleshing out both sides of an issue.  I hope he considers the context of debate and the wide assortment of options before making crucial decisions.  And, most importantly I ardently pray he will rise to the occasion and become the leader that all of us, this great American collective of diversity, need and deserve.