Evolution

We saw some great advertisements during the Beijing Olympics and there was one that showed 2000 people on one slope that made us laugh.  We said that Vail must be working in China.  Then we thought ‘OMG what if Vail does go to China’.  They could sell 100 million Epic Passes and all those people would come here for Christmas.  Then we would be in real trouble. 

Seriously, I must admit that I had been skiing a few times this year and it was fun as hell.  Of course, it was early on Tuesday and Thursdays, it was cloudy and below zero, and we went up at 800 AM for parking and coffee first.  We went over to the Old Mountain at Park Worst (Canyons) and skied the Ironhorse chair (Condor).  Stampede and Ambush (Aplandez and Boa) were rolled to perfection and empty, so we skied non-stop runs, doing a million turns or no turns at all, and it was a blast.    

With all our negative bitching and moaning lately, about traffic, parking, crowds, grooming and run closures, we forget how much fun skiing is; going fast with family and friends in the forest and bright blue sunshine with pine scented fresh air all around and a mama moose and calf watching us from the bushes.  It is an incredibly indulgent, elite activity but there are worse things to do and I believe it can help make us better people.  I took my dog Eva for a loop in the Snyderville Meadow to check out the great new ski track on the Osguthorpe’s farm (no dogs) and the County’s Willow Creek pond hockey rink, and to look up to the mountains to remember why we live here.

It reminded me of the 70s, when they invented Earth Day and we all became Environmentalists.  That seemed safe since everyone is really an environmentalist at heart and no one really wants to wreck the planet.  Some people took Environmentalism too far by burning and blowing up things, so we were all mislabeled Radical Environmentalist and it became a negative thing.  So we rebranded and we all embraced Sustainability.  That was safe since no one wants to be Un-sustainable, but every University created a Sustainability Major and every corporation created a Sustainability Department (right next to the Social Media and Data Networking Departments), and Sustainability became a sordid punch line.

Then we introduced the concept of Resilience that indicated a willingness to accept responsibility and adapt to some of the problems we have created.  That was fine until we were then expected to ‘meet you halfway’ and everything from the environment to health care became a political negotiation, a risk assessment.  So now we are finally in the age of Discontinuity, where the future looks nothing like the past and we are expected to change our perspective and expectations.  We are now having a 100 year storm every year, for example, or there are suddenly 2000 people skiing sideways on the same slope with you.  Your perspective on how it used to be doesn’t really matter to anyone but you.

Park City Still Doesn’t Suck, as the bumper sticker says.  It is not what it was, but it is still great.  Maybe we have to be smarter and zig when they zag, or just avoid the Resorts at 1000 AM and the Junctions or liquor stores at 500 PM. We are smart enough to adapt, improvise, accept, and evolve.  Maybe our new word should be Evolution.  It is natural and it is what most species do to improve.  Or else we should find someplace else to over-hunt and over-graze, over-ski and over-develop.  The choice is ours.  Should I stay or Should I go.  Evolve or move on.

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