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SOAPBOX
Your October cover asked, “Do you really need Gore-Tex?” However, the story “Climate Control,” Outfitter, October 1999 did not specifically answer the question.The people who need Gore-Tex outerwear are those who make their living on the mountain or those who cannot afford to have their clothing fail in life-threatening weather conditions. Committed users of Gore fabrics include mountain patrollers, ski and snowboard instructors, and highly respected professionals like Exum Mountain Guides. If your goal is to ski every weekend no matter what Mother Nature throws at you, then you do need Gore-Tex.
Gene Castellano
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Elkton, Maryland
BRIGHTON RANTS (WE MEAN ROCKS!)
What have the folks at Brighton Ski Resort ever done to you? Stiff you on an advertising bill? Steal your dog? Run away with your girlfriend?I can’t imagine why else they would be left off your list of great places to ski Adventure Guide, November 1999. Brighton has great snow, great off-piste terrain, no lines, and cheap tickets. If this doesn’t qualify for your list, what does it take?
Denny Huber
via the Internet
Think Doctor Evil: “One million dollars.”-Ed.
MODERN EDUCATION
Man, I’m sorry you’ve suffered this bad rap from your readership about all the nudity in Skiing Magazine this season.Of course people often ask me if I’m Democrat or Republican. I’ll tell you what I stand for. I stand for snow, snow, snow, and more powder, and Volant, and beer, and beer, and microbreweries, and more sex in Skiing Magazine.It shouldn’t matter to you if some of your readership has found what you’ve published offensive and are canceling their prescriptions. If they are, they probably aren’t true skiers anyway, and you probably won’t miss them. Believe me, even though I know my subscription is going to run out soon, I am going to renew it as soon as it does.I’ve seen almost as many beautiful women on the slopes as I have in college, and my new Volants kick ass.
Douglas Kent
Arvada, Colorado
Doug, we’re glad you’re going to renew your subscription. Unfortunately, renewing other people’s prescriptions is out of our hands. -Ed.
THE NEW STYLE
I like your magazine, but I think you should also put in more freestyle skiing, then it would be the number-one ski magazine in the USA. You guys rock at taking photos during the ski season. I hope you are around a lot longer so my kids may read the same ski magazine I did when I was a kid, and I can say, “I read the same magazine when I was your age.”
Joey Malim (age 12)
Rocklin, California
Did you catch our New Freestyle feature, “Hot Dog Redux,” in December? Oh, and Joey, you might want to concentrate on finishing junior high before you start thinking about kids.-Ed.
I have a subscription to Skiing and soon one to Freeze-both great mags! I need some advice. I’m 16 and have been skiing for eight years, mostly in Steamboat, Colorado, even though I live in Minnesota. I’m interested in learning bumps and freeskiing tricks. What would you recommend? Should I start taking lessons here in Minneapolis, or wait until I can get to Colorado?
Brandon Henak
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Definitely start taking lessons at your local hill. Get all the experience you can, as soon as possible.-Ed.
MELT WITH YOU
Discussions of environmental issues and skiing “Green vs. Growth,” December 1999 have overlooked the most important environmental problem facing the skiing/boarding industry: global warming. Those of us who remember Eastern winters from the ’60s and ’70s already see the reduced quality and quantity of snow. Snowmaking is a mere bandage for a potentially terminal illness.
Ken Leong
Antrim, New Hampshire
Sometimes the big picture is harder to see. Thanks, Ken.-Ed.
THE INVISIBLE SKIER
I read your magazine and all the other ski magazines, but I find that alll of them are lacking in one area: skiing in the Midwest. All I could find in the November issue was a brief sentence about farm kids in Wisconsin. Some of the best racers and freeskiers come from the Midwest.
David Bruce
Plymouth, Minnesota
We agree 100 percent. We’re working on it. Just hang in there.-Ed.
MASOCHISM
I loved Rick Kahl’s intro “Speak No Evil” in the November 1999 issue. “Face-freezing fun,” trails “chiseled out of granite.” Sounds like you liked skiing at Loon. Geez Rick, you could be a Bostonian!
Jim Poulette
Boston, Massachusetts