Originally Posted by
Endlessseason
This debate's been going on since the big Remarq, Deja, and R.S.A. ski forums of the 90's (Fiddler remembers those BB's because that's how he and I first met).
I'll go ahead and post here what I used to post back then, because not a lot of people seem to know this; Alta's 'been there and done' the snowboarder thing 36 years ago. Alta was actually the first ski area in the entire western U.S. to allow snowboarding, way back in 1975.
One of my little brothers used to make snowboards in our basement for his friends. When Alta opened up to riders in '75, he couldn't even keep up with the demand for his homemade boards. He thought he'd found his future. But, guess what--the traverse issues became such a problem that Alta decided to close to boarders at the end of that season. Unfortunately, my brother had thought demand would continue and had invested in all kinds of material and presses, in addition to expensive glues and resins. Alta's decision literally left no place for boarders to ride that following season. My brother got his butt handed to him in his little snowboard business.
If you've ever wondered why Alta is so completely closed to the boarder idea, it's because they already played that game and they know what will happen. By the way, if you want proof of what happens, look at the Bookends traverse at the Bird. You don't see pro riders or even good riders slogging it because they hate it. Ask 'em. They'll tell you it's "too long, too difficult, not worth it," and so on. They'll give you all kinds of reasons. In fact, the boarders you see on BE traverse are generally the ones trying it for the first time. They see all the skiers heading there for the pow and want to get some. But, it doesn't take too many minutes of hiking to change their mind. Most bail at about the "point" area where, thankfully, the vert is so short it doesn't mess up the goods for the rest of us.
I snowboarded until I switched completely over to skiing in '02. I know how sucky long traverses can be. Of the hundreds of BE laps I've done, I've only seen a handful of boarders actually stick with the traverse past the hilary gate. Since some of Alta's traverses are longer than BET, one can clearly see the problem it would cause.
Alta wants to make money. If that '75 season hadn't revealed numerous problems, they'd still be open to boarders.
