Everyone's got an opinion about skiing.
I had been reading with great amusement the debate on TetonAT over Stephen Koch‘s snowmobile trip to Mount Moran, until the story reached its absurd conclusion last night.
I do not condone what Koch and friends did. One might surmise that karma was served when the group got the snowmobile stuck twice and, after climbing and skiing the mountain, was forced to drag it over the boggy lake surface in the dark. Lesson learned, perhaps.
Posting a video of the infraction sure was a boneheaded move. They deserved whatever ridicule was heaped upon them, and a fine from the park.
But to be fired from Exum Mountain Guides? By Jack Turner, the outlaw philosopher?
A reader sent me this logo after the last big blog debate, concerning the avalanches at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. There have been three major flare-ups on local blogs in the last two years, in all cases involving skiing.
Nothing inflames the passions of Jackson Hole residents more than a breach of the supposed “right” way to enjoy the mountains. The reader remarked to me, “After reading all the judgments being thrown around by our always opinionated community, I turned to Photoshop for therapy.”
I can’t help but feel that Stephen Koch was punished for the fuss over his infraction, more than the violation itself.
Exum has fired one of its best-known guides for what the park deems little more than a speeding ticket. Paul Petzoldt just fell off a rope in heaven.
To those throwing stones: You have never camped in the park without a backcountry permit, or put a boat on the Snake River without the required sticker? Who hasn’t relished visiting the park, by chance or by craft, without paying the entrance fee?
The outlaw mentality is so ingrained in our culture. In this wild corner of Wyoming, a little good-natured rule-bending merits admiration more than approbation, wink wink.
Worn like a badge of honor.
Witness tonight’s sold-out premiere of “Swift Silent Deep,” a documentary about the Jackson Hole Air Force, a band of skiers founded on the premise of ducking ropes at the ski area.
I know — “Swift SILENT Deep,” as one of the Hunt brothers wrote on TetonAT. If Stephen had kept his mouth shut, there would have been no fuss.
The blog debate was useful; how funny, and fascinating, that one breach of etiquette and park rules triggered an eruption over the entire motorized use policy for the parks. I found the dialogue better than most of what went on during the planning process and subsequent litigation.
Blog comments are a no-holds-barred battle royale, an intellectual wrestling match in which combatants jostle with humor and wit. But it’s sort of like pro wrestling, as the body slams, often anonymous, aren’t to be taken too seriously.
Participants usually understand this, but I’m not sure the decision makers at Exum do.
In this case a husband and father of an infant son has been left jobless in rough economic times. Quite a harsh judgment, no matter what arena you’re in.
