Wow, sweet thread guys.
Here is our perspective:
At Momentum, we do work very hard to try and give the best possible experience for our campers. This goes for all of the camps on the glacier, they are all run by great, hardworking people, who bust their ass to create parks in some very challenging condiditons. Part of the experience that the campers pay for, is having a private lane. Anyone who poaches our lane is taking away from the campers who have, in many cases, worked their asses off to earn the money to come to our camp. Also, there is an insurance issue, safety considerations, etc.
I'm not sure why people think that we wouldn't pay our coaches?? Does anyone like working for free? The job title says it all: coach. They are not up there on their own, skiing around without a care in the world. They are actively COACHING the campers, working with a different group every day. And this is not only on-hill, but also during afternoon activities, evening video review sessions, trampoline, etc. Yes, it is a great job, however it also involves obligations, responsibilities, and commitments, like all jobs do.
We love our coaching crew, and so do our campers. Having TJ Schiller teach you a switch take-off, or Rory Bushfield take you off one of his crazy rock gap creations, is a huge part of the experience that we provide. In fact, most of our coaches are former campers themselves, who obviously found some value in the experience. Asking them to work for free, or expecting Salomon to pay Bibby's expenses and wage, would be pretty rude on our part.
Try as you may, you will have a hard time convincing John, Shane, Ken, etc. that you have the right to poach what they have spent considerable effort, time, and money creating.
As for the guys who actually build and maintain the camp lanes, like Doug, Steve, Myles, myself, I'd just like to point out one thing: It is so incredibly rude when someone poaches, and then acts like we are the a-holes when we ask them to respect our campers, diggers, and coaches, by staying off our private lanes.
Someone in this thread said "poaching is skiing". Personally I think that poaching is scamming other skiers. "Skiing" for me, has a much more positive definition.
Peace