Jeez, crazy hate mail. Anyone with anything that they want to see at Stevens Pass this winter can draw it and mail it in. Rails, boxes, wall ride, whatever.
Sorry to dispell the myth, but Mike Thomas won't be back, and was never offered a gig at Stevens after he split two winters ago. As for the O.G. T.P.C., only Melton and Jorge will be back.
If anyone has an ideas as to how to make a resort mangement team pony up the time and money (both) to get new rails and boxes made over the summer, I'll buy you a case of your favorite beer to make that happen.
Nobody wants the best park in the NW more than I do. Each season I plan for new stuff to get developed and the plan gets nixed. Our competitors with a better feel for what is current have an arsenal of rails and boxes in the works, despite not even being open last winter.
I deal with these challenges on a daily basis, banging my head against a wall. I'm not gonna stop trying. The feedback surveys were to get some ammo together to show what our guests wanted in the park. Thanks to everyone who filled them out and shared their ideas.
I'm trying my hardest to make changes. You might have enjoyed the previous parks, and the dude who actually built them (on the snow, with a snowcat) is the new Terrain Park Manager, Dan Junk.
Junk and Junior have carried the park program for a long while now. Too many other players in this game take credit for things they had very little to do with. Parks get built at night, when it is dark and cold, not in some chat room or sitting at some desk.
If you want to sqawk, hate, complain and bitch, be my guest. If you want to come up with some solid ideas to make the park better, send 'em.
Sorry the winter was so bad last year. We worked with what we had and did what we could given the budget, hours of cat time available and limited resources. I pulled steel out of the dumpster and ground off the old paint when we were not spending $$ on new features. They are short, flat and stock. Last winter we had some obstacles in place that aren't there anymore.
As far as whether or not I know how to weld certain types of rails, I never claimed to be a fabricator. I moved here from NH and one month later started welding rails after hours in the shop. Melton, Brian, Mike and Brad all worked at Stevens for YEARS, and only complained rather than to go pick up the tools, get their hands dirty and learn how to weld.
I'm not saying that to dis them. The OG TPC faced years of challenges at Stevens that I hope to overcome in the future, but you can talk, squawk, and moan or make your own changes. I learned how to weld fat flat rails. At the time we didn't have any fattys and I can't ride rails, so that is what I made.
I hope you'll continue to visit our mountain and enjoy Stevens, but our parks will be built for riders/skiers of all levels, not just the heroes. Too many squids get broke off on the big stuff so we need a balance to let the kids progress and develop their skills before hitting the big stuff.
Any suggestions or complaints, send em to me directly at mgormley@stevenspass.com
