It's showtime. As a group we are going to start the coolest winter project ever dreamed up, STJSP, Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program, and we are doing it for the 75th time. In these days of instant this and short term that, not much lasts that long, but you are about to grab a rope, a hammer, or a saw and become part of an old fashion barn raising. The community, you, is about to make something amazing for itself and mostly for its children. It is time to believe in some old fashion values of effort equals results, no one on the sidelines, and what you build will last a lifetime for your kids. No one leaves here without a lasting impression, just don’t hit your thumb driving that nail.
Fair warning. If you think you bought Sky Tavern, you are wrong. You just purchased an opportunity to create Sky Tavern and I sold you a bag of beans if you thought otherwise. The first week will be mayhem, confusion, and frustration. It is up to all of us to make it into something for the kids and we will. There are some bumps and potholes, but over the years, guidelines have been set that make this all easier and get things smoothed out faster. It usually takes until Week 2 and all of it is up to you, the members, and believers in what happens here. Don’t bother calling the office Monday morning. Work together, and become teammates by rolling up your sleeves and pitching in. Follow the returning families. They have been through this before. Just remember the saying “If you don’t do it, it might just not get done” is pretty much the last line of the play around here. Find a group to work(play) with to make this happen for kids. And thank you for what you are about to do. This place matters in a kid’s life. They just don’t it yet.
The storms dumped 25+ feet of the wettest snow ever in three weeks. We are still digging out stuff. The lunch deck is actually 20 feet wider than it has seating for now. Go find it, please. The back stairs are a distant memory, along with some of adaptive’s tables. One of the carpet lifts has developed an aversion to running when it is cold out. A fairly strange problem that didn’t happen before Old Man Winter dumped 25 feet of snow on its CPU. The manufacturer is working on the fix. The real world is that Mt. Rose has 200 employees and they are still looking for the Winter Creeks Lodge. Sky Tavern has five shoveling guys ranging in age from” I can’t buy a beer yet to a Medicare shopper”. We have done pretty well getting the place back. It will get better. Sorry about the parking.
If you are new this season, you just signed up for a winning team. Sky Tavern Moms, Dads, and Grandparents are the best at this running and teaching at a ski area just for the kids. In the ski area world, the biggest award from the industry is the National Ski Areas Association’s Conversion Cup Award. In simple terms, it goes to what area is doing the most for the sport to continue to the next generation. It’s a little more involved than that but that is the basic platform. Sky Tavern won it for the 2021 season. A bunch of volunteer parents teaching kids beat all the Vails, Squaw Valleys (sorry Palisades), and every other pro ski school in the country. It is sitting on the fireplace where you buy lunch. Be proud. You rock. Get to work.
More about Sky Tavern kicking the big guy's butts can be found here.
See you this weekend, and I will step off my soapbox now.
Bill
