October 16, 1995

Mr. Dave Johnson
Vice President
Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee
215 South State Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Certified Mail - RRR

Dear Mr. Johnson:

It is the snowboard community's hope that snowboarding 
competition will be represented in the best manner in 2002.  Please 
accept that most of us are excited to see snowboarding as part of the 
program for 2002 (although as noted in the enclosed article 
snowboarding is, for some reason, not mentioned as part of the 
games).  This letter is born of years of involvement in the snowboard 
industry,  serious consultation with many others concerned with this 
subject and the hope that a rapid and fair resolution can be found.  
Having just returned from meetings in Europe and Japan I found that 
the sentiments I will express in this letter are shared by Americans, 
Europeans and Japanese athletes as well as members of the 
snowboard industry and snowboard press.

My earliest involvement in the snowboard industry was in the early 
to mid eighties when, as an employee of [company removed], we set 
out to convince ski resorts that snowboards should be welcomed at 
their facilities.  As skiing continued to seriously decline over the 
eighties, the early nineties saw snowboarding become accepted at 
virtually every ski area world-wide, particularly as area operators 
sought to replace lost ticket sales as skier days continued to decline.  
In fact, snowboarders now constitute, on average, 15 percent of lift 
ticket sales nationally.  Some ski resorts report snowboarders as high 
as 35 percent of ticket sales.  And, this is incremental revenue since 
snowboarders are typically new to the snow.  Cross-over skiers are a 
small percentage of these numbers.  Add to these revenue numbers 
the hardware, clothing, accessories, food and other associated 
purchases made by snowboarders and their families.  Snowboarding 
is now, according to the National Sporting Goods Association, the 
fastest growing sport in the world.  There are now more than two 
million snowboarders in the United States.

Today, 20 years after the advent of the first commercial snowboard,  
only  one state reprented by the National Ski Areas Association -  
Utah -  still does not permit snowboarding at most of its major ski 
areas.  Over the years a singular effort has been made to convince 
the ownership of Park City Ski Area to permit snowboarding.  I have 
personally been involved in numerous "demos" at this ski area.  
Many others have attempted to bring management to realize that 
virtually every family that skis has a son or daughter who is a 
snowboarder. All attempts have failed.  This situation has been the 
subject of numerous articles and is well known nationally to 
snowboarders and the snowboard industry and press.  Further, we 
believe the position of Park City Ski Area has affected policy at the 
other Utah resorts who do not permit snowboarding.  This is 
evidenced by the refusal of Ski Utah to allow snowboard industry 
input at their meetings, citing opposition from ski area owners and 
management, particularly Park City Ski Area.  It is particularly 
offensive to the snowboard community that Park City is the "home" 
of U.S. Skiing (of which U.S. Snowboarding is part) and the President 
of U.S. Skiing, Nick Badami, does not allow snowboarding on his 
mountain. Apparently, support by the ski area and its owner for U.S. 
Skiing is, at best, conditional.  We realize that ownership of Park City 
Ski Area is in the process of changing, but this has apparently had no 
effect on a long standing policy of excluding snowboarders.  Isn't it 
hypocritical, then, for Park City Ski Area to want the  snowboard 
venue and for the Organizing Committee to permit this?

As plans for 2002 begin to take shape, the industry and 
snowboarders are appalled that the owner of Park City (and a sister 
area in California) who has steadfastly refused to allow 
snowboarding at his resorts will now be rewarded by having an 
Olympic snowboard venue at his resort.  Since "warm-up" events will 
be required over the next several years do the owners of Park City 
Ski Area plan to only allow snowboarding for the few days of 
required events in the years leading to 2002 and then only for the 
games?  It would be cynical for management to begin to allow 
snowboarding just before the games or only for the required prior 
events and the games!  What would be policy when the games are 
over?

Snowboarding is a "lifestyle" sport and its practitioners are vastly 
different from skiers.  Many of us feel so strongly about this matter 
that we would ask the organizing committee to not reward Park City 
Ski Area with what could be the most popular events in the games, 
unless the resort's owners are willing to permit unrestricted 
snowboarding at the resort beginning this season and will commit to 
continue to allow snowboarding in the future.  Absent such a 
commitment, we would request that an alternate location for the 
snowboard events be found. 

Snowboarders, the snowboard industry and the snowboard press are 
united in their opposition to having snowboard events at the ski area 
most often identified with opposition to snowboarding at their resort, 
and whom advertises to skiers that Park City Ski Area is "exclusively 
for skiers".  How can the organizing committee reconcile this 
philosophy with locating the snowboard events at Park City Ski 
Area?

We solicit your assistance in solving the long standing problem at 
Park City Ski Area for snowboarders or your understanding of the 
inconsistency in having snowboard events there by relocating them 
to another, more "snowboarder friendly", location.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further 
with you.

Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly,

[name removed by request]
 
cc:	Hanno Treindl, FIS
	Tom Welch, Salt Lake Organizing Committee
	Greg Harney, USOC
	John Cumming, Park City Ski Area
	Nick Badami, Park City Ski Area
	Phil Jones, Park City Ski Area
	Tim Leiweke, US Skiing
	Sharon Harned, US Snowboarding
	US Snowboarding Competition Committee
	Ted Martin, ISF/PSA North America
	Don Sather, USASA
	Transworld Snowboarding Magazine (Times Mirror)
	Snowboarder Magazine
	SnoBoard Magazine
	Ski Racing
	Medium Magazine
	Salt Lake Tribune
	Deseret News
	Ski Industries America Snowboard Committee
	Utah Snowboard Association
	Internet