Editor:
On Thursday, March 30, the tribute paid to the life of Bill Corliss by his family and friends showed the impact one person can have on a community and just how far that community extends. Bill’s death was tragic, sad, and ironic, yet the service flowed with beauty. Beauty for which I would like to thank Bill’s friends and family who spoke from their hearts while memorializing his life. Personally, I was stuck by the mixture of seemingly incompatible emotions, grief and humor, deep love and regret, that resulted in one of the most moving tributes I have ever witnessed.
I did not think I knew Bill well, our lives crossed on the ski track, the bike trail, our conversations brief. I attended the service to pay my respects to a family’s loss, an individual’s ideals and a friendly acquaintance. I left feeling the beauty of Bill’s life and how it has touched my own.
Sincerely,
Tim Henney
Park City
Free-heel spirits
Editor:
Congratulations to Hailey Rockwood in her double win at NASTAR Nationals. It’s truly an amazing accomplishment, given there is no local youth telemark team or club, and she has likely had to train on her own or with the help of her parents.
A contingent of local telemark athletes just returned from the U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championships at Crested Butte, Mont., where one of the biggest stories was the youth movement in free-heel skiing. Nearly a quarter of the field were juniors (27 out of 120), with teams from Vail Mountain School, Steamboat Springs, and Sun Valley.
One of the younger females was the overall girls champion at the Next Snow finals last year, on telemark! So there’s no shortage of great young telemark skiers out there, or well-organized youth telemark teams in surrounding states, which makes Hailey’s results even more incredible. Way to go!
Thanks! Mike Sharp
Park City Telemark & PCMR Tele Tuesday Nights
FreeRide Magazine Telemark Editor
Editor:
I was a little disappointed on Saturday when I got my copy of The Park Record. I enjoy this issue each year. But, I must say that I failed to see the humor in your lift map of Park City Mountain Resort. John Donne said that what diminishes one of us diminishes all of us and that is true for all three ski areas and the town itself. There is a not-so-small industry in this town devoted to bringing tourists to Park City. It was not so big news when one of them had problems, and was fixed as quickly as possible. It happened and might be best forgotten.
There are 51 lifts in town that work day after day, some at night, and they are the “geese that lay the golden eggs,” of Park City. In fact, one might say they are the single thing that saved Park City in the late ’70s. I know that they are the reason I choose to live here.
Park City Mountain Resort earned praise for getting the PayDay lift going so quickly, running the Ski Team lift to ease lines, and returning McConkey’s to us so quickly. I’m sure it was costly.
Cheers,
Jim Miles
Talking trash
Editor:
I have lived in our fair city some four or five years now. Originally I come from a small town in Montana. One of the most striking differences between them is the acceptable level of trash. Most notably this season, when the snow melts the first thing to bloom is not the crocus, but the trash. My purpose here is not to compare or to place blame. I was raised in a place where the acceptable level of trash was zero. It was both an attitude and a personal commitment by the majority of the people in the community. I still live by that commitment every day. When you drive through my neighborhood I hope you notice it. Take the feeling home with you. Share it with your neighbors. Spend 30 minutes a week picking up trash in your neighborhood. The world can be a better place. It happens one person, one commitment, one attitude at a time.
Trash is a people problem. People cause it, only people can fix it. Trash is a state of mind. I once walked 140 miles without seeing one piece of trash. You can hardly get 140 trash-free feet in this town. I refuse to accept that. I can make a difference. Everyone in this town can make a difference. Live it. Imagine it. Realize it. Ask for it. The next time you go to the store, after you wade through all the trash in the parking lot, take 30 seconds to make a difference. Go to the “courtesy” booth and ask for the manager. Let the business owners know the trash in their parking lots is not acceptable! When they start hearing it 20 times a day they’ll start doing something about it.
Change begins with awareness, attitude, and commitment.
I can make a difference,
Charles A. Whitehead