The novelty of allowing snowboarding at Aspen lasted until about mid-afternoon on the day they opened the doors. After that, anyone who suddenly materialized out of thin air and landed on the mountain would never have known April 1 was different from any other day at any other ski area. That’s because skiers and boarders sharing a ski area is totally normal.
Change should be celebrated when establishing a radically new and improved situation, which departs from the norm. But the passing of a long pointless ban to establish conditions that virtually everywhere are considered simple common sense, contains little drama beyond the instant of transition.
Lifting the ban was a moment of relief from a previous affliction, the removal of an albatross. At Aspen, skiers and snowboarders now share the snow equally. It was a big deal when they couldn’t, but totally inconsequential now they can.
The issues that face the ski industry are issues of the future; of demographics, of identity and customer service. Hey, it’s nice for snowboarders to be part of a small victory. But Aspen was not the frontline. It was a small rear-guard action, the mopping up of a small pocket of resistance, long after the main battle has been won.
