Dwight Shellman, Pitkin County Commissioner
“Darcy’s unwillingness to play ball with the community has eroded the influence and respectibility of the Corp in Aspen until Darcy is no longer any more than a hood ornament on a snowcat.”
Stacy Standley, Mayor of Aspen
“They’re all a bunch of Yahoos.”
George Madsen, Marketing Director of the Aspen Skiing Corp. speaking in regard to the Roaring Fork Citizen
Statements like these echo back and forth between the walls of Aspen’s small valley these days. No matter whose view you take in the many disareements surrounding what is referred to locally as “The Corp,” such rhetoric reflects a breakdown of communications and some poor public relations between the town of Aspen and its principal industry.
Darcy Brown himself has actively contributed to the bad feelings. In 1974, from his position on the board of directors of “The Civic League of Pitkin County,” he attempted to have Joe Edwards, County Commissioner, no-growth proponent, and frequent adversary of the Corp, expelled from office.
Just recently Brown brought down cries of bribery on the Corp by handing out free season passes (now unavailable at any price to the public) to several of those witnesses who had testified for the Corp at Senator Haskell’s subcommittee hearing in Aspen. City Manager Phillip Mahoney branded the action typical of the “Company town policy” promoted by the Corp. Floyd Haskell viewed the action as improper and directed his office to begin an investigation.
Not surprisingly the ski industry is almost unanimously opposed to Senator Haskell’s proposed legislation. Most Colorado area operators seemed to agree with Glenn Paulk, director of Steamboat Ski Corporation, that government regulation is “potentially killing to the industry and particularly to the small ski operator.”
Ski area management is trying to coalesce at this time to present a united front to the government, and some area operators are reluctant to publicly point the finger of blame for Senator Haskell’s bill.
Todd Martin, Director of Colorado Ski Country USA, felt many of the 31 Colorado areas he represents would agree with him that Darcy Brown is a victim of circumstances at an inevitable crossroads of an expanding industry. However, another industry spokesman confessed privately to a spreading sentiment within the industry that, “what is happening in Aspen is unfortunate, unnecessary, and undesirable, and could result in legislation or a court action seriously damaging to the entire ski industry.”
Chuck Lewis, President of Copper Mountain, was not so reticent. He characterized Senator Haskell’s legislation as regrettably necessary for one area but not fairly applicable to the entire industry. Mr. Lewis did not feel he could speak on behalf of the whole management community, but candidly expressed his own feelings:
“Certainly Darcy is not wholly responsible, but when Darcy in effect publicly tells the world to take a flying leap, it reverberates through all the industry and is very difficult for me as a ski operator to live with . . . I hope if I or one of my staff suggested that our Corporation was no more than a lift company not tied to the community and its problems, we’d get a swift kick out of here.”
When asked if there were any moves within Colorado skiing management to disassociate itself from the Aspen Skiing Corporation, Mr. Lewis responded, “The industry is not willing to sit still and hope everything will go away.” He maintained, however, that it would be impossible to disavow a name synonomous with skiing through the world. “Who would listen to us?” he said. “It’s one of the real problems.” Instead Mr. Lewis feels it is the rest of the industry’s task to sit down with the press and the skiing public, to hash out mutual problems, and to show everyone that despite some exceptions, it is an industry capable of self-regulation and committed to a social and community awareness.
