News
I wanted to send a note along to the outlet I feel can reach the most people in the Vail Valley. The purpose of my letter is to shed some positive light on, from what I experienced, an incredible event in Vail Snow Daze.
I am blown away that your newspaper hasn't been riddled with accolades and songs of praise for both Vail and the event organizers. I did catch your commentary thanking James Deighan for setting up your daughter with a meet and greet with The Dave Matthew's Band bass playeer, Stefan Lessard.
No other resort in the country gives back as much to their loyal skiers and snowboarders as Vail. As a matter of fact, nobody even comes close.
I used to live in Vail and now reside in Telluride. I schedule my vacations around Vail Snow Daze and Spring Back to Vail because there are no other events like these anywhere in the country. I still follow the happenings in Vail very closely, and read the Vail Daily online every day.
I have spoken with a myriad of people in and around Vail, people who have lived there for many many years. I did some research and spoke with several people before writing this letter. The “other paper” did a nice piece on the impact Vail Snow Daze had, but certainly not one worthy of what the Vail Daily could and more importantly should have done.
When I used to live in Vail, there was always a negative sentiment against the big guy, Vail Associates. Are people blind to who they are and what they actually do? The fact that Vail Mountain insisted on making the concerts free to the public is unheard of. If Telluride did this, our town wouldn't know what to do. In Vail, it seems that everyone seems to now expect events like these.
I heard someone say, “Ya right, a $10 donation” as they walked by a volunteer collecting donations at the Bare Nake Ladies concert for Breast Cancer. The appreciation has turned to expectation, I think.
How about the bar and restaurant owners? The merchants? The gas stations? The hotels? The taxi cab drivers? The coffee shops? The airlines? CME? Even the Vail Daily!
If you put a serious economic study against these events, I am quite certain you would see some astounding results. I spoke with a friend who is a waiter at a restaurant in Vail a few nights after the festival, and they said town is dead right now. It certainly wasn't the week of Vail Snow Daze.
I cannot even begin to imagine what kind of multi-multi million dollar windfall comes from these events and yet, a guy from Telluride is bringing light to a valley chocked full of silent benefactors. I couldn't move when I walked into Vendetta's the weekend of the festival, Red Lion was packed, The Club could have been Christmas week, Garfinkel's was jammed, and I am pretty sure my hotel was sold out.
Why doesn't anybody recognize what is going on here? I haven't seen one thank you in your paper yet from the town, merchants, lodging community, etc. And how about those guys who started all these events? The Highline guys have been producing the biggest and best events in the valley forever. When they started all of these crazy events back when I lived there in the '90s, they were on the cutting edge then. Do you remember Mogul Mania or Revolution Spring stuff where they had snowmobile and motocross jumping? This was before it was in the X-Games. How about when Jonny Moseley did a back flip at the pond-skimming event and it got on ESPN top 10 plays of the week?
Massive live concerts in a ski town ... for free? The only ski towns that even produce real live entertainment are Telluride and Aspen, and they are part of summer music festivals and they cost a ton just to get into.
Highline is a world-class event company and you have the luxury of having them based right in your back yard. Year after year, they seem to out due themselves by bringing in bands like Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, Big Head Todd, etc.
If you were lucky enough to go to the Yukon Cornelius or Bare Naked Ladies concert, you know what I am talking about. I will admit, I am biased because I know a lot of people at Vail Associates and some folks at Highline too.
One thing I struggle with is that your paper, year after year, covers events like the World Cup relentlessly with articles and photo recaps before, during and after the events so much so that I stop reading it. I was here for World Cup a few weeks back and It's cool to see all the racers from around the world, and there is certainly an energy on the hill especially in an Olympic year. These events, though, seem to be on a whole different level.
Maybe one of these years you will all realize just how fortunate you are to have what you have in Vail, and give credit to all of those who work their butts off to make Vail the world class place it is especially when these events come to your town.
Kevin Holbrook
Editor's note: Actually, the Vail Daily did do a story on the impact of Snow Daze early in the week of the event, as well as cover the events themselves. We agree that Vail has been blessed, and disagree that the effort has gone unappreciated.
I am blown away that your newspaper hasn't been riddled with accolades and songs of praise for both Vail and the event organizers. I did catch your commentary thanking James Deighan for setting up your daughter with a meet and greet with The Dave Matthew's Band bass playeer, Stefan Lessard.
No other resort in the country gives back as much to their loyal skiers and snowboarders as Vail. As a matter of fact, nobody even comes close.
I used to live in Vail and now reside in Telluride. I schedule my vacations around Vail Snow Daze and Spring Back to Vail because there are no other events like these anywhere in the country. I still follow the happenings in Vail very closely, and read the Vail Daily online every day.
I have spoken with a myriad of people in and around Vail, people who have lived there for many many years. I did some research and spoke with several people before writing this letter. The “other paper” did a nice piece on the impact Vail Snow Daze had, but certainly not one worthy of what the Vail Daily could and more importantly should have done.
When I used to live in Vail, there was always a negative sentiment against the big guy, Vail Associates. Are people blind to who they are and what they actually do? The fact that Vail Mountain insisted on making the concerts free to the public is unheard of. If Telluride did this, our town wouldn't know what to do. In Vail, it seems that everyone seems to now expect events like these.
I heard someone say, “Ya right, a $10 donation” as they walked by a volunteer collecting donations at the Bare Nake Ladies concert for Breast Cancer. The appreciation has turned to expectation, I think.
How about the bar and restaurant owners? The merchants? The gas stations? The hotels? The taxi cab drivers? The coffee shops? The airlines? CME? Even the Vail Daily!
If you put a serious economic study against these events, I am quite certain you would see some astounding results. I spoke with a friend who is a waiter at a restaurant in Vail a few nights after the festival, and they said town is dead right now. It certainly wasn't the week of Vail Snow Daze.
I cannot even begin to imagine what kind of multi-multi million dollar windfall comes from these events and yet, a guy from Telluride is bringing light to a valley chocked full of silent benefactors. I couldn't move when I walked into Vendetta's the weekend of the festival, Red Lion was packed, The Club could have been Christmas week, Garfinkel's was jammed, and I am pretty sure my hotel was sold out.
Why doesn't anybody recognize what is going on here? I haven't seen one thank you in your paper yet from the town, merchants, lodging community, etc. And how about those guys who started all these events? The Highline guys have been producing the biggest and best events in the valley forever. When they started all of these crazy events back when I lived there in the '90s, they were on the cutting edge then. Do you remember Mogul Mania or Revolution Spring stuff where they had snowmobile and motocross jumping? This was before it was in the X-Games. How about when Jonny Moseley did a back flip at the pond-skimming event and it got on ESPN top 10 plays of the week?
Massive live concerts in a ski town ... for free? The only ski towns that even produce real live entertainment are Telluride and Aspen, and they are part of summer music festivals and they cost a ton just to get into.
Highline is a world-class event company and you have the luxury of having them based right in your back yard. Year after year, they seem to out due themselves by bringing in bands like Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, Big Head Todd, etc.
If you were lucky enough to go to the Yukon Cornelius or Bare Naked Ladies concert, you know what I am talking about. I will admit, I am biased because I know a lot of people at Vail Associates and some folks at Highline too.
One thing I struggle with is that your paper, year after year, covers events like the World Cup relentlessly with articles and photo recaps before, during and after the events so much so that I stop reading it. I was here for World Cup a few weeks back and It's cool to see all the racers from around the world, and there is certainly an energy on the hill especially in an Olympic year. These events, though, seem to be on a whole different level.
Maybe one of these years you will all realize just how fortunate you are to have what you have in Vail, and give credit to all of those who work their butts off to make Vail the world class place it is especially when these events come to your town.
Kevin Holbrook
Editor's note: Actually, the Vail Daily did do a story on the impact of Snow Daze early in the week of the event, as well as cover the events themselves. We agree that Vail has been blessed, and disagree that the effort has gone unappreciated.
