Letter: Put the bar down
I am commenting on the cover photo of the Monday, April 19 issue of the Vail Daily. It depicts two skiers on the chairlift, appearing quite high from the ground, with a great shot of the mountains in the background.
However, the safety bar of the chair is not pulled down to the safe, closed position. These skiers are violating the very important safety rule to pull the safety bar down as soon as possible after loading a chair. This violation appears to be condoned and even rewarded by the publication in the paper. As these skiers appear to wear costumes, perhaps the safety bar was left open not to obscure the costumes; this would be even worse.
Please be mindful of the power of publishing in the paper and of unintended consequences, which in this case is spreading an image that it is OK not to close the bar. Some skiers and riders think it is cool and tough to ride the chairs with the bar not closed; this picture encourages such unsafe behavior.
Stephen Vastagh
Eagle
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