First, a little history for those who don't know.  The past 14 years there has been a LOT of tension between the DH world and Snow Summit.  Internet forums everywhere have been full of angry comments.  Obviously this was due to Summits banning of DH riders from the mountain by banning their bikes.  The rift is still deep.  But I knew that there were some forward thinkers in management.  So I reached out in an attempt to mend fences a little...and promote something positive between DH riders and Summit.  Lift operations manager Pat and I put together a "GP day" for opening day of 2012.  Discounted passes for members, no bike restrictions, party in the parking lot...all good stuff!  Our forum started blowing up with positive and hopeful comments from DH riders toward Summit.  That hadn't been seen in more than a decade!  

Fast forward to 2013.  The NEW park opens, and DH riders flock from all over SoCal.  Since  GP is the largest DH entity in the southwest, management looked to the public posts on GP to gauge how the park is being accepted.  Posts ranged from "finally...can't wait to see it develop!"..to "newbs all over the place, trails are lame, don't waste your money."  Obviously riders speak their mind on the internet.  But then there were personal attacks.  One(not all) of the lift operators is...not so friendly toward downhillers.  Since GP is such a large presence, we were an easy target for his negative personal comments.  What he didn't understand is that most of our members don't have jerseys.  There are times when half the lift line is GP members.  So when he thought he was talking behind the groups back, members were listening.  I started receiving personal messages from members asking why Summit hates GP members.  This led to members speaking out, and personally attacking the liftie on Facebook, and forums including GP.  Summit's response was anger.  Maybe because they didn't know the back story. I tried my best to intervene, but nobody at Summit wanted to work through it.  My messages and calls  fell on deaf ears.  Probably because they just assumed GP hates Summit.  What's going on?  Is a DH park really turning their backs on the largest DH customer base around? Our efforts to mend fences between DH riders and Summit, devolved into a new fence between Summit and GP.  A high school level fight over "he said, he said."  Now even I start posting negative comments about management out of my frustration that they won't even talk to me to so we can get this thing back on track.   

2014 is a new season.  I received a call from Chris Riddle at Summit today.  He saw another one of my emails looking to work with Snow Summit, and decided it was time to chat.  We talked about negative comments by myself and others toward Summit.  And from Summit toward members.  Most importantly...we were talking.  99% of GP is invisible to non members.  So Chris and others haven't seen any of the positive posts about ride days at Summit on this forum.  The few publicly viewable threads give the impression that "GP hates Summit."  Obviously the issue is a lot more complex that that if you read the first 2 paragraphs.  We agree that it's in both our best interest to work together.  Could we be getting back on track?  Cooler heads prevailing?  I hope so!  Hair pulling and whining are best left on the playground where they belong.  Chris seemed genuinely interested in getting back on track to where we were in 2012.  Let's stop and think about the positive.  I think it's safe to say we are all pretty happy that the "no DH bike/riders" rule is gone even if that will never be forgotten.  And of course we are all ecstatic that we have a bike park in SoCal.  Those are positive moves that all GP members support.  For their part, Summit is working on a couple promotions available for GP.  Including the very important Gravity Card possibly!  For our part, let's wash away the negative feelings from last year, and see if we can be an ally in Summits bike park plan that we WANT to succeed.  Let's work with Summit this season like we started doing 2 years ago.  If you have any negative experience with an employee, let's bring it straight to Summit management so it can actually be solved.  Honestly...if there is anyone at Summit who does NOT want this DH park to work, they would LOVE to see GP fighting with Summit.  Don't give them that satisfaction.  Don't get me wrong...speak your mind about the trails, and constructive ideas for improvement.  That's all useful stuff.  New year, new perspective....new conversation started with Snow Summit.  Good stuff!