One of the main reasons we started conSKIerge was to share our love of skiing with others. While we don’t claim to be experts on every topic, we feel we have a lot to offer when it comes to the sport of skiing. And perhaps while our views may not be popular with everyone, we will always give you our honest opinion from many years of exploration. Speaking of honest opinions, last winter we wrote several times about a disturbing trend – private access to ski resorts (see Privatization of the Ski Industry and Powder Mountain Going Private?!)

Our frustration with this trend attracted the attention of Ben Ryder Howe, a journalist and frequent contributor to the New York Times and New York Magazine, and he reached out to discuss the history of members only skiing (aka paying for powder). Our conversation took many twists and turns and while we were eager to talk specifically about how this affects the future of the ski industry it is clear that this is bigger than skiing. We’ll let Ben’s article speak for itself, but we were grateful to have the opportunity to chime in regarding The Yellowstone Club in Montana.

Without further ado, Ben Ryder Howe’s article in New York Magazine can be read here:

To Buy a Mountain Range A group of billionaires is maneuvering to secure acres of prime public land in Montana for personal use. Can anyone stop them?

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By Charlotte Miller
conSKIerge co-founder

Charlotte Miller caught the ski bug early from her dad. An avid skier and gearhead, Charlotte claims Sugarbush, Vermont and Alta/Snowbird, Utah as her home mountains. In addition, she has explored many other resorts throughout North America and northern Japan. Despite having a job in the corporate world, she skis 40+ days a year. She is an Ambassador for Atomic. Warning – while she loves to share her love for the mountains with others, don’t try to keep up with her on the hill – it won’t end well.