Need to Expect the Unexpected......Really

You just never know what a new day is going to bring.  Monday morning January 21st, 2013.  It is MLK day.  A holiday that traditionally is great day for the ski industry.  This one we know is not going to be that great with the media screaming that nobody should go outside due to the bitter windchill.  That message alone does huge damage to traffic.  It was not that bad.  All you had to do was dress appropriately.  The media chastises us for being inactive, but scares the public into doing just that.  
At 10am, temps are in the single digits with a breeze blowing.  Cold, but not that bad if dressed in layers.  We  have about 70 brave souls ready to go tubing, many of which traveled a great distance.  Tubing Lanes are freshly groomed and Magic Carpet is warming up.  All is well until the electronic drive unit of the carpet fails and is not appearing to be an easy fix...........Patiently the tubers wait .  The damage to the drive unit is beyond a fix and the nearest replacement unit is in Minneapolis. 
We are now looking at about 70 very confused and disappointed customers.  Customer service is always a challenge, but this is one is way out there!  How are they going to respond to this news?  We brought many in to the lodge for hot chocolate, told them the bad news and assured them we would make the best of this bad situation.  Bad situation was an understatement............. disappointing for them embarrassing for us to say the least.  We gave them all the opportunity to try skiing at no cost and many of them took us up on the offer.  The others???????  Gave them their money back, told them the tube hill would still be open for those that would still like to go tubing, even if they had to walk up the magic carpet.  And that is just what they did!    
Fun was had and they all refused to hibernate for the day!   What a great bunch of people. 

Is Media Bias Real? Look No Further Than Global Warming!
Do not get me wrong, I am not even close to being a scientist.  Over the past 3 decades, journalists at top media outlets have been surveyed on their political views and voting habits. The findings? Overwhelmingly liberal. Not exactly shocking. 
It is no wonder that so much attention has been given to Al Gore and his climate change antics, ignoring the fact that he personally has no desire to curtail his fossil fuel burning habits.  Let's not even get into the  

Media coverage of the Al Gore-Al Jazeera story.

Let me get back on focus here.........I ask you to consider a few tidbits on the subject of climate change.  Isn't that an interesting phrase!  It does not take much background to understand that the climate has been changing since Earth first came into existence.  

In Dec of 2012, two different reports surfaced and sent up huge red flags for the ski industry. One came out of Ontario claiming that a majority of the ski areas in the Northeast will not be economically viable  within 30 years if we do not reverse global warming.  Ignore the fact how huge an ego one must have to assume that humans really are that powerful to create or reverse global warming.  

Another report came out of the U of New Hampshire claiming that global warming in the past 10 years has cost the ski industry approximately $1.9 billion.  Interesting that they could put a number on it in view of the fact that 2 years ago the industry experienced record numbers which has been a trend for 7 of the past 10 years.  

Our liberal biased media jumped all over these reports.  New York Times headline read, "Rising Temps Threaten Fundamental Change for Ski Slopes."

Other headlines read, "Connecticut's Few Remaining Ski Areas Adapt to Global Warming, But Face Gloomy Future: Climate Change Will End Ski Industry Within 30 Years."

The "shrinking winter" story was reported across the country.  The climate change debate is interesting with dozens of viewpoints, each with very compelling arguments.

As Jen Rowan of Ski Area Management put it...."Something needs to be done about the media."  They continue to present a dismal future for the ski industry and listen to only one side: the trendy, liberal side.  The side that loves to dig up the gloom and doom.  Will we ever see open-minded reporting again?????????????  There is another story to be told, but will we ever hear it?   FYI.........on Jan 14, 1928...........the temp in the Quad Cities was 61 degrees.