Snowboarders

Concerning “Snowboarders Shrug Off Outlaw Rap,” March 9: I’ve been skiing for almost 40 years. I’ve seen every kind of maniac imaginable on the slopes under the influence of everything from alcohol to you-name-it, usually including a dose of overblown ego. Snowboarders are no different than any other graduating class of “more guts than brains” post-adolescents, and we shouldn’t see them as anything new or frightening.

That said, I do wish they’d slow down a little. It’s easier to learn to snowboard than it is to learn to ski and a snowboard doesn’t change direction or stop as easily as a pair of skis. Often, kids on snowboards arrive all ready to “shred,” but have little experience with the kind of speed a ski slope affords or the thinking ahead it requires.

There is one thing that would do much to make the alpine experience safer: prohibition of alcohol on the slopes. There isn’t a resort in the country that doesn’t make beer, wine and (often) spirits available to drinking-age lift-ticket holders. This issue needs to be addressed before we start worrying about snowboarders’ attitudes.

JIM HOUGHTON

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