Is religion losing ground in America?

As a non-theocracy, America remains a super-religious country, but things are changing fast. The number of unbelievers is growing at a very high pace.

The Pew Religious Landscape survey reported that as of 2014, 22.8% of the American population was religiously unaffiliated, atheists made up 3.1% while agnostics made up 4% of the US population.

Another Pew Research Center study from 2010 compared Millennials to other generations, and showed that of those between 18–29 years old, only 3% self-identified as "atheists" and only 4% as "agnostics". Overall, 25% of Millennials were irreligious and 74% were religiously affiliated.

Not only are Millennials less religious than previous generations at the same age, but they're also much less engaged in many social institutions in general than previous generations.

This trend might accelerate based on the 2017 Survey from the American Family that indicate that 34% of the US population identify as irreligious (“Atheists”, “agnostics”, “nothing in particular”), up from 32% in 2016.

I'm sure God is pulling his hair when he reads this...

The Vail-Park City questionnaire...

A few days ago, Park City Mountain (PCM), the place I do most of my skiing, sent me an online survey that I responded to, and while I was at it, I sent its general manager a detailed assessment of my ski experience and thoughts for the moment.

It went like this:

The good: 
By and large, and by season's end, the man-made snow coverage was the best ever, with most runs remained outstanding till the end in spite of very little natural snow. Also notable were the extra resorts added to next season's Epic pass.

The questionable:
I seldom eat on the mountain and while the food is edible, I find it way overpriced, which is why I avoid eating there.

Also, please explain why the Epic Pass prices is outpacing inflation by a factor of more than two. If Vail Resorts keeps on that track, it may soon breaks the camel's back!

I also hate the most popular lifts stopping every 2 minutes because of operators told to be extra cautious.

The bad:
In my view, PCM missed a lot of the early season cold spells to make extra snow, somehow playing chicken with mother nature. Early on, its snow-making paled in comparison to Deer Valley's, its next door neighbor.

My impression is that PCM snow-making infrastructure is lacking and has to be significantly beefed up. The way lift lines are organized continue to suck. Powdr (the previous owner) did a much better job at it. I'm not the first one to point this out, but PCM doesn't seem to listen.

Employees need to step up and organize the lines to fill up the chairs, particularly on the busiest lift. Most of the time a couple of them chat together, doing nothing to organize lines at the loading station. Why?

There's also a lot to be said about slopes preparation and attention to details. Too many runs are invaded by “whippers” and other vegetation. Why not cut that down in the fall, to be ready for a dismal snow year or to simply ease into an early season thin cover?

The challenges: 
In terms of community communication, PCM has to do work even harder to become “liked”. Right now, most everyone in the community prefers Deer Valley because of a rocky acquisition process of PCM by Vail Resort.

Back in France, I have a friend who sells used lift to Uzbekistan and other former Soviet Republics. These folks won't touch “fixed-grip” chairs anymore; they're past this and only buy detachable, even in their hardscrabble countries. I'm convinced that lifts like Town Lift, Pioneer, Thaynes or Jupiter should be seen an embarrassment for Vail Resorts. In the same way, it's too bad that the fixed-grip Dreamscape has too serve one of the best hill at Canyons!

Traffic-wise, the weak link in the PCM lift network remains Silverlode and the traffic jam it collects on the Park City side of the valley. Any plan to complement that overburdened connection?

I was also very disappointed by the early end-of-season closing date, that was scheduled ahead of the local schools spring break. If Vail closes on mid-April, why not Park City?

It's clear that with its 7,300 acres, PCM is already a mighty big resort. Unless Vail Resorts bit more than it could chew when it made the purchase from Powdr, it should rise to the occasion! On that subject the announced 2018/2019 capital investments are measly at best and don't seem to make much sense or reflect the points laid out in my summary. It would seem to me that one good step would be to improve, beef-up and expand snow-making.

Finally, there's the future. With climate change, I strongly feel that PCM should expand its boundaries towards Big Cottonwood Canyon's "higher ground" and connect with it... Vail Resorts should seriously target Brighton and Solitude as future expansion and a way to secure more reliable snowfields that could feed on Park City's huge lodging capacity.

Of course, this becomes more complicated as Boyne Mountain (Brighton's owner) seems to become closer to Alterra at the same time it wants to recapture control upon its entire resort network...

I'm holding my breath, waiting for the response!

The ski lift ticket trap

Imagine the situation: You get to a ski area for which you don't have a ticket or a season pass. You park your car, put on your gear, get to the ticket window and get sticker shocked!

It's mid spring, good snow only last a few hours and the price you're asked to pay seems stratospheric. Yet, you're ready, your friend, kids or spouse are ready too, with their helmets and boots on, and now you have no other choice than pay through the nose!

I came to this realization earlier this week when we skied Alta. The ticket window price for that day was $104, but the internet price, a lower $88!

So next time you go skiing without a pass, make sure to get it on line at least the day before, and don't wait till you get to the resort...

Feeling like my first day off!

No skiing yesterday and as we were strolling on a deserted Main Street in Park City, it felt as if I was on vacation for the first time since winter began.

I've not been working though or skiing for a living, but just doing it, almost every day, for sheer fun. Wow!

What a great feeling that is, but I need to progressively adapt to a life without skiing. We'll see how that withdrawal will act on me!

We forget how wonderful Alta is!

When we live just above 8 miles away from Alta as the crow flies, but when it takes 55 minutes or 41 miles to drive there, it's not everyday that we make such a hop to ski.

We only do it a day like yesterday, when Park City just closed for the season, the weather was perfect and the mountain was awaiting our visit with a fresh coat of light powder. A true delight!

We need to get a pass next year that give us access to that gem of a ski resort. We can't wait for the interconnect!

Trump, flies, honey and vinegar

I've always had grave doubts that Trump was a good businessman or a good negotiator.

He's neither.

His abrupt end of career as a real estate developer and his bankruptcies are proof enough that he only is a big, foul mouth consumed by on-time-deals, short-term schemes, and burning his bridges by doing so. 

As a boss of mine used to mention that Italian proverb that's been around since 1666: “You can catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” Trump is the most acid and repulsive human being there is.

Can't wait to see the end of his reign.

Are ski helmets useful?

My neighbors ski instructors in Deer Valley have been slow in adopting ski helmets. Not so long ago, one of them even hinted to me that they were overrated by asking me: “Do you wear a helmet while you drive your car?” I don't, but I'm pleased to wear one when I ski.

A week or so ago, my grandson slid on a steep, sleek hill and ended up in the trees. He actually hit them with both thighs and got bruises that hurt him for the next couple of days.

He could have as easily hit these same trees by going head first and then, his helmet would have serve its purpose. Sometimes, falls aren't that spectacular or speeds not that high, and this is precisely when a helmet fulfills it protective role.
 
Falls are part and parcel of skiing or snowboarding, and I'm convinced that if even a helmet protects in only 20 percent of the cases (I do believe its more than that), they're well worth wearing.