While
I found McKibben’s account of Vermont and New York fascinating based on living
in New York and often driving to my grandparent’s house in Woodstock, VT, I
thought he ignored a piece of Vermont that most people from the Tri-state area know
it for: downhill skiing.
At
the start of his adventure, McKibben starts out on Mt. Abe, commenting on the
view. The two peaks north of Mt. Abe are Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen. What
McKibben left out is that Sugarbush and Glen Ellen are located on these mountains
and should be clearly visible from Mt. Abe. He strategically avoids mentioning
ski areas along the way (including the Middlebury Ski Bowl and Gore) and only mentions the vacation homes on Whiteface in passing. But he also talks about backcountry skiing in
the Adirondacks, so he can’t be opposed to skiing.
It
would seem that this is further evidence of McKibben’s ability to
observe the bigger picture. I have always assumed (I could be wrong) that a large portion
of Vermont’s economy is tourism, and a large portion of that is
from ski areas. Ski areas create a lot of jobs; some of McKibben’s friends in the
Adirondacks worked at ski areas. Ski areas also allow people to enjoy the
outdoors in a way, perhaps not as directly as some other outdoor activities,
but it does get people outside. However, ski areas also unfailingly pick the
tallest mountains around and deface them, making wide clear cuts to allow for
trails and lifts. Their snowmaking also changes the winter environment by
creating big clouds of ice crystals which often end up coating trees. So perhaps
this is another example of how the natural world and the modern world must
coexist in order to make both places liveable.
Great topic, you raise an interesting point! Finding a balance between preserving the natural world and modern world is definitely a challenge, and it is one that will be ever prevalent. You mention that these ski areas create jobs and are a vital to Vermont’s economy. I definitely agree in that there is a part of me that feels as if the economic benefits of a certain project will always take precedence over the destruction of the natural world. That is, modern society obtains a mindset that places the livelihoods of humanity over the preservation of the nature (and unfortunately this will probably always be the case). Not enough of society understands that once a mountain is defaced it is irreparable. These ski areas raise the question of how far is too far when it comes to defacing nature, and whether or not the economic benefits are truly worth it.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting, Ben. McKibben is a BIG x-c skier--has written a book about it, in fact. And I know that one of the reasons he has both houses is proximity to x-c ski areas. He mentions that briefly. The downhill ski areas in the ADKS are mostly state owned, whereas the ones in Vermont are mostly private. Still, as you say, they have very obvious and important effects on the environment and the economy, so it's a little odd that he doesn't mention them.
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