Letter to the editor for August 21, 2013

Dear Editor,
Both Timberline and Canaan Valley Ski Resorts share a common problem —  one that should be easy to fix.   Both areas force customers to stand outdoors in severe winter weather to buy lift tickets.  This is worst when there are long lines of people each morning during ski season.  It leaves customers standing in frigid (what often seems like blizzard) conditions by design.   It has never made sense that these two ski areas fail to provide for indoor purchase of tickets. Neither of them provide so much as a porch roof or windbreak.  I could name 8 or 10 areas across America that provide both indoor and outdoor lift ticket purchases.  In fact, most ski areas do so.
Both Timberline and Canaan have existing space that could rather easily be converted to provide indoor ticket sales.  Ironically, both areas have sold tickets indoors in the past.   The sad part is that this misery is by design.  That’s the way the latest buildings were set up.
Why don’t you take the shivering customer, standing there for the privilege of paying a lot of money, into account ?  Why not make provisions for indoor sales now and make it permanent?  You have plenty of time right now to make this change before ski season.
Bill Rymer
23391 Esperanza Circle
Lexington Park, MD 20653