Well you may be an exception, as my personal experience with the type gives me a firm opinion.
TETON GRAVITY Bashes Snowmobiling....
- Thread starter Blown Motor
- Start date
Well you may be an exception, as my personal experience with the type gives me a firm opinion.
J
Jaynelson
Well-known member
I'm 1/2 a hippy so I found it kind of funny, to be honest. I think people taking offense with regard to the money raising and charity functions of the event are being a little quick on the defensive draw. Not entirely unjustified, but maybe a little quick. Just how the author got a little over-zealous with the tone of his article, some people responding are doing the same in reverse.
I think it was an obvious and deliberate over-exaggeration of the cultural differences (or at least perceived/stereotypical differences) between "skiers and snowmobilers," co-existing in many of the same locations. Quotations because I snowmobile...but I also snowboard, snowshoe, mountain bike, and go hiking with my dog (hippy). There are douchebags in every sport, and the ski hill is definitely a hot spot, but most people are ok. The writer attended the event....and behind the sarcasm I'm sure he did so for fun....not just to infiltrate the enemy lol. Could he have put a little "and at the end of the day, it sure was a good time!" in there? Yup. I think he could have written basically the same article, but with some mention of the charity aspect, and the ability for "both sides" to exist in one article and been much better off. But some of the "sledders" in there saying they are going to knock his teeth out, and stupid hippy granola, blah blah blah.....because the guy pokes fun at lifted trucks? That's equally if not more tacky.
I don't think TGR as a whole is overly down on sledding....they have burned up plenty of sled and heli fuel over the years for the films and I'm sure that's not lost on them.
I think it was an obvious and deliberate over-exaggeration of the cultural differences (or at least perceived/stereotypical differences) between "skiers and snowmobilers," co-existing in many of the same locations. Quotations because I snowmobile...but I also snowboard, snowshoe, mountain bike, and go hiking with my dog (hippy). There are douchebags in every sport, and the ski hill is definitely a hot spot, but most people are ok. The writer attended the event....and behind the sarcasm I'm sure he did so for fun....not just to infiltrate the enemy lol. Could he have put a little "and at the end of the day, it sure was a good time!" in there? Yup. I think he could have written basically the same article, but with some mention of the charity aspect, and the ability for "both sides" to exist in one article and been much better off. But some of the "sledders" in there saying they are going to knock his teeth out, and stupid hippy granola, blah blah blah.....because the guy pokes fun at lifted trucks? That's equally if not more tacky.
I don't think TGR as a whole is overly down on sledding....they have burned up plenty of sled and heli fuel over the years for the films and I'm sure that's not lost on them.
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The auther edited and added a disclaimer/appology (or whatever you'd like to call it) at the beginning and end of the article... FWIW
(copy, pasted from the article...)
"In this fictionalized tongue-and-cheek account of the 39th Annual Hill Climb World Championships, an annual event in Jackson that pits snowmobilers against each other in a race up Snow King Mountain while raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, Associate Editor Ryan Dunfee portrays the grossly oversimplified, stereotypical, and indelibly sarcastic point of view of a hypocritical, self-important, and wholly ignorant ski bum. THIS IS NOT A REAL LIVE ACCOUNT OF THIS EVENT, NOR DOES IT REPRESENT THE AUTHOR'S PERSONAL VIEW POINT OR THAT OF TETON GRAVITY RESEARCH. To read an accurate journalistic account of the event, please see the excellent article by the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
...
A QUICK NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Wow! So it's very clear I did a disservice to our readership, and to the many folks I've now offended, by not framing this article as the completely fictionalized piece of tongue-and-cheek satire that it is. I've recently added a bit of a disclaimer to the introduction of the article so that future readers of the piece will understand that this is a fictionalized account from "the grossly oversimplified, stereotypical, and indelibly sarcastic point of view of a hypocritical, self-important, and wholly ignorant ski bum." If I read this and understood it to be in any way serious, I would be OUTRAGEOUSLY offended as many of you are. The views of the fictional character depicted in this piece do not reflect my views nor those of anyone here at TGR!
In reality, I had a blast at the event, met some very nice folks passionate about their sport, and was very impressed with the sense of community present and the efforts made by the Snow Devils and the event staff (many of who are volunteers) to give back to the sport and to the town of Jackson. I'd like to recognize some of the organizations benefitting from the event's selfless initiatives and their relevant donation links. This year's beneficiaries include:
-$100,000 to St. John’s Medical Center for an Oncology Exam room, which will be used to examine patients suffering from tumors. The website for the St. John's Hospital Foundation can be found here: http://www.stjohnshospitalfoundation.org/
- $72,000 to the Jackson Hole Shrine Club to benefit the Shriner’s Children Hospital in Salt Lake City, who provides the best specialty care for children suffering from oprthopaedic issues, burns, spinal cord injuries (of which I myself have been a victim), and cleft lip and palate issues regardless of the family's ability to pay. The Shrine Club's website with a donation link can be found here: http://jhshriners.org/
-$50,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wyoming, which has sent a young leukemia patients scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef among countless other wishes they've granted to young children. Their website can be found here: http://wyoming.wish.org/
Again, I apologize to those who I have offended in not having the foresight to frame this article in such a way as to make it understood as complete fiction and satire! If you would like to read an accurate and very well-written piece about what actually went on at the 39th Annual Hill Climb World Championships, please check out this great article by the staff of the Jackson Hole News & Guide: http://bit.ly/P1Fz4A
View Ryan Dunfee on Google+"
(copy, pasted from the article...)
"In this fictionalized tongue-and-cheek account of the 39th Annual Hill Climb World Championships, an annual event in Jackson that pits snowmobilers against each other in a race up Snow King Mountain while raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, Associate Editor Ryan Dunfee portrays the grossly oversimplified, stereotypical, and indelibly sarcastic point of view of a hypocritical, self-important, and wholly ignorant ski bum. THIS IS NOT A REAL LIVE ACCOUNT OF THIS EVENT, NOR DOES IT REPRESENT THE AUTHOR'S PERSONAL VIEW POINT OR THAT OF TETON GRAVITY RESEARCH. To read an accurate journalistic account of the event, please see the excellent article by the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
...
A QUICK NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Wow! So it's very clear I did a disservice to our readership, and to the many folks I've now offended, by not framing this article as the completely fictionalized piece of tongue-and-cheek satire that it is. I've recently added a bit of a disclaimer to the introduction of the article so that future readers of the piece will understand that this is a fictionalized account from "the grossly oversimplified, stereotypical, and indelibly sarcastic point of view of a hypocritical, self-important, and wholly ignorant ski bum." If I read this and understood it to be in any way serious, I would be OUTRAGEOUSLY offended as many of you are. The views of the fictional character depicted in this piece do not reflect my views nor those of anyone here at TGR!
In reality, I had a blast at the event, met some very nice folks passionate about their sport, and was very impressed with the sense of community present and the efforts made by the Snow Devils and the event staff (many of who are volunteers) to give back to the sport and to the town of Jackson. I'd like to recognize some of the organizations benefitting from the event's selfless initiatives and their relevant donation links. This year's beneficiaries include:
-$100,000 to St. John’s Medical Center for an Oncology Exam room, which will be used to examine patients suffering from tumors. The website for the St. John's Hospital Foundation can be found here: http://www.stjohnshospitalfoundation.org/
- $72,000 to the Jackson Hole Shrine Club to benefit the Shriner’s Children Hospital in Salt Lake City, who provides the best specialty care for children suffering from oprthopaedic issues, burns, spinal cord injuries (of which I myself have been a victim), and cleft lip and palate issues regardless of the family's ability to pay. The Shrine Club's website with a donation link can be found here: http://jhshriners.org/
-$50,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wyoming, which has sent a young leukemia patients scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef among countless other wishes they've granted to young children. Their website can be found here: http://wyoming.wish.org/
Again, I apologize to those who I have offended in not having the foresight to frame this article in such a way as to make it understood as complete fiction and satire! If you would like to read an accurate and very well-written piece about what actually went on at the 39th Annual Hill Climb World Championships, please check out this great article by the staff of the Jackson Hole News & Guide: http://bit.ly/P1Fz4A
View Ryan Dunfee on Google+"
Obviously TGR was feeling the heat!!
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 pro.
Fairly dumb reason to avoid people. Heck I bet there are many "pro" snowmobilers that you will see on a mtn bike or ski's through out the year. Can think of half a dozen that do all that and more.
Very much so. Was have received email responses from TGR, Dunfee, and Powder Magazine all apologetic.
Don't get the fuss????
He pokes fun at skiers as well who overpay for their houses & groceries near the hill. Some of the stereotypes on both sides are true but I don't think he was ragging on any particular group. I get just as much of a kick out of the monster trucks as I do of the soccer moms driving an Armada from the suburb to the local Costco - can't see the point in either!
Maybe some folks need to lighten up a bit - the writer didn't seem to have a bias against sledding .... but then again maybe I have a darker sense of humour.
He pokes fun at skiers as well who overpay for their houses & groceries near the hill. Some of the stereotypes on both sides are true but I don't think he was ragging on any particular group. I get just as much of a kick out of the monster trucks as I do of the soccer moms driving an Armada from the suburb to the local Costco - can't see the point in either!
Maybe some folks need to lighten up a bit - the writer didn't seem to have a bias against sledding .... but then again maybe I have a darker sense of humour.
R
rmscustom
Well-known member
Yeah, just go read the comments now. Dunfee in on there trying to run some damage control.
Link to article doesnt work for me anymore.
Wish we could post the email that one of our acquaintances sent in, and then there response. While it was written with less than a little tact and would have been a bunch of ****, the response to the email was 100% damage control.
I agree!
Dayum skiers. Always making wild oversweeping generalizations.
Thank god none of that ever happens in the sledding community.
Dayum skiers. Always making wild oversweeping generalizations.
Thank god none of that ever happens in the sledding community.
I feel this way as well..... despite the backpeddling this 'writer' meant every single bit of venom he was spewing at our community......
Thankfully we as a community have come a long way in a short time and were able to affect a response to a very deliberate attack.
This makes me proud.
We know who the douche is, dont paint the whole crowd of skiers, bikers, etc with the same brush, but lets not forget this guy.
It's always the same b.s. with certain people. Next time a skier gets offended ask them why they tear down the side of a mountain, add chairlifts, buildings, electrical lines, paved roads, water lines, sewer lines, etc. etc. to have fun doing what they think is freedom! This type of activity to me seems to be A LOT more destructive to the environment!? We snowmobilers almost always park right on the shoulder of a state highway, unload, ride, and pack in pack out leaving no trace of of our existence! But...I'm cool with it because the more lefties on the slopes means more room for us in our playground
Obviously there are many people who do it all. But if youre looking at majority, or at least where im from, most avid skiiers have the same mindset ( the writer even did his typical backstep after the backlash to try and cover his tracks ).
Out in my neck of the woods, we have skiiers who look down on snowmobilers and who wont even engage in conversation with us. You'll even overhear a few with their little " oh theyre destroying the habitat we need to shut down the roads to sleds " talk.
Greenies. libtards. Same with the bycicle riders. Not so many mountain bikers, but the ones on the highways. The way they look at you, the conversations they have amongst themselves, the way they literally take up the whole lane on a highway riding 15 mph when the cars speed limit is 55 mph, the way they refuse to move over, and wave at the cars to go around into the oncoming lane, yes. LIBERALS. With the pilot cars having obama stickers and everything.
I would put the writer of this artical in the same category as these byciclists and skiiers in my area. And like i said until i have a personal experience that is different than the stuff thats been happening since i was a kid, my opinion wont change.
J
Jaynelson
Well-known member
^ you're doing the same thing in reverse tho, really. You are describing "idiots," not necessarily people who play a certain sport or participate in a certain activity. There are idiots everywhere, and I have definitely seen some on snowmobiles. Unfortunately, they tend to stick out...even though they don't represent the group as a whole. For example, I have liberal or left-wing views on many issues (not all)...but I also drive really fast and ride a sled as often as possible. I like microbews and budweisers. So where does that put me on your scale?