Resort wisely reconsiders ban

Whitefish Mountain Resort managers have wisely reconsidered a ban on after-hours, uphill travel on the Big Mountain, due to big-time blowback from many of their most avid skiing customers.

The resort deserves credit for offering a one-month public comment period in which people can offer up ways to make after-hours skiing safer instead of ending a long and cherished tradition on the mountain.

Last week, the resort announced that uphill travel would no longer be allowed after the lifts closed. That triggered an avalanche of opposition, including large groups of protesting skiers who hiked to the summit under a full moon last weekend.  

“We’re not completely satisfied with this policy and neither are our users,” said resort spokesman Donnie Clapp, who added that managers have already received good ideas for alternative ways to manage after-hours skiing.

They are likely to hear other creative suggestions over the next month that will hopefully result in an arrangement that is more palatable for everyone.

WE SHOULD all have Richard Atkinson’s gumption. He wrapped up another very successful fundraiser last week, taking the final steps in his 151-day “Old Man Walking” campaign. The daily walks in his bright green shirt raised nearly $240,000 for the Whitefish Performing Arts Center.

When the recession took a $700,000 bite out of pledges for the refurbished auditorium at Whitefish Middle School, Atkinson took to the streets and showed the entire valley what can be done with a little ingenuity and a lot of flair.

The Whitefish Winter Carnival king knighted the affable Atkinson the “Seasoned Sire of Striding.” That somehow says it all.

THE FLATHEAD VALLEY says good-bye to one of the good guys this week. Ken Krueger, a former Flathead County commissioner and tireless servant of community causes, died Saturday at the age of 72.

As Jay Downen, a former colleague of Krueger’s, told the Inter Lake: He had a knack for finding a common link where others saw none. Maybe it was his famous sense of humor, or maybe just his sense of dedication that helped him get the job done as county commissioner, board president of Flathead Electric Co-op, and member of the West Valley School Board, the Stillwater Grange and many other organizations.

His laughter and leadership will be missed.