Letters
By You, the readerREAL Estate Gets Toasted
Thank you for your magazine’s new look. It sure beats the hell out of that rustic, ancient formatting look those cowboys had who used to be in charge. This little gem of a magazine has been great to show off at my dinner guests. I have read the “Heart and Soul” section of your magazine and it has inspired me to buy land there. The real estate ads in the magazine have always been helpful to me, but never good enough. I could capture the tone of this place called Crestone. And it sounds right for me and my family. Could you please send me the name of the real estate agent who hired you to write that article? I love buying land for investments, but this place seems more meaningful to me than that.
And yes, I agree it is “bold,” as you put it, to want to try and show off cute little deals. But I agree for a different reason. Everyone is trying to sell off the big mansions, while bravely, you are simply advertising a cute little place. And sure, there may be money involved (though we must admit, pennies as opposed to big bills), you are standing behind your ethic of sponsoring a true Mountain Place where real Mountain People live. Yes, that is bravery. Nobility. There are few real estate magazines out there that try and to persuade buyers to buy with an ethic. Thank you. Thank you for your bravery in trying to change the market. Things are not just for sale with the Mountain Gazette. No, they are for sale with an ethic. Thanks for supplanting the soul of a magazine with the nobility of real estate.
I tip my martini glass towards you sir,
Morgan Williams
Mountain Love Message Spreads
I’m sitting here in Telluride this week, and a friend of mine from Steamboat joined us, spending two of her evenings spent with Mountain Gazette laughing her ass off. It’s rare to see publications that can do that any more. Nice work.
James Chung
‘MOUNTAIN LIFE.’ That’s Greatness!
I first went to “the mountains” Summer, 1959, on a month-long family round-trip from Pella, IA to Denver, Southern Cal, Northern Cal, Yellowstone, Black Hills et all the stuff around and in between; I was 13. I returned to ROMO, Summer 1970, as a Roads Laborer and weekend campground minister — ACMNP. Boulder was a blast that summer. Married and Dad to 4 boys, we 6 visited the Rockies often in the ’80s; then, 2 sons attended and got degreed at CU-Boulder.
Now, 2 step-kids and 2 step-grandboys live in Breck and Denver. So, we have been and get to “the mountains” often. We met Mountain Gazette back in “the ’70s” and reunited in 2000. We picked up and read every issue we could find when out there, and even stopped by your Frisco office one afternoon to meet folk and breath that good rare air. For a while, we found free issues in a downtown Holland, MI Bike place. But, then, we got ourselves addicted and wanted certainty we’d get our “monthly fix” without fearing they were gone before we got downtown to pick one up. So, we now subscribe blessedly and blissfully, and I literally run down our gravel drive when it’s time for the next, new issue to arrive.
But, then, you went and sold it, moved it, moved yourself to NM, and what arrived in mailbox “looked different;” I got anxious and worried … until, that is, I opened and began to read. The “look” changed a bit; the “essence” remains the same — GOOD STUFF, MAYNARD!!!! Once again and some more, you’ve helped me learn change, growth, development, even evolution ain’t all bad. The new guys and new town, new format and content still capture, distill and distribute the heart and soul of “MOUNTAIN LIFE.” That’s greatness!!!
Here in Holland, MI, I live on an acre — The Acre to locals. It has a wetland pond, a wildflower meadow, some woods, lots of native critters, grasses and blooms, all of which take time, energy and affection from me; they all give back in spades. When Mountain Gazette arrives, I imagine a mountain here, and life feels wonderfully good — even better for a while — as I remember the feelings, the sounds, sights, smells, tastes, touches of time in “the mountains.” I thank you for that, and commend you for trusting us to keep on keeping on and up with life in the 21st. You guys are good and help us readers remember that we’ve been good and maybe can be good again and some more. That’s a precious gift.
I might want to stop by and say Hi when Pati and I visit out your way again, OK?
Until then, keep up this greatness. I thank you.
Don Hoekstra,
Holland, MI
MG Changes Kill Jolly’s Stoke
Include me in the chorus of dis-enchanted MG subscribers. What was it Jeffers wrote? “The beautiful places killed like rabbits … ” or some such — and now MG among them. Things have gone downhill so goddamned fast that it’s hard to know where to begin. “Gear-o-Rama”? What the fuck? Since when was MG just another outdoor gear whore? “Heart and Soul”? Sure, in the Faustian-Mephistophelean sense. “Real Estate?” Surely in jest! But, no. Sadly, no.
In lieu of good writing, we now have glossy photos of the new Mountain Gazette Editorial Director, who can’t write for shit. See, for example, his reply to Rick Stanionis’ letter in #140. “Pretty photos,” “beautiful piece,” amazing book review,” not to mention “dig,” “sweet” and “stoked.” I mean, buy this smiling idiot a goddamned Thesaurus.
As for the new “art director ” in the space of two issues, he’s turned MG into a parody of its former self.
M. John must be sick watching all of his hard work come unraveled overnight. During his tenure, there was never any question as to where his priorities were. Advertising was a necessary evil, a means of getting good writing into print. No longer. In truth, Fayhee himself is the only one left worth reading. Everything else, of late, is just run-of-the-mill MFA yuppie drivel.
So, I renew my subscription reluctantly, not holding out much hope for the survival of what, for a few years, was a veritable institution of mountain belles letters …
And if Fayhee jumps ship – which he ought to, seeing as how MSG (or whatever is the new corporate acronym) has so grievously fucked up his carefully nurtured baby – then you can kiss my $25 good-bye next year.
Sincerely,
Craig Jolly,
Asheville NC
Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus
Main Entry: jolly
Synonyms: cheerful, chipper, chirpy, convivial, daffy, delightful, gay, gleeful, hilarious, jocund, jokey, joshing, jovial, joyous, jubilant, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, playful, sportive, sprightly.
Ed’s note: In the Rocky Mountain vernacular, also see: stoked.
Cubicle Bashing Beatdown
I would like to part with my fellow readers as a matter of opinion and fact, respectively, on two issues: that of the new face and feel of the Gazette and the quality of urban cubicle life. First. I find the articles in the new Mountain Gazette much more readable and a higher quality than before, more factual, relevant and “news worthy.” I found the article on Silverton to be a VERY interesting report on the state of mountain towns and not the least bit “sell-out-ish.” I used to write articles on commercial real estate; believe me fellow readers, that wasn’t one. <whinybitch> I don’t like the new flag font though. I’d rather see it written in MJF’s scrawl with a charcoal poker across a rotting log. That font is so bad it almost hurts.</whinybitch>
Second, SHAME ON MOUNTAIN GAZETTE for cubicle bashing! I LOVED Brenden Leonard’s article, “Poaching Vail” (Mountain Notebook, MG #140), but his specious cubicle comments almost pissed me off. I recently joined the cubicle militia working for a web marketing company in Reno, NV. This job lets me write and be creative on a daily basis. I work for ski areas and shoot photos and videos and write. I recently went backcountry skiing (on the FUCKING clock) with a team of writers and photogs from Backcountry Magazine on a Thursday; the previous Wednesday I met with staff @ Alpine Meadows and skied awesome spring corn.
I ride my bike to work 3+ times a week on average, and this week I got out for TWO mountain bike rides! So life, my dear dirtbags, is what you make it. The shape or your room and the height and heft of your walls means nothing.
Love and kisses,
Mike Henderson,
Well Now I Get It
To be honest, in the many years that I have been fortunate enough to be in a place to pick up your magazine, I have not really gotten the concept of the Mountain Gazette. I was drawn to it by its covers of course, but as I leafed through the magazine I never really found much that I could relate to. It was not entirely what I expected to find and therefore slightly disappointing — except for the covers which continue to draw me to the magazine.
The mountain poems and stories about someone’s most recent adventure are interesting, but the magazine seemed a little heavy on those types of articles. While this may be appealing to a small segment of the mountain scene, it did not reach out and grab the more numerous and average mountain person. Maybe it’s just that I am not a poet and don’t fully appreciate those types of articles, but I do consider myself somewhat of a “mountain” person having spent many nights in backcountry huts and skinning up various mountains for that sweet run down in deep powder.
The point of this is that I have been very pleased with the last several issues and have appreciated the fresh new look and broader reach to those of us who spend time in the mountains and enjoy reading about the history , culture and people of those mountain towns that we visit, or hope to visit soon. I hope you keep the mountain poems, which have been an integral part of the magazine, but I also hope that you continue to offer new articles on the towns, the locals who live there and their latest adventures.
Sandra Necessary,
New Mexico
More Odd Goods ‘Dos & Don’ts’
As a seasoned and single ski and mountain town woman (Summit and Steamboat/Durango and now Mancos), I sure appreciated the Odd Goods feature in #140. It seems like Crabtree, Sperber and Vliet are all testimony that, in the end, we may need to be with “own kind.” With that in mind, I have a few of my own dos and don’ts to add, if I may:
Don’t: Do online dating (with the exception maybe of Mountain Honies). No matter how dry the spell or desperate the day, don’t do it. The man you want to be with it isn’t on eharmony, match.com, etc. Trust me.
Do: Ski alone, on weekdays and under the lift as much as possible. Even if you don’t get a date, the call-outs do wonders for your confidence.
Do: Date younger guys. Just do it. They’re everywhere, the hottie factor is high and they have less baggage, which subsequently leads to more maturity in the long run. About everything.
Don’t: Get fooled by the older guy who has relocated to create a new life, having learned all kinds of so-called lessons from past experiences, blah blah blah. He hasn’t, especially if any of those experiences include more than one failed marriage, tax evasion or delusions of artistic grandeur (or any grandeur, for that matter).
Don’t: Waste time with a guy who says, in your first conversation about skiing, that he “likes speed.” Not only is this a dumb thing to say, a guy who says it obviously can’t really ski.
Do: Date a guy who wants to watch your lines at least half of time (i.e. doesn’t always go first down the hill). If a guy can handle you being a better or equal skier, keep him.
Gretchen Treadwell,
Mancos, CO
Jean Harlow’s Black Wig
You can’t fool this Mountain Man … that’s John Boles and Jean Harlow (with a wig on) on the cover of MG # 140. She was the most famous Platinum Blond in history! These early actors used nap kiss all the time. In the good old days, Hollywood had the Hays office after Mae West said “There’s nothing better than a good thing doing a good thing”. On the other hand, it might be Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart in “High Sierra” with all those mountains. I’ve got it! It’s Bonnie and Clyde with all those holes thru the cover. All I can say buy a double sleeping bag. If it gets cold you can put one inside the other.
Max Casebeau
Sun Valley
Summerhaven’s Big Smoke
Unfortunately, what has happened to Summerhaven is nothing new (Smoke Signals, “Ashes to ashes in Summerhaven,” MG #140).
What really gets my goat is the displacement of Long-time residents such as the one you mentioned. Locals of these once affordable mining/ranching communities can no longer afford to stay due to soaring real estate values, taxes and the overall cost of living.
I moved out here in 1987 when Colorado’s economy was heading for total collapse. On a first-year teacher’s salary, I scraped together 5,000 dollars and bought 8 acres in Clear Creek County off Virginia Canyon Road. The views are far-reaching but better yet little has changed in 20 years. There has been some increase in traffic but most folks prefer glitzy Vail or Breckenridge.
To many traveling west on I-70, Idaho Springs is a dingy old mining town — a place to get gas and a pizza after skiing all day. But as Jesse Colin Young wrote “The ruts in the road and the curves keep the tourists at bay. And it’s lonesome and peaceful and you know I like it that way.”
Neal Cully
