When the news came out on Thursday, I went numb, which took me completely by surprise. I mean, rumors had been flying for months, we all knew that the president of Powdr has been struggling with his health and I had been privy to some interesting conversations. We all knew this was coming, but what we didn’t know was exactly when and how and …
I couldn’t function for most of the day. I went through the motions at work, but everything seemed a little hollow inside. After watching the initial video and reading the press release, I took a deep breathe and let the forces of change barrel into me.
Whether Powdr or the Killington Independent Group or another corporation owns Killington is not something that I, personally, have any control over. I cannot control what lifts are replaced, what trails are widened or enhanced with snowmaking. I cannot control when bike trails are placed across my favorite tree trails or the price of a beer at the U Bar. These things are out of my control. I cannot change them, just as I cannot change others.
But what I can control is my reaction to change.
In her book, “Change Enthusiasm,” Cassandra Worthy talks about embracing change, becoming an enthusiast of change. That it is our reaction to change that determines whether or not that change will be successful — not the actual change itself. Very simply, she wrote that one can choose to get bitter or you can get better. It’s your choice.
As an historian, I will be the first to admit that change is downright scary. Those of us that were here when Powdr first took over witnessed that first hand, as many of our beloved employees were fired and then rehired without insurance. Talk about a scary change! They refused to open early and stay open late, and May Away became the norm instead of making the hard push into June…
But we, the community, persevered. We did what we always did and when a big storm came in early November, we all hiked up and went skiing anyway. Eventually Powdr realized that us Killington folk were all crazy winter sports enthusiasts like nothing they had ever seen before. Instead of choosing to continue building up the bitterness, they changed. They promoted Mike Solimano to president and away we went into the bright, shiny Powdr future.
Instead of bitter, we got better.
So now we are once again faced with change. Although many of us might know these investors as individuals, have coached their kids or even skied with them ourselves, we do not know who they will be as owners. We do not know how Mike Solimano will lead us when he is disconnected from the Powdr framework. And we have no idea if such a large independent ski area can even survive in this era of corporate conglomerates. The potential for failure is scary.
I took my lunch and sat in the K-1 parking lot last Thursday, thoughts of past and future all swirling around in my brain like electrons. I couldn’t control my thoughts and so I just let them float around, bouncing off each other. The Killington of the 1980s and my childhood; the massive transition of the 1990s, snowboards, shaped skis and parks; the hell of the ASC years; Powdr and now the KIG.
It was almost as if we were in a staring contest, Killington and I, of who would blink first, who would bend their knee in gratitude to the other. Each one of us showering the other with love and caring and hope. Hope for a future together that will be brighter than the future we had dreamed about before. But also acknowledging that we will, always, be there for each other, the mountain and I. For no matter how ownership changes, the strong beautiful mountain will continue to rise to 4,241 feet.
I left that afternoon feeling emboldened. Like I, too, was strong like mountain and could withstand whatever was thrown at me. That I not only would survive, but that I would perhaps even embrace these changes. That I would become not bitter and resentful over the movement forward, but rather embrace the opportunity that is before us. That I would do my very best to support this move forward and work to maintain the soul and integrity of the mountain.
We have the greatest of opportunities here. If we choose to see the possibilities that come with this change, we can choose to grow, to be better, to be greater in all things. As a community we stand at that crossroads now. We will embrace this new change of ownership with enthusiasm and encouragement, or we will choose to become bitter, lesser versions of ourselves. Will we choose to join together, as One Killington, to move our community forward? I have made my decision and I stand by it, proudly.
Yes, I am still absolutely petrified about what is to come. But hey, at least it’s not Vail.
Merisa Sherman is a long time Killington resident, town lister and member of the Development Review Board. She is a global real estate advisor and Coach PomPom. She can be reached at merisa.sherman@fourseasonssir.com.
