As I’m sure we are all aware, there is some crazy stuff going on in the world right now. Libya, Japan, Egypt and lots of other areas are dealing with unrest that affects millions of people. These kinds of problems are a world away when you’re skiing powder or hot lapping the park. Of course, I think Schweitzer is paradise compared to anywhere, but you know what I mean. We’ve got it made in the shade here in our little mountain paradise. Of course, everyone has personal struggles and hardships to overcome. But for most of us here they don’t include catastrophic earthquakes, crazy dictators or revolutions.
With all these horrific events happening, I think it’s a good time for all of us to take a minute to reflect. I’ve talked before about how lucky we all are to be able to live/work/ride at Schweitzer, but I don’t think it’s something we think about enough. We should constantly be thankful for what we have here and thinking about those less fortunate. Many of us will never know what it’s like to live through the kind of civil unrest going on in parts of the world. But all of us have a responsibility to do as much as we can to help those who are in those situations. (We also have a responsibility to not poach lines, cut in lift lines or run into fallen kids but that’s a whole other issue).
Donating your time or money to charities and relief groups is always great, but if nothing else, at least take some time to educate yourself about what’s going on in the world around you. We’re kind of in a bubble in this country, but things going on overseas will affect us in some ways, so I think it’s extremely important to keep updated on current events (possibly also because I’m a journalism major and it’s kind of required, but oh well!). It’s hard to keep in mind things that are happening thousands of miles away when there are fresh lines to be slayed and cornices to be dropped, but it’s a good habit to try and keep. Let’s all try to keep in mind how privileged we are here and remember to keep the snow dances going!
– Katie Ross, Intern
Schweitzer Mountain 
Wow, this was written in March and it’s only gotten worse, now the unrest has spread to America, Libya has fallen and I think Iran is next on the list.