Mr. McBride speaks very sensibly in his letter of Jan. 7 and, to be fair to him, the title of his letter, “Put Snowmass residents first,” may be yours and not his.

However, that title seems to me to put the cart before the horse (or, perhaps, the Clydesdales before the wagon, as it will be later in the month).

The small alpine towns he cites, although they depend heavily on visitors, remain essentially farming communities, and, at a pinch, would be economically viable as such. How many people in (new) Snowmass keep cows in their barns in the winter, chickens in their yards, and grow corn and graze their cattle and sheep on the ski slopes during the summer?

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The truth is that Snowmass depends entirely upon visitors, and the maxim therefore must be “Put Snowmass’ visitors first.” Without visitors there would be no Snowmass residents to be put anywhere, first or last.

And without skiing in Snowmass, what of Aspen itself as a skiing resort?

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Tom Glynn

London (but as from tomorrow,

to infest you in Aspen until the

end of March ” so beware!)