BRECKENRIDGE ADS DRAW LOCAL FIRE AGAIN

Breckenridge ski area is catching heat again for language in its ads. Last
month, community folks in Breckenridge assailed the resort's use of
offensive language, prompting an apology and removal of the ads from niche
magazines.

This time, a handful of locals is outraged at what they see as drug
references found on Breckenridge's website.

The text, which changes daily, on Monday read: "At Breck, everyone has a
stash. And if you're lucky, you might just get someone to reveal their
favorite line to you."

Two more paragraphs note that Breckenridge's gladed powder runs, groomed
rollers and tree lines appeal to all types and levels of skiers.

The text ends with: "What they crave is the Breck fix. They crave their own
snowy stash."

"It has all to do with cocaine," says local innkeeper Niki Harris. "All the
words in it seem to have some connection with drugs, at least in my mind,
and I wasn't the only one."

Last month the ski area killed a series of print ads in teen ski and
snowboarding magazines, touting the town's night life. Locals cried foul
over offensive language in the ads, two of which promised the town could be
"your bitch," where each night was a chance to earn back any bravado lost
on the ski hill.

Those were a mistake, said Vail Resorts chief Adam Aron last month.

"It's just inappropriate for a New York Stock Exchange company to run an ad
with the word 'bitch,"' said Aron, who did not approve the ads. "There are
some issues that are right and there are some issues that are wrong. Those
ads were, quite simply, wrong."

This time, Vail Resorts denies wrongdoing.

"These are commonly used terms that have been used in the ski industry for
a long, long time by young and old and people who are passionate about
their sport," said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Kelly Ladyga. "Haven't you ever
heard of anyone talking about carving a perfect line through a bump run or
finding a powder stash in the trees? Let's not lose sight of the fact that
this is the ski industry and we are in the business of fun."

Breckenridge's website is 100 pages with links to hundreds more, Ladyga
said. The page that offended Harris provided daily text about the slopes.
Tuesday's text touted Breckenridge's variety of terrain.

"We may have reached the stage where we are overthinking and overanalyzing
things," said Andy Bigford, editor of SKI magazine and a former ski-town
newspaper editor. "I think they are just trying to have fun with the copy.
It should be taken with a grain of salt."