Two mainstays at Stratton were siblings Tricia and Doug Byrnes. They embraced snowboarding at an early age, and the mountain witnessed the duo rise from youthful rippers to ranked competitors. The two came to Stratton after their father caught the skiing bug. “My dad learned how to ski when I was ten ... and he fell in love with it,” Tricia Byrnes related in 2017, “we went to Stratton over Christmas vacation and it was pouring rain and he did not want to go. And all of a sudden, he got totally hooked, and was like ‘This is the best thing ever. We're a ski family now.’[i]
The Byrnes parents were early advocates for allowing snowboarding at Stratton. They often visited Paul Johnston and say that their children “used to ski race and got burnt out …‘Are you ever going to allow snowboarding here ... so the kids can have something else besides this?’” Mrs. Byrnes would say ‘You know they used to be the first ones in the car to come up to the mountain, now they don't want to come to the mountain anymore.’” Johnston concluded: “The minute I allowed snowboarding, they were tickled pink. The kids started enjoying the mountain and Stratton again." [ii]
Starting in 1980, the Byrnes were regular fixtures every winter weekend. Doug Byrnes had a room in his parents’ house which served as a popular hangout. Neil Korn added, “A lot of people would come and visit him… We always went there to look at magazines and he was getting into playing music so he would be on the turntables. He always had a lot of memorabilia from US Opens on his bedroom walls."[iii]-Alexei Garick and Doug Byrnes had seen each other on Stratton, solidifying their relationship when they met at Western State Colorado University. The two eventually migrated back to Vermont during a winter term, living in the basement and snowboarding as much as they could.
[i] Byrnes
[ii] Johnston
[iii] Interview with Neil Korn July 2017
The Byrnes parents were early advocates for allowing snowboarding at Stratton. They often visited Paul Johnston and say that their children “used to ski race and got burnt out …‘Are you ever going to allow snowboarding here ... so the kids can have something else besides this?’” Mrs. Byrnes would say ‘You know they used to be the first ones in the car to come up to the mountain, now they don't want to come to the mountain anymore.’” Johnston concluded: “The minute I allowed snowboarding, they were tickled pink. The kids started enjoying the mountain and Stratton again." [ii]
Starting in 1980, the Byrnes were regular fixtures every winter weekend. Doug Byrnes had a room in his parents’ house which served as a popular hangout. Neil Korn added, “A lot of people would come and visit him… We always went there to look at magazines and he was getting into playing music so he would be on the turntables. He always had a lot of memorabilia from US Opens on his bedroom walls."[iii]-Alexei Garick and Doug Byrnes had seen each other on Stratton, solidifying their relationship when they met at Western State Colorado University. The two eventually migrated back to Vermont during a winter term, living in the basement and snowboarding as much as they could.
[i] Byrnes
[ii] Johnston
[iii] Interview with Neil Korn July 2017
