This week's Tele-Talk question is: Do you think local residents are entitled to discounted ski tickets?

No, I don't. This is a business, and a short one at that. If you want to play, you gotta pay. No other business in town offers discounts to locals, so why should the ski industry? It's a tough, tough business, and God bless them. Thank God they're here. If they weren't here, this town wouldn't exist. This is Bill from Conway.I absolutely think they are. They're local residents, and the best form of advertising, not only for the ski mountains but for every other business in the valley.Yes, definitely. In the '60s and '70s, I could ski Cranmore with a $25 season pass. It was wonderful, all the Kennett kids skiing there, and I think it should go back then. It's a great way to learn how to ski and be social.As a person who loves the outdoors, I would like to say that I personally think all ski lift tickets are ridiculous, because you could hike to get to the top of a mountain and ski if you really wanted to get out there. So I wouldn't necessarily say locals are entitled to free tickets. However, the chamber of commerce pass, in the last four or five years, has become more and more ridiculous. I can still remember when it was $100 with unlimited midweek skiing. My issue is really with the quote from Jesse Mosston, who is the marketing director at Attitash. His quote is, "How many other businesses in this valley offer their products for free?" I would just like to say to him that as a waiter in this valley, I don't think he realizes how many people ask me every day what the ski conditions are like at different mountains, and I don't think that any of these people, especially the marketing directors, are taking into account just how much they rely on the peons of this valley to promote their business. Attitash is going to have a really great time selling tickets with their massive, million-dollar snowmaking upgrade this year when we're still having 90 degree temperatures at the end of September. This is Andy in Jackson.Yes, I do. Local residents support this town when the tourists aren't here. I believe they should have discounted tickets. My name is Robert and I'm from Conway.This is Bill Aughton. I think "entitled" is not the right word for discount tickets for locals. Common marketing sense is. I don't know what Janice Crawford or the Ski Mount Washington Valley group is thinking about, but this new move will not endear locals to the ski areas. It will anger them, and that will rub off on our tourists, and that will do us no good at all. I myself quit being a local ticket holder when the price went up, but when I did have a local ticket, I never skied when it was crowded so it did not cost the areas anything. In fact, I bought things so they made money that they would not have had, and have not had it since. I also really talked up our valley skiing. Now I'm not as excited about it and I don't talk it up as much. I do support my local favorite. Skiing is in a tough position right now. Real marketing starts at home. That's what brings our visitors back. Wake up, Ski Mount Washington Valley, wake up.Yes, this is Richard calling from Tamworth. I think the local residents should be entitled to discounted ski passes because when the out-of-staters come in, they're here for the short period, so sock it to 'em. The locals are the bread and butter of the facilities around town where you buy your equipment, and it also encourages others to get involved in such things as snowboarding, skiing, cross-country and whatever, and I think that the discounted passes are a very good idea. But out-of-staters or whatever, they should pay the full price because they're only around for a little while, where we shop here all the time and support all the local stores, and nothing's free. We pay for it. I think those guys are doing a great job with the discounted ski tickets and more people will get involved, get their kids involved and it will eventually turn out to your advantage.The change in the chamber pass stinks. What about the person who works midweek and only gets a couple hours off to ski just a few runs then has to go to work? What about the guy with bad knees who can only ski three or four runs and has to call it a day? I guess we can thank Jesse Mosston at Attitash for this. Thanks, Jesse.Well, if the ski areas would like us to ski at their ski areas, because we're not going to pay those ridiculously inflated prices. If we get the discount like we've always had, we're still going to spend money to eat there, we're going to spend money to drink, but we're never going to go there if we don't get prices we can afford. Entitled to discounted ski tickets? It might be a nice PR move, it might be a nice gesture to welcome the locals, but entitled to a discount? Absolutely not. Are we entitled to discounted milk? Are we entitled to discount tolls? Are we entitled to discount heating oil? No, not entitled to discounts. It might be a nice gesture, it might be a good way to make friends, but there is no such thing as being entitled to discount lift tickets, because the ski areas don't make any money anyway. It's a rough business. This is Wayne from Kearsarge.Local residents are definitely entitled to discounted ski tickets. If you figure in the low-wage jobs that we have to put up with and all the other crap the out-of-towners put on us, yes, we are.I certainly do think the local residents are entitled to discounted ski tickets, because after all, we work for discounted wages. Most people in this valley work part-time jobs because it is next to impossible to get a full-time job. One nice advantage of the valley pass is that people could ski for a few hours in between jobs. Without the people in the valley, Attitash can have their big guns, but without the local employees singing their praises, their lodges and ski trails will be empty. I think the chamber of commerce made a huge error in judgment and should be deeply ashamed of itself for not supporting the employees of their members. This is not a deal for locals, this is a deal for the ski areas and for the chamber.Yes, I believe that residents should be entitled to discounted ski tickets. The projected chamber idea of having people act as ambassadors to the ski areas and limiting us to five tickets at each area is a bad idea, I think. People who skied at Attitash and Cranmore on a regular basis on their valley passes were extremely good ambassadors for those areas. People who were down in the King Pine or Shawnee Peak areas skied at those areas. This is a bad, bad idea and I think your sales will fall dramatically as a result of it. Why did it have to be changed anyway, just out of curiosity?This is Fred from Freedom. As a local who takes advantage of the ski pass, I do not believe it should be offered, because we do not spend any money in the snack bars or the restaurants, we do not buy our equipment in the ski shops, we go elsewhere, and most of us constantly badmouth the ski areas. It's just a big losing thing for the ski slopes. And they know they only do this for good will, which is nice of them, but to them, it's a loser, and frankly, nobody here deserves it.I do think that they are entitled to local discounts. Most of us work in the restaurant or retail industry, therefore can't afford a lot, because we all know what we make, and you know, we are your best source of advertising. We tell people where to go, what to do, and you really messed up this one. I hope the other ski areas, Wildcat, Attitash, Cranmore come up with a little anti-Valley Pass. "Hey, come to us, we're cheap," because that's where people are going to be going. I'm a bartender in the valley.I think the chamber's plan to limit Valley Pass holders to only five days at each mountain is a terrible idea. So does everyone else I've spoken to. A much better idea would be to go back to the way it used to work. They sold the passes for $25, then pass holders would pay $5 for a ticket on the day they skied at any area they wanted. This is Dave in North Conway.No, I dont think residents are entitled to a ski pass, nor are employees of valley businesses. However, it would be smart marketing and good PR if the local ski areas made a Valley Pass available at least to employees, for a nominal fee. Nothing gets the word out like the local buzzwhether its good or bad. Seasoned travelers know to ask a local about where to eat, sleep and ski. Ski areas place an enormous load on the local infrastructure in the form of groundwater use, traffic, utilities, et cetera. Its just good business to give something back and keep the local buzz positive.I think locals are entitled to discounted ski tickets and it's a good thing for the local ski areas to have them advertising you where they work. And if it is $299, they can get that same price for a midweek pass at Sunday River, so I would be thinking about it.Here we go again, tinkering with a ski pass that was fine the way it was. Could someone decipher how it works? Sounds like the intent is to discourage workers from buying it. The logistics of utilizing the new pass will really test one's patience. I realize the chamber's obligation is to its members, but there should be someone advocating for the workers who keep this tourist-based economy afloat. My initial concern was that the new owners of Bretton Woods would either pull out or push for an increase, but looks like Attitash is the culprit and the pass at Bretton Woods for midweek is cheaper than Attitash; add $30 and Cannon Mountain gets thrown in as well. Dennis in Intervale.Yes, I do, and I think that the change in the Valley Pass is not a good one. If they want people to try the different ski areas, maybe they should offer that to the tourists. I, for one, am in the service industry and work very hard.My name is Kevin from Conway, and I think that local residents should be entitled to discounted ski tickets, but I also think that Jesse Mosston pointed out how many other businesses in the valley offered their products for free. Last time I checked, $300 isn't free. I grew up here and have skied every mountain in this area, have skied almost every mountain in New England, and I think that we are ambassadors and we sample anyway, so what's the point in forcing us to go to every different mountain? Well, as someone who comes up on a regular basis, stays with friends and uses the hotels and so forth, I really am ticked off and am getting sick of the sense of entitlement that locals have. If it wasn't for us out-of-towners who do come up, boost your economy and keep you people in business and working and roofs over your heads, you'd be nowhere. It was a hick town 30 or 40 years ago, and every time you get a bit of sophistication, build up things and get your economy and real estate going, look at all the hotels and restaurants, where do you think you are? You'd be nowhere, and most of you people wouldn't even be able to live here if it wasn't for us, so why don't you just be quiet, pay the ski ticket and just go from there and stop complaining. You owe a debt of gratitude to these ski areas for employing you in the first place.My understanding is that this pass was created as a benefit to the service workers in Mount Washington Valley who are paid very low wages. A few years ago, the price went from $199 to $299 and this was pushed by management at Attitash. Well, Attitash is at it again with this new pass that is so complicated, good luck figuring out all the restrictions. Of course, the Mount Washington Valley Chamber (Anything is possible!) tries to make it sound like a fantastic opportunity since they are the beneficiaries of the $299 per pass. I wish I lived closer so I could take advantage of the Sunday River and Sugarloaf option for $299 midweek and nonholiday, which can also be upgraded to include Loon. It also includes discounts to the Boyne USA holdings in the western United States and Canada. Little wonder the valley has to import foreign workers. Where is the incentive for young people to come and work here? Erika in Bartlett.