Vail Mountain adds rainbow logo to Pride lift: "I've never been prouder to honestly work here than I am right now"
Next time you're up near Eagle's Nest on Vail Mountain, you'll likely notice some small, but culturally significant changes to a few signs around the resort.
Both the Pride Express and the actual ski run named "Pride" now have the Vail Mountain logo decked out in rainbow colors, from red to purple.
Long-time ski patroller Raquel Spencer Schifani or "Rocky," stood just beneath the sign, wearing a hat with the same colorful logo.
"For the LGBTQIA+ community just to celebrate our diversity and inclusion on this mountain," Rocky said. "For me, it's hope, diversity, love, it's what that symbol means."
The sign will be replaced with a newer, less beat-up version and the lift itself will have new panels installed with the logo once the sign guy gets the pieces, he needs to get it put together, but the timeline for the final versions is sometime this summer.
They will stay in place from then on, not just a Pride month addition.
"I've never been prouder to honestly work here than I am right now," Rocky said.
The sign came about after a newer employee mentioned they should add a rainbow logo to the sign offhandedly while driving by, but Rocky and her coworker, Ian King, took that suggestion seriously and brought it to management.
"The fact that it came from boots on the ground, the people who are the heart and soul of the mountain itself, and have the higher-up people like our folks see that and totally trust us and believe in it with us is something you can't replace," Rocky said.
She and her wife both work for Vail Mountain and has always felt welcome, but when it comes to things like inclusivity, silence isn't enough.
"Silence is sometimes golden but with diversity and inclusion it is not," she said. "Saying that no matter who you are, what walk of life you come from, what you believe in, what your opinions are and being able to live your true self and be unapologetically you is huge and this is step one."
Online reception has been both positive and negative, with Vail Mountain not backing down from challengers to their decision. A comment on its Instagram post stated the sign would be covered in stickers in a week.
"Guess it's good that we know a thing or two about making trail signs," simply responded Vail Mountain.
The runs around the area are lion themed, (think Lionshead parking lot, Simba run, etc.). and while Pride was initially intended to mean a group of lions, it now stands for another meaning as well.
Rocky says she is encouraged by the accepting reception Vail corporate had for its idea.
"I think this is a start we can do a lot more with everything with inclusion but I think this is the starting point, this was they why not, i think now the resort can just take off and run with this, let's keep it going, let's not get stagnant," Rocky said.
As for what's next, while we're pretty sure Rocky is thinking in grander terms than just clothing and signs, but maybe hats with the logo are coming? There certainly seems to be a demand.
"I've gotten quite a few people asking where to get 'em, employees especially have been emailing or messaging me," Rocky said, laughing. "I had one stop me in the hallway today ask me, 'where do I get that? That hat is awesome.'"
