Having written many "April 1" stories myself in the past, I've learned that a lot of people don't catch the date or don't follow the link and take something as gospel. DCSki content also syndicates to other sources (such as Google News) where the content can be disassociated from the date.

I don't want false rumors to spread, so I had to delete an (admittedly witty) post on the Forums suggesting that a mid-Atlantic ski area was shutting down. Based on the style of writing, some people would have taken it as gospel (not following the link to wikipedia or knowing what date it was posted on), and this could have had very negative consequences. (For example, consider that some people might "remember reading somewhere" that a resort might be getting out of winter operations, and then not feel comfortable buying season passes, or discourage others from doing so, etc.)

I wrote a story a few years ago that used fake resort names and was completely unbelievable, pointing to the construction a new ski area in downtown Dundalk that would have "hill to hill" skiing with dozens of trails and numerous high-speed lifts, and some people *actually thought it was true*. I learned then to be very careful with April 1 stories.

So, sorry to be a curmudgeon, but hopefully you see where I'm coming from.

What, you mean that rumored new ski area on the Chesapeake Bay is not going to open after all? Think of all the snow they could make with that big water source!

Understood, Scott.

Woody