dude, do you realize how long welch had NO park for? i'm willing to bet i am a bit older than you, but i used to get my ticket pulled all the time at hyland because skiers were not allowed in the pipe. skiers were not allowed in the park at all for awhile. shit, buck and afton didn't have a park forever either. and i'm really fucking old i guess cause i remember before hyland had a park. or vail for that matter.
not to mention, minnesota has some surpisingly good skiers coming out of it considering it has no snow, cold as temps and no verticle.
once i moved to missouri, we had to petition the local shitty hill to a) make a park b) allow skiers in the park (it was snowboard only). this was like 3 years ago. now they sponsor a freeride team of skiers and boarders. part of the deal is we have to help build/maintain the park but the tradeoff is that also means we design it. its a shame our season is like a month and a half. i average more days on snow in colorado than our place is open total.
i guess my point is be appreciative of what you have and get off your ass and do something constructive instead of bitching online.