the conditions in devil's creek were great today, fast and fun and fillin in
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the conditions in devil's creek were great today, fast and fun and fillin in
49N tomorrow? Not expecting much, but I'll be there in the morning. NTN/orange G3 Rapid Transits, green Crispi EVOs...
I'm wondering this too... anyone?Quote:
Now that Pat's gone.. who's the go-to boot guy around?
^^^ We'll watch for you. Orange jacket/black pants. Going waaaaaaaaay too fast for conditions. :biggrin:
Shit that's funny 'cause when I got to the bottom it registered in my head. I should have waited at the bottom for ya. My fuggin boots were killing me though, they were fine when skiing but stopped and on the chair was horrid. I took them to Alpine Haus, Ryan is working on them. Cannot comment on his work yet. He was the fitter when I bought my boots there. Wife picked up boots on her way home. We will see how things went when she gets here. Taking the whole FUNKY clan tomorrow.
it makes me upset that there isn't a viable dawn patrol area in spokane nor a place to train to get in better shape for ski touring. Mt Spokane could easily be that place but the concession that runs a ski area on your state parks restricts access to the area. Lance told me he was working on an uphill policy last year, yet mt spokane still forbids uphill travel. thought I'd shoot some people an email this morning about that, i'd encourage anyone interested in changing this or having an early morning place to skin before work to do the same..... here's mine if you want to cut and paste ;)
and the emails i sent it to:Quote:
Hey Lance,
How is the development of an uphill policy for Mt Spokane is going?
I was just up at Whitefish Mountain Resort this past weekend and it was great to be able to skin up their mountain for exercise. Their uphill policy is creating a healthier population and the resort is hosting "ski-mo"/randonee races. As you may know Whitefish Mountain sits on both public and private lands, so it is nice to know that not all ski area operators are trying to restrict certain user groups from their public lands.
In Utah, at Brighton, another ski area that sits on both public and private lands, they host randonee races weekly and allow uphill skiing as well. In fact, its a general trend that is happening across North America.
The increase in this user group should spur the Mt Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park concession in Mt Spokane State Park to create an uphill policy now. First for the safety of everyone. People skin up Mt Spokane throughout the winter, whether it is allowed or not, and soon enough someone is going to get hurt. If there were a few uphill routes that skiers could use, and snow machine operators and downhill skiers were aware it would greatly decrease any risk of injury. Second, Mt Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park's refusal to develop an uphill policy is restricting access of a very large user group to their public lands. Moreover, Mt Spokane owns the concessions to run the lifts on the land. They do not own the land on which the lifts sit on nor does Mt Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park own the water rights to which people slide on. Third, Mt Spokane is really the only viable solution for people living in the spokane-area interested in ski-mo racing to train. This is something Mt Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park should embrace!
I hope that the Operators of Mt Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park develop an uphill policy, i.e., a few routes people can safely use to skin to the top of the mountain.
Sincerely,
Brutah
winter@parks.wa.gov,
hr@parks.wa.gov,
Commission@parks.wa.gov,
concessions@parks.wa.gov,
mount.spokane@parks.wa.gov
lance@mtspokane.com
Has anyone actually been asked to leave during an ascent?
Second, what's wrong with the snowshoe route? A tiny bit longer to access (but if it's training you're after) and it's outside of the concession area.
Talked to the marketing manager at Snowlander about an official policy also.. she seemed fairly positive about it all. I didn't get any negative vibes, like they wanted to keep bc skiers out. Realistically, they just don't want noobs skiing into winch cat lines or groomers, kids building shitty jumps at Lodge 1, or people ascending runs as the paying public comes down.
Related beta on accessing before the park officially opens (for early dawn patrols): http://www.panhandlebackcountry.com/...of-attack.186/
Yes to answer your first question. Whats equally interesting, is I can ski down groomed runs at whitefish and they couldn't care less. But at Mt. Spokane we are apparently costing them money by skiing down.
Re: snowshoe route. Just looked it up. 3.25 miles at 1,300 vert? That is not good training. For comparison, 1.2 miles and 2200 vert for one frontside lap at whitefish.
the vert is one thing that can't be changed. but covering 1300 vert of 3.25 miles vs 1.5 is the difference. that is all i'm saying.
I think you are doubling the distance. I just mapped the route at Whitefish came up with 1.43mi on the up. Route I'm talking about at Mt Spokane is only a little over 1.5mi up. The snowshoe route on that PDF lists round trip distance.
(but yes, still much less vert than WF)
well i'm an idiot. this is what i get for looking at ski forums while doing school work.
To make it up, photo from dawn patrol this morning
Attachment 146794
hence the reason they need an UPHILL policy, so skiers can ascend the hill on a safe route that groomers know to avoid. that's basically any other resort's uphill policy; "here's a route to take up during these hours."
and they don't just kick people out..... they make them pay for a day pass and tell you how you just cost the ski area $10,000 because you ruined their groomer that you skied down :rolleyes:
all i know is the main reason most ski areas have a no uphill policy in place is due to avalanche issues, that is, people on the slopes while patrol is conducting avy work. And since there is little avy danger at mt spokane, ie, they don't do any explosive work, there shouldn't be an issue.
^^^49n is once again saying no skinning. It's not official policy, but patrol will stop you during operating hours unless you know the sneaky routes. Total power-trip by Bacon, for those who know who that is... ;-)
Too bad. They have always had a pretty lax attitude regarding skinning. They also started getting pissy last year if you didn't have an x-c trails pass even if you were just on it for a little ways when skiing off the back.
Sent from my GT-P5113 using TGR Forums
^^^ That'd be Bacon's influence. Nothing to do with safety, just flexing his muscles. So stupid.
^ Just go do it, it's what everyone else does. If you start from an area where they can't see you, once you're on the runs, you're fine. They only seem to enforce it when the lifts are running, but I find it's best to just avoid the lodge area when you start out no matter what time of day.
the same can be said for the 'kan. stick to the trees on the way up and exit through the trees if you leave before opening, don't ski a groomer right before opening. trees are your friend.
that's pretty funny considering they're now allowing fat bikes on the xc trails at 49. fat bikes but no uphill policy that makes no sense