Secret stashes, exploration, solitude, and more

Markharf is spot on. I hesitate to mention my own personal favorites (and haven't) but was hoping vague posts with good snow info would allow free flow of data without divulging nice "not in a guide book" runs. Please, let the poster's dictate how far they are willing to allow you, reader, into their day. If you really must know, ask in a side email and maybe they'll show you in person.<br><br>Or maybe not.

Hmmm. First rule: If you want to keep a secret then don't talk about it (or even hint about it) on an Internet chat board. Second rule: If you want everyone to know a secret then talk about it, or better yet, make vague but decipherable references about it's hidden glories, on an Internet chat board. These rules seem particularily self-evident to me.<br><br>As far as respect goes I look to Gregg_C, the original poster (who has now deleted his second post, wise choice). Did Gregg_C respect Larry, the guy who just showed him the tour? Is he respecting the Mazama locals who know this tour? Thinking of secrets as ones own is a big mistake as they seldom are. I have had a couple of my favorite "not-in-the-guidebook" tours popularized on this very board, one of them is currently featured on the home page gallery. Did the people responsible respect the wishes of those who found that tour the hard way? How long till we have an access issue with the parking for that tour?<br><br>You can make a useful post about conditions, post great pictures, etc. without giving up your location, that is my policy and that of everyone I ski with. Next time you want to drop hints about some fine tour you might consider how many people are lurking this board looking for your hints and not sharing theirs.

Just a suggestion I received from Ronj before giving up your stash:<br><br>Which brings us to the "official mandatory suggested stashworthiness protocol". <br>We've all discovered really cool spots that we believed were unique and relatively unknown (or so we thought) to other bc skiers. "Sharing with friends", which is the heart of backcountry skiing, and keeping 'secret stashes secret", is somewhat incongruous. If we concur with that we're inevitably left with somewhat of a dilemma. Some time ago, in an attempt to mitigate this dilemma, yet still reduce the possibility of ending up with the "muir circus" effect at all our favorite tours, we decided to agree upon a loosely knit alliance, in hopes of mitigating random, excessive bc traffic at our favorite "discovered" stashes. <br> <br>Of course, we knew if we tried to be too obsessive and dictatorial about not disclosing a specific location, someone would get mad and turn it into another Muir circus just to show us all who's boss.<br>So we finally settled on just this one simple concept: Anyone we SHOW it to, we have to PHYSICALLY TAKE them there (no passing on directions, maps, coordinates, etc). New folks that we disclose the destination to, have to "pay their dues" by going there with us, AND they have to agree, before going, to the same conditions of its disclosure. Lots of folks SAY they'll go, but far FEWER show to make the trip. So we reduce the number of folks that know about the location to those friends that actually pay the dues to get there. Cool, huh? <br> <br>So we would hope that you would embrace this "protocol" too, and continue with the tradition when disclosing this ski destination to other bc skiers.<br><br>I think this sums things up...<br>

freshie - good points indeed. I must say I was at a dilemma with some of my posts, but figured if I got a guidebook and saw the potential, I'm not alone. But I'm not sure of your reason to post a topo map of the hinted tour. I could do that myself. <br><br>So here's my protocol on posting info: If it is a named run in a guidebook (say, The Muir Snowfield) then it's fair game for complete revelation of route. If it is not, then discression is in order. Part of the fun of vague posts is busting out the topo and discoveriung for yourself how to make the run work - how you came about the need for the search is irrelevant - whether Web, freinds or just a drive by (my personal favorite), you're in the exploration mode. Some people want routes handed to them, I don't. Let's face it, I'm going to lead a long life and I'll probably end up skiing every line in Washington, published or not, so I can expect others will do the same. But I will respect other's wishes to have the same kind of exploration as I did. And that's the only reason I don't explain in detail my routes. <br><br>On a side note, I really like snosluts idea about physically visiting a spot - puts their money where their mouth is...<br><br>Interestingly, I never fear someone "stealing" my lines - no one gets up as early as me, especially on a powder day! <br><br>

Quote from Snoslut:<br>"So we finally settled on just this one simple concept: Anyone we SHOW it to, we have to PHYSICALLY TAKE them there (no passing on directions, maps, coordinates, etc). New folks that we disclose the destination to, have to "pay their dues" by going there with us, AND they have to agree, before going, to the same conditions of its disclosure." <br><br>I think this is the best compromise in an otherwise imperfect situation. Of course over time, as the circle expands the word WILL get out, but hopefully that will take a while. The only other option is complete silence, and even that may not work for long....

Russ - I hate to put it to you, but this is Washington State. The word will never get out about powder skiing here (thankfully). Not as long as their are no Whistlers or Vails around to draw the media. It's all Cascade Concrete, right? Just ask my friends in sunny Colorado! The people who read these posts are BC skiers...and most I like without even meeting them...Think snow!