New Tribune article

I thought that this was a well written article about ski areas and rising costs in the local Tacoma Tribune.

www.thenewstribune.com/front/topphoto/story/189659.html

Good article. Thanks for posting Jason.

Good article.

Skiing with my son always reminds me that gravity doesn't care how old you are. Downhill skiing is one of the few sports where a grown-up and a kid can be pretty evenly matched, because gravity does most of the work. Some of the best times I've had outdoors with my son have been skiing.

It's interesting that the article cites lack of base-area development as one of things that has kept Washington lift prices down. Not many years ago people were concerned that Washington didn't have any true destination resorts . Maybe this has been a blessing, because it has kept the sport more affordable in this state.

When I interviewed Wolf Bauer , he said he thought the boom in mountain recreation (hiking, climbing, etc.) after World War II was largely fueled by downhill skiing. People went to the mountains to ski and liked it, so they started hiking and climbing too. A decline in downhill skiing could be a prelude to declines in other mountain sports, which could weaken the "green bonding" that Ira Spring liked to talk about.

If anything, I feel like I am seeing more people out in the mountains than ever before, but all I have is my limited scope of where I've been and when I've been there. Take paradise last weekend. Mike G has a great pic on his site: 32 skiers on pan face

"Green bonding," that's a great term. I have always felt the same way about the mountains. People need to see them and experience them, or we will lose them. I just hope we don't become over crowded like Glacier National Park. What used to be cheap is now very expensive, even to camp and trips must be planned far in advance. I guess there are many other places to visit, but I like how Washington, for the most part, has retained a nice balance in the mountains. Not too many people, but enough that people are aware of them and continue to protect.

And yes, skiing is a great kid sport. I hope to be doing it with great grand kids one of these days, hopefully on bionic knees . I expect a 'rugged version' in the future for 'difficult mountain travel'. Ha.

If anything, I feel like I am seeing more people out in the mountains than ever before...

Certainly there are a lot more backcountry skiers than there used to be. I'd guess that backcountry skiing has grown faster than lift skiing in the past 10-20 years, but I don't have any data to back it up.

The NWMJ has published statistics from Mt Rainier and North Cascades National Parks in every issue since 2004. For the first three years, the number of registered climbers fell, but it rebounded a bit in 2006. I am by no means eager to see the mountains crowded, but I agree with Ira Spring that people have to experience the mountains to really care about them. For better or worse, I think the ratio of mountain lovers to the population as a whole is falling.

as usual these ariticles never mention the gigantic cost to the resorts to build and maintain their artificial, man-made, improvement to "the mountains" in the form of half-pipes and terrain parks. the expense of running extra snowcats and personnel to implement these attractions is one of the major contributers to sky rocketing ticket prices. Interesting how the average age of the resort user is going up and these are hardly the people who have an interest in the parks and pipes. always thought it redundant that the mountain was so boring that these things had to be constructed.