PNW Ski Huts

I agree it would be great to have a few hut's.  It's to bad that in the great West of the USA where there were trapper cabins, miner cabins, and cabins all over at one time little survives today ??? We have been shackled by the liability issue so badly that we can't even have a great old alpine tradition like hut's. :-[

What about a winter igloo system? It would have to be rebuilt each winter, and dug out regularly, but could easily bring some of the benefits of a hut system to the Washington cascades for a fraction of the price. I have no idea what the permit implications would be if it went beyond "a group of friends" or included seasonal fixtures like some camp chairs or a tea kettle. But it would be pretty awesome to be able to go igloo to igloo for a couple days.

Of course, being that I can barely dig a functional snow cave, there would be some lernin' that will need to occur before I'd be building anything halfway habitable. Does anyone know how igloos perform in a maritime climate where they would regularly end up with several feet of snow on the roof?

I've considered starting up a hut or two and seeing if it could be viable. There are pretty easy low-impact solutions out there that seem to be some of the best US business models (CO/NM/MT...) It would be great to have a hut system in WA in some ways, however i think i'd rather have more solitude. There's so many huts in the western US and BC it seems like if someone wants that they can go find it. I'll take more solitude over more comfort most days.

on a different note, i was looking today for who to make reservations with for the snow peak cabin at sherman's pass. I vaguely remember hearing that the forest service stopped maintaining that, does anyone know the status?

The NFS has pretty strict guidelines about permanent or semi-permanent structures in Natl Forests, due to issues like animals, sanitation, and damage to vegetation. However, igloos would probably be fine, if you didn't make a huge encampment out of it. If a certain group of skiers/boarders decided to collaborate, there might be ample volunteers. 

on a different note, i was looking today for who to make reservations with for the snow peak cabin at sherman's pass.  I vaguely remember hearing that the forest service stopped maintaining that, does anyone know the status?

PM Telemack about that as he is the Sherman Cabin expert. I think it's a fairly bureaucratic process requiring snail mail and a lottery system.
I was at the hut with Telemack last winter and it is very well maintained and super cosy. The terrain afforded by the burn areas offers fabulous tree skiing with no tree wells. Snow depth is a problem though as it doesn't get a super lot of snow.

What about a winter igloo system?  It would have to be rebuilt each winter, and dug out regularly, but could easily bring some of the benefits of a hut system to the Washington cascades for a fraction of the price.  I have no idea what the permit implications would be if it went beyond "a group of friends" or included seasonal fixtures like some camp chairs or a tea kettle.  But it would be pretty awesome to be able to go igloo to igloo for a couple days. 

If my "nemesis" the gloriously incompetent NPS can give you a ticket for building a snow kicker at Chinook Pass, you'd probably get life in prison for building an igloo.I'm sure there is some diminutive small print  written in Fedspeak such as" the formulation of snow crystals by means of human power into structures in which habitation, procreation or any form of recreation can occur is strictly forbidden".