Info on New Ski Routes in the Cascades

For context, readers might find the following thread interesting:

www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...dex.php?topic=7311.0

I appreciate Mjölner's and robert's thoughtful approach to this topic.  It's one I've wrestled with for years.  But the arrival of Web technology changes the picture significantly.

It's hard for me to foresee all the pros and cons of a wiki-based guidebook.  Instead of thinking in the abstract, I like to return to the specific place that has shaped my thinking on this subject.  For me, that's the North Cascades highway.

There are a lot of wonderful tours along the North Cascades highway that have been written up in guidebooks, described in trip reports, and generally talked up for years.  But there are a lot of other wonderful tours that have not been documented and publicized in this way.  I've done a few of them, heard about of a few more, and day-dreamed about still more.  I cherish the opportunity to sniff out or stumble upon such tours.  For me, the North Cascades highway corridor remains a canvas for the imagination.

The thing about a canvas is that it works best if it's mostly blank.  In a few cases, tours along the highway that I've done, and that I'd prefer to remain undocumented, have been written up in trip reports.  But as Mjölner and others have pointed out, these reports tend to get buried and forgotten over time, in part because it can be hard to search for them.  I think this is good.  If you value imagination and discovery, forgetfulness is a blessing.

A geographically based, wiki-powered guidebook would put an end to that, I think.  People and bees have a lot in common.  They like to keep busy.  Once you create a structure for people to document tours systematically, I think it would not be long before the canvas became filled in.  My hunch, at least for the North Cascades highway corridor, is that this would be a net loss.

I believe it prudent to mention the appropriate training/experience/equipment required for the trip to be included  in any type of "route guide."  As the equipment improves, more and more people are venturing into the backcountry without the proper knowledge or equipment.  

Pray for snow!

The question is: Would that be a good thing?

What would be the unintended consequences?

Would the Cascades would lose some of their charm if they were so thoroughly documented?

I think no. For me, it's kind of selfish. "That cold, powdery, bluebird and perfect day when my partner and I slayed the 1200' couloir we had our eye on for years was the most satisfying moment of my existence up to this point. My knees were quivering with adrenaline as I made my last couple of turns in the perfectly dry, knee deep cold smoke..."

I write TR's because I like to share them. I love to take pictures, and even more so, I like to write. However, for me a TR is, as Lowell says, some of that "cascade charm". If I write up a TR, and people take time to read a TR, it's to try to capture and convey the "cascade charm". A database and collection of documented trips would be, IMHO, used and abused. I think Lowell said it well:

The thing about a canvas is that it works best if it's mostly blank. In a few cases, tours along the highway that I've done, and that I'd prefer to remain undocumented, have been written up in trip reports. But as Mjölner and others have pointed out, these reports tend to get buried and forgotten over time, in part because it can be hard to search for them. I think this is good. If you value imagination and discovery, forgetfulness is a blessing.

I'm a relative newbie to this site and backcountry skiing, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt compared to others that have been involved for years. That said, I agree with the comments posted by Lowell and Stugie. For me, much of the immense charm that has drawn me into this sport is derived from the adventurous nature of it, which is pretty hard to find in day-to-day life.

Being able to pore over topographic maps and conceptualize a route, and then set out to enact and experience it allows those of us who may never trek 7,000-meter peaks in the Himalayas to still experience the sense of an "expedition". The trip reports on TAY provide great information on destinations and conditions, but generally don't document routes with waypoints and detailed instructions, and this seem to provide a perfect compromise between skiers sharing experiences, tips, and enthusiasm while not denuding the adventure of the sport.

One more vote for the curmudgeon ticket. I'd like to see exploration and reconnaissance require skis, not just a computer. Yes, you can create a cookbook and let folks find their way to a certain point by following the steps downloaded from the Internet. They will not gain the satisfaction or the knowledge they would have gotten had they figured it out for themselves.

Remember, back in the sixties, when folks thought they could get enlightenment with a pill and avoid all those years of pesky meditation and discipline? Didn't work!

I'm with Lowell, Stugie, DG and Tim_Place on this one.

I used the various ski guides that are already in existance when I first got started but find now that I dervive more pleasure from figuring it out for myself.

The Cascades are a place where true exploration still can exist.
See Savegondor's recent exploration at Mt Pugh for an example.