Info on New Ski Routes in the Cascades

In the line of examples, also www.rockclimbing.com has a great example of a database of beta for climbing routes all over the world. The only problem is that there is SO MUCH info, a lot of info is archived under different names, duplicating info and making it difficult to accurately create a unified understanding of various terrain and names (v. local nicknames, ect.) I would suggest having moderators that organize the beta collected (with pics). It would be incredibly time consuming.

I think we already have something started.  Erik Henne posted this. I don't know if there is a way to wikize it, or if he would allow it, but I think that any route descriptions should be tied to a map and have photos tied to the same map.  That technology already exists.  I would happily post my trips or routes to a wiki.  My photos are already geotagged on Picasa, so it is just a small step to expose that for the public good.  It would be cool to have a repository of new routes, but I would be happy to see new to me routes also.  There are so many great trips in this area.  No guide book will ever contain them all, but a wiki could come pretty close.

There are so many great trips in this area.  No guide book will ever contain them all, but a wiki could come pretty close.

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?

These are old questions, but wiki technology makes it possible to build a more complete "Cascade Cookbook" than ever before.

The question is: Would that be a good thing?

I think the answer is yes.  I don't think anyone's secret stash is going to look like Alpy on a powder day.  Sure information would be out there that would allow some people to go where they otherwise would not have, but I don't think it would cost the Cascades their charm.  I wasn't a climber before the Cascade Alpine Guides were published, but I climb now and I don't think the hills are unpleasant because we have that resource.  The best skis will be as crowded as they are now and the rest will get the occasional visitor they get now, plus a couple more.

I agree. A lot of skis are already in published guidebooks or documented on known websites such as TAY, Cascade Climbers, Summitpost or even RC.com. .

I agree the the poster who mentioned the NWMJ as a good source of info. The American Alpine Journal usually covers some of the more relevant new routes as well. Those routes are inspiring but, I personally know though that with my recent life changes (kid) I won't be out doing anything that will be written up in the NWMJ or AAJ anytime soon. But I still feel that some of what I do can be of use to others.

The issue I am running into is that they are not cohesively organized where one can pull out the relevant data to pull together a trip. I'm thinking of the creation of a cascade specific route repository - a type of online guidebook Web 2.0 style. Of course you can't infringe on copyright issues with previously printed materials...

I do understand Lowell's comments about wanting to maintain the nature of the cascades. Its a range without a lot of written history but full of adventure and experience - unique in the shrinking world today. I do see the dilemma here - post a lot of info about new routes and traverses, and stand to have a lot of that mystery removed. However, I do think that the cascades are big and wild enough that the mystery of the unknown and almost inaccessible will always remain. We simply don't have the population or the infrastructure of places like the alps to start to feel overrun. In addition, the approaches change, routes change and even mountains change (think St. helens) here in the PNW. Heck even California with its huge population centers is still full of potential firsts when it comes to BC skiing.

I personally think this project has the potential to show not only what is already done in the cascades, but what the potential is out there to be done. Ski Mountaineering is a relatively new sport here in the US and in WA in particular. We have a long way to go before everything is "skied out" and I'd like to see some way to document the intensity of the exploration in a lasting populist format.

I thought I posted this yesterday but I must have gotten distracted...

Check out www.skitour.fr/topos/ . I can't read french but this seems to be just what you're talking about only for the alps. The google map is tagged with peaks/ski routes. When you click on the peak you have the option of going to a page which lists routes. When you follow the link to the route it has a breif description (usually with a couple of photos).

The cascade mountains are big. My guess is that a site that offers this sort of thing for the cascades would make the easy to reach places more crowded but it would also point people away from their normal tours and might actually spread people out. In other words, there would be pros and cons. I can't say that it would be good or bad but it sure would be nice to be able to find a few bullet point notes on potential tours easily rather than having to follow four or five different web forums for years to get that sort of info.