Rise of the Machines

With all due respect, my earlier comment was not meant to be in the context of disrespect and was only geared towards a bit of humor.
Speaking from both sides of the coin, I can defiantly say that I am embarrassed by the actions that are committed from some of the sledders out there. It appals me when I see a sledder or two that disobey the boundary laws, and on occasion I have been compelled to speak my mind to the clueless.
It seems in general that the majority of the sled population does not understand the concept of why we skiers "Cross Country" all day. Which for me is to be in the solitude of our majestic mountains, be it with friends or alone.
This time of year is a lapse time between the spring skiers and the spring riders(which I mite add are only a select few of the snowmobile community, as the smart ones realize that spring riding is very hard on their machines) And with the advancement of technology on both sides, there are more and more people out there to conflict.
That being said, If I want a wilderness experience I tend to avoid the limited areas that these sledders have access to till the terrain above their access roads are high and dry. In fact I was in the Cascade pass area all Memorial weekend and cant recall hearing one snowmachine. I was a bit upset when a chopper flew by one night, but I assumed that it was a medical evacuation, and let it go

FYI
With the horse power of the new sleds I believe that the fishing line trick will be insufficient... However a touring pole with the quick removal of the basket and some stealthy placement in the snow may due the trick

And to all the awesome TAYers out there, if you ever catch me riding my red steed to access the goods just throw your thumb up and I will throw ya a tow

~Jeff

Here is a picture of the King from the top of REX on Sunday afternoon.  I was pretty surprised to see the tracks on there.

I am all for snowmachines towing me and my ski buddies up snowed in FS roads where cars travel in the summer and even highpointing slopes in areas where the roar of long haul trucks fills the air. But Brain Damage. I skied at Crystal for thirty years before  attempting that iconic chute.  I  realize the world is changing and what was once sacred becomes irrelevant and limits are pushed.  I just think of machines as means ends not ends in themselves.  Then again, I have ridden helicopters and snowcats to access ski slopes and ride lifts. And there probably will be a lift to the top of the King in the not to distant future.  Access is the key to our sport.  So, ride on everyone just respect boundaries, real and imaginary.

 Access is the key to our sport.

Michael, I am with you completely on the damage machines do to the wildernness experience and the soul---until you shrugged your shoulders.
If a cable to the top of the King is coming, then why not guided heli-tours from Rainier's summit, Sno-Cats into the Wallowas, or a quad to the top of the Space Needle? I'll wager there are humans who have thought of all of these propositions. $6 a gallon for gas will end the snomo issue, so why wait that long?
Hold the line against "the banality of evil"!
Thanks so much for your thoughts.

Michael, I am with you completely on the damage machines do to the wilderness experience and the soul---until you shrugged your shoulders.
If a cable to the top of the King is coming, then why not guided heli-tours from Rainier's summit, Sno-Cats into the Wallowas, or a quad to the top of the Space Needle?  I'll wager there are humans who have thought of all of these propositions.  $6 a gallon for gas will end the snomo issue, so why wait that long?
Hold the line against "the banality of evil"!
Thanks so much for your thoughts.   

If you want " wilderness and soul "then go to a place where snomobiles are not allowed like you did this past weekend. There's plenty of space out there and if you can't find a place where snowmobilers ain't allowed or can't get to then you ain't trying very hard.
I agree that snowmobiles in areas where they are not allowed should be vigorously fought against but where they are legal , I have no problem with them as to "each his own" and " live  and let live"

We TAY'ers ( me included)can be such snobbish bunch when it comes to our passion and how "right "our selected mode of snow travel is and sneer upon those who choose a different mode.

"Banality of evil"???
Many of the people I work with are avid recreational snowmobilers. Good hardworking folk who follow the rules, love snowmobiling and are courteous, nice people. Evil, I don't think so.

I have met many discourteous skier's in my travels. People who have endangered me by skiing above me, ran into me, set slides onto me, been noisy, stole my line, messed up my skin track etc.,  so obnoixious behaviour is capable by all, the" evil "snowmobilers and the "righteous" earn your turn" skier's.

As to the thinly veiled suggestion that fishing twine be used to mess up a snowmobiles tracks, imagine if we TAY'ers had come across a post in a sled website where some sledneck was suggesting a way to mess up or break a person's skis or snowboard by leaving stuff in the snow. We would probably be calling for the poster's neck and have a 20 post thread going on about it and how evil it was. Tssk, Tsk Tsk!

Well said Scotty...