Northwest Mountaineering Journal, 2009

Northwest Mountaineering Journal, 2009

The mission of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal is to be an edited, permanent, annual record of mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest. The journal documents the events, people, history and spirit of climbing and other mountain sports in this region. The journal is published by volunteers from the mountaineering community in collaboration with The Mountaineers. The 2009 issue of the journal is now available. See:

www.nwmj.org

This issue has feature articles about alpine climbing, skiing, rock climbing, mountain rescue, bicycle mountaineering, peak bagging, and light-and-fast enchainments.  It includes reports of new climbing routes and first ski descents from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009.  It also contains highlights from North Cascades National Park.

New features in this year's journal include a built-in slideshow feature (click any photo to launch a slideshow).  The Archive page (accessed through a link at the top of every page) now lists all NWMJ articles published since 2004.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed stories, photos, and information for this issue, both for your contributions and for your patience as we assembled this issue over the past several months. I'd also like to thank the team of volunteers who edited the journal and The Mountaineers who provided invaluable support.

We hope you enjoy this issue and will begin looking forward to the next one.

The 2009 Northwest Mountaineering Journal Team:
Ralph Bodenner
Steve Firebaugh
Alex Krawarik
Matt Perkins
Rad Roberts
Lowell Skoog
Steve Smith
Curt Veldhuisen
Gary Yngve
Aaron Zabriskie

C'est un beau magasin.

Great issue Lowell, thanks for the reminder.

Some TAY readers may recall a brief thread that I started last spring entitled:

"What are the current issues for Mt Rainier skiers?"

I was looking for topics to examine in an NWMJ article about 100 years of skiing on Mt Rainier. There were several interesting replies but I decided to focus just on winter road access to Paradise. In my finished article (page 2), I wrote the following:

Back to the future

Although Paradise faded as a downhill ski area, its importance as a mecca for backcountry skiers has endured. By the 1970s, when the lifts were removed, ski touring was seen as the future of skiing at Paradise. In the past twenty years, backcountry skiing has exploded throughout the United States. But at Mount Rainier, the sport has been stunted by access problems.

Paradise has no overnight facilities in winter, making backcountry skiing almost entirely a day-use activity. The viability of Paradise as a day-use ski area requires consistent (or at least predictable) road access. During the past decade, winter access through the Longmire gate has become slower and more erratic. This is largely due to a policy of completely clearing the road and parking lots before opening the gate. In past decades, the policy was to open to several intermediate points, including the Paradise lower lot, as soon as they were plowed. When skiers have to wait at Longmire until 10 or 11 a.m. (or later) before driving to Paradise, they begin looking for other destinations.

The current Mount Rainier National Park management plan proposes to replace some private vehicle use in the park with public shuttles. The effect that this policy will have on winter access by skiers is uncertain. Precedence in other national parks suggests that private vehicle use is likely to be further deemphasized in the future. Skiers are justifiably concerned about more restrictions, but the transportation plan may provide an opportunity. If shuttle service could be integrated with plowing operations, it might be possible for the Park Service to run “early bird” shuttles to Paradise before parking for private vehicles is available. Since shuttles require no parking space and can coordinate with plowing crews, it might be possible to improve skier access to Paradise while reducing the number of private vehicles, a win-win situation for both skiers and the park. This crucial access question will determine whether Paradise, the birthplace of recreational skiing in the Cascades, meets the future as a vital center for winter skiing or a nostalgic backwater.

Since there isn't much skiing to talk about right now, I'm curious what people think of the potential "win-win" idea mentioned above.

I doubt Paradise could be opened on a reliable enough schedule to guarantee an early start, even if the government bureacracy should adopt Lowell's early bird shuttle idea.  Strong winds overnight can fill the roadcuts & lots.  Longmire residences & shops need to be cleared first on low elevation snow days to get the kids to school and employees to work.  Speaking of which, where are weekend/holiday shuttle riders supposed to park their private vehicles?  Longmire has a lot less less parking than Paradise, so I suppose we'll eventually be forking our benjamins over to RMI in Ashford.

I'm sure most TAYers would prefer being dumped off the bus into a howling whiteout over playing 'waitgate'.  However, I'm guessing the NPS would be very reluctant to unload tourista transit riders with no pottie or shelter available or staff on duty.  The visitor center is open only on winter weekends & holidays, so could not function as a transit station on weekdays without increased operational funding.  Ditto for weekend or holiday evenings after normal closing hours (5PM?) on longer Spring days. 

It seems doubtful Glacier Bridge would be a stop.  Or the 'Old Trail' and other traditional 'Rubber Tire Traverses' (ala Ron j).  I wonder how they would handle the logistics of the crowd dribbling in all day, but tending to mostly want to leave as evening falls.  Seems like they might need a LOT of buses to clear everyone out by a scheduled closing time.  I hope their heaters will be strong enough for several dozen soggy recreationists.

Maybe the Parking Service could use the water/sewer connections at the old VC site to build a small winterized comfort station there.  Then the lower lot could open to either shuttle or private vehicles while the upper lot & VC/Inn access were still being worked on.  Failing that, I think an early bird run to the Narada warming hut might be the best we could hope for for the short term.  BTW, I notice that structure is being extensively worked on, so hopefully it will be open next winter.  Dare I hope they might also finally install a phone for winter emergencies?

The main justification for the modern delayed openings seems to be public safety; they just don't want people around the heavy equipment & ice bombs from the rotarys.   This attitude might also work against the early bird shuttle idea, since the NPS tends to have a low opinion of visitor's intelligence.   Maybe we should all just 'volunteer' (for powder surveys) and help fill up some of the empty seats in all those Park Service vehicles?   

Many thanks for the excellent Paradise article, Lowell!

A big thank you to the whole NWMJ team for another fine issue !