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Uphill traffic at Stevens Pass Ski Area
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16 years 1 month ago #189681
by hankj
The guy a few days before opening, who sat down with his buddy for a break under the cliffs at Lower I? Slough rolled off the cliff and kicked off a slab. There were signs that day about the avy danger but I don't think the area was closed, but maybe those signs said closed? Young guy, very sad.
I'm torn on the issue of inbound uphill. I'm pro-capitalism, but hate the idea that public land access can be restricted by private for-profit companies. I'd like to think the lift ticket pays or the lift, and the grooming is a service provided to attract people to buy the lift tickets.
And Aaron's argument that skinning up the side of a run is no more dangerous than stopping on the side of a run is completely sound. If it is safe enough for tens of thousands of users to stop on the sides of ski runs, it is safe enough to skin up.
Lastly it seems ridiculous that the PCT isn't always accessible regardless of the operation of a ski area (barring active avalanche work, of course)
But the ski area has a right to protect access to their lifts, and they should be able to take measures to protect that access. I hate to feel like my dime is subsidizing someone else's free ride. If everyone paid it would either be cheaper to ski, less crowded, or both. And not to sound elitist but the people sneaking into ski areas to steal lift access all day tend to be less regulated in the rest of their behaviors too and are more likely to run over kids, blow smoke on you, etc.
Come to think of it earning your turns in the BC cures many ills
Not sure RFID's are the answer. A student recently told me that 30 girls in her sorority pool their fund on 5 or 6 passes that are then at the ski area basically every day of the season. Passes at Stevens get shared like this regularly, which makes me dubious about whether the RFID's actually help the bottom line.
Anyway public access to public land is an important right that on principle shouldn't be handed over w/o a fight. Set precendents are everything in gray-area debates like this.
Replied by hankj on topic Re: Uphill traffic at Stevens Pass Ski Area
Didn't someone die in an inbounds/closed slide at Alpental a few years back?
The guy a few days before opening, who sat down with his buddy for a break under the cliffs at Lower I? Slough rolled off the cliff and kicked off a slab. There were signs that day about the avy danger but I don't think the area was closed, but maybe those signs said closed? Young guy, very sad.
I'm torn on the issue of inbound uphill. I'm pro-capitalism, but hate the idea that public land access can be restricted by private for-profit companies. I'd like to think the lift ticket pays or the lift, and the grooming is a service provided to attract people to buy the lift tickets.
And Aaron's argument that skinning up the side of a run is no more dangerous than stopping on the side of a run is completely sound. If it is safe enough for tens of thousands of users to stop on the sides of ski runs, it is safe enough to skin up.
Lastly it seems ridiculous that the PCT isn't always accessible regardless of the operation of a ski area (barring active avalanche work, of course)
But the ski area has a right to protect access to their lifts, and they should be able to take measures to protect that access. I hate to feel like my dime is subsidizing someone else's free ride. If everyone paid it would either be cheaper to ski, less crowded, or both. And not to sound elitist but the people sneaking into ski areas to steal lift access all day tend to be less regulated in the rest of their behaviors too and are more likely to run over kids, blow smoke on you, etc.
Come to think of it earning your turns in the BC cures many ills
Not sure RFID's are the answer. A student recently told me that 30 girls in her sorority pool their fund on 5 or 6 passes that are then at the ski area basically every day of the season. Passes at Stevens get shared like this regularly, which makes me dubious about whether the RFID's actually help the bottom line.
Anyway public access to public land is an important right that on principle shouldn't be handed over w/o a fight. Set precendents are everything in gray-area debates like this.
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