HURRICANE RIDGE WEEKDAYS?

Is it too soon for a letter writing campaign?
www.thenewstribune.com/2010/03/23/112009...-park-hurricane.html

Sweet! Dawn patrol? Night skiing? I'm down. Actually, I'd be stoked if they were able to get reliable road openings on the weekends! (With that said, the current staff does work hard to get the road open with current resources, and the speed at which this winter's washout was repaired was awesome)

Is it too soon for a letter writing campaign?
www.thenewstribune.com/2010/03/23/112009...-park-hurricane.html

No, it is not too soon to start a letter writing campaign. Letters or e-mails should be sent to:
   Karin Gustin
   Superintendent
   Olympic National Park
   600 E Park Avenue
   Port Angeles, WA 98362
   e-mail: Karen_Gustin@nps.gov

AND (more importantly)

   Congressman Norm Dicks
   In Care of;
   Judith Morris
   332 East Fifth Street
   Port Angeles, WA 98362
   e-mail: www.house.gov/htbin/formproc_za/dicks/zi...s/contact_form.shtml

The following article provides additional detail ; www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100322/NEWS/303229997

The initiative to  have the Hurricane Ridge Road open on a more constant basis was the result of the City of Port Angeles engaging a consulting group which looked at various strategies to improve the City and make it more attractive as a tourist destination. Several recommendations were made, including increasing accessibility to Hurricane Ridge, especially in the winter months 

A group of City officials including our City Manager and 3 City Council persons recently traveled to Washington DC to discuss several topics, including the Hurricane Ridge Road. As preparation for this trip, several of us involved in skiing at the Ridge had an opportunity to provide input. A very compelling document compiled by a fellow TAY contributor (Stormking) was useful in documenting the decline in winter visitation as access to the Ridge has decreased over the last decade. If anyone is interested in a copy of Greg's work, send me a PM with a personal e-mail address and I will send it to you.

The City delegation was successful in opening the door for funding and further negotiations. Any and all public support will be helpful in making this a reality.

Thanks in advance,

Gary (and the rest of us that ski at the Ridge)

Today I was talking to the ranger responsible for making the decisions to open the ridge road in the winter and her response was that the park ought to be paying attention to the amount of diesel that gets burned every time plows clear the road.

In other words, those snorts burn tons of diesel and foul the air of our pristine park.

I think she has a point but not a big enough one to stop vehicle access for tourism dollars! Wouldn't it be nice if we could use fuel cells to power up those plows not to mention my gas guzzling car? Where is Eric Burr in this time of need?

So much for guilt free skiing.

Farmer Doug

I'd like to compliment Stormking for the research effort and ONP management for being receptive to ideas from the public!  Perhaps Rainier's management will take note and consider using some of their huge budget to open Sunrise before the snow melts?  Or open the Westside Road to public vehicles as well as those of the NPS...

Not to minimize the snowplow contribution, but if Olympic is that worried about their pollution perhaps they "should be paying attention" to their reliance on helicopters and chainsaws in one of our finest wildernesses?

Needless to say, this is a very positive development for Hurricane Ridge and the Olympic Peninsula.  The credit goes to Kent Meyers, the PA city manager, and the city council for engaging the Park and politicians.  The support from the community has been tremendous; the delegation had letters of support from every organization in town, and several out of town, to present in their meetings. 

As Gary said above, a huge catalyst was the American Institute of Architects, who last year performed a week-long, grant supported consultation on ways to improve the attractiveness and economy of PA for visitors and locals alike.  Increased access to the ridge was one of that group's primary suggestions.

That said, it's still a long way from certain that it will happen.