Climbing fee increase proposed

I see Supt. Uberalles & the National Parking Service are up to new tricks.  Could be $50 for Rainier, $500 for Denali.   :

blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure/2010/0...ld-climb-67-percent/

Compared to lift ticket and season pass prices around here it seems like a bargain. $50 won't even fill my gas tank at the moment.

There's a different version of this story, with an Uberuaga interview, in Sunday's TNT:
www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/12/133785...-decry-fee-hike.html

I never lost anything on the summit & am too busted up for that anymore, but the annual fee increase also applies to glacier skiing:  www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/climbing.htm  

"CLIMBING FEES, PERMITS & RESERVATIONS   

Required for all who plan to climb above 10,000 feet or onto any glaciers. All climbers must present or purchase their Mount Rainier Climbing Pass and a valid photo I.D. at the time they register for their climb. To obtain a climbing permit each climbing party must complete and submit (in person) a climbing registration card ... before each climb.
Fee: The fee for a climbing pass is $30 per person per calendar year. Passes purchased in November and December are valid for the following calendar year."

Not that this outlaw ever bothers for Paradise Glacier, or for the lower Nisqually & lower Cowlitz...   

Uberuaga up to his neck in it again.

Compared to lift ticket and season pass prices around here it seems like a bargain.  $50 won't even fill my gas tank at the moment.

I'm with you Chuck C, a $20 increase is pretty minor in comparison to all the other expenses associated with getting to and climbing Rainier. It would be far from the financial deal-breaker for me, especially considering the luxury of leaving blue-bagged #2 packages and direct deposits at the high camps. And then there's knowing climbing rangers are on duty if the aforementioned hits the fan and things go wrong.

So I guess I'll need to put the money where my mouth is if I intend to ski the Nisqually Chute or Paradise Glacier this winter...? Has anyone been ticketed for this? Will this be enforced on the lower glaciers?

Has anyone been ticketed for this? Will this be enforced on the lower glaciers?

$20 (let alone $50) is half my daily allowance from Uncle Sam, so I'd find it a considerable hardship...  As for being ticketed, the only rangers I've ever seen on Paradise or Nisqually Glaciers were the ones I was showing the route to...  That was a few years back & there is pretty high turnover in the Ranger Division.  (Rainier has a bit of a reputation as the Siberia of NPS duty stations.)   If I get busted, I plan on claiming to be lost...I can do a pretty convincing senile!   

To me, part of the problem with this is the vagueness of what constitutes a glacier.  For instance, the upper Muir Snowfield is actually part of a glacier.  Nisqually Chutes shouldn't be a problem; the Nisqually has retreated so far that one is never really on the ice if you hug the east side.  Many of the mapped smaller glaciers no longer exist.  Technically, everybody would have to pay $50 just to access the slush cup...   :  Also, the plan is to index the fee to inflation, so who knows how high it will go?