No. 1 danger to bc skiers

The Longmire Gate didn't open til around noon today, creating a good backlog of vehicles.  As I entered the park at the Nisqually Entrance, cars were backed up to the overhead sign.  The road was icy.  I passed thru the gate and began following a jeep with oversize tires up to Longmire.  The right (uphill travel) land goes along a drop-off, the downill lane has the upslope of the mountain on its side.  The jeep driver decided he/she wanted his half the road in the middle on the straight-aways and took the left (downhill lane) around the corners to avoid the drop-off next to the uphill lane.  the Jeep driver only grudgingly gave way to downhill travelers and still straddled the yellow center lines.  At Longmire, a range was asking 4WD/AWD if they had chains with them (others were required to chain up).  The jeep spun out leaving the ranger and continued its center of the road travel uphill.  I dropped back (3-second rule) and those behind me began to bunch up closely on my and the following cars bumpers.  Cars coming downhill also wanted their half in the middle.  Some cars decided their half was off road.  It was cold at Paradise (17 F) when I left the house.  And I figured that not only would I be in the midst of fools going up but even more so coming down on what was likely to be very icy road; so I u-turned at Cougar Rock and went home and shared my downhill lane with the terrified uphill drivers  :'(.

Too bad there are no generally accepted rules of the road! Like

1. You don't get your half in the middle.
2. Stay out of the oncoming lane unless it is a straight away, no vehicles are oncoming, and you have to avoid a hazard; if there is a hazard and oncoming vehicles, yes, you must stop.
3. Use turnouts to let faster drivers go ahead.
4. Go home if you feel the conditions may be too much for your driving skill or vehicle's capabilities (they probably are).
5. Don't brake hard (or pump your brakes if you have ABS) going downhill on icy roads, use engine braking (I have seen way to many lose it this way).
6. Don't tailgate, follow the 3-second rule.

etc. and as Vogtski says: rant, rant, rant!

Oh yeah, it is the holiday season, the snow play area is open, and many people are obviously tracking the gate opening times and going to Paradise snow play area; this is a different traffic composition than non-holiday weekday traffic with is mostly snowshoers and skiers with a few sightseers and snow play folks.

Thanks for the report and heads up!

I agree with your list, and always feel the most dangerous part of any ski\climb\scramble is the drive to and from the trailhead.

Just last September, my girlfriend and I had a drunk driver repeatedly tailgating us on SR530 around 5am as we drove from Arlington to Darrington on our way to Rainy Pass to climb Black Peak. I called it in, and several weeks later I got a call from a state troooper because this person went off road 30 minutes later. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.

The road to Paradise is especially dangerous, and for 15 bucks is accessible to ANYONE.

  I dropped back (3-second rule) and those behind me began to bunch up closely on my and the following cars bumpers. 

Too bad there are no generally accepted rules of the road! Like


3. Use turnouts to let faster drivers go ahead.

Not to mention Deer and Elk. Recently my Ford explorer was attacked by a deer to the tune of $2500. No injuries but scary just the same. I always thought it would never happen to me because I was so wary.

Note that I pulled over at the next opportunity, let the bunched cars pass, then u-turned to go home; the person in front of me didn't pull over and the drivers behind remained bunched up; none of them could drive faster than me or the jeep I was following :'(.

Even coming down from Snoqualmie this evening was intriguing, with improvised lane formations, very non-traditional use of lanes, two cars fishtailing nearly sideways on a stretch that seemed to have pretty OK traction, and a handful of cars going bizarrely slowly with flashers (at least they were in the right lane, but if you have to go that slow to feel OK, I think it's time to put those chains on that you must have in the car...). Holiday week storm craziness. Rant rant rant.