Snomo in couloir

So here my story. Once upon a time there was a guy using his old snow machine to go skiing on a highway called the North Cross. This guy could climb like an animal and ski with the grace of  a graceful skier. Ice, corn, powder and  any snow in between. This was his playground. But he was  really, really bad on his snow machine and got stuck in the snow alot and his machine did not like to start. So one day after a long hard cold day of climbing and skiing and skiing and climbing, his snow machine would not start. He pulled and he pulled and he primed and he pulled. Nothing. It was starting to look like a long, long, ski out. That’s cool the skier thought. I young and strong and before to long I’ll be home with a beer in my hand. But wait, what’s that. Off in the distance he saw headlights and he heard a low whine. And then another and another. They got closer and closer and finally stopped and men with bright shiny black helmets appeared. “Having trouble, can we help” they said. “Yes, yes, thank you”   the guy said. And like clockwork they tipped his machine over and pulled on the cord, then picked his machine up and pulled on the cord and the machine started with a cough and puffs of white smoke.“ It was flooded” they said as they rode away and I got home safely that day. So boy and girls, the moral of the story is……………………………….......”we’re all human?” said one, “We’re here to help each other?‘’said another , “ we’re here to ski  and drink lots of beer.” said the guy.

Thanks for the story. My snowmobile has been towed out by others, and I have helped others as well. One time I stopped while skiing -no snomo that day- and helped for 1/2 hour on a cable jack and ropes to pull a crashed snomo back up to the road. This past winter after skitouring from my snomo far from the TH, on the way back I gave a ride to a couple of overdue skiers back to the TH- I stood and gave them the seat, it worked out just fine.

In spite of all of that, snowmobile riding and skiing are incompatible on the same terrain. And Wilderness trespass by snowmobile riders is a violation of Federal Law, and takes the reasonable use of Wilderness from skiers and others. The bottom line is, we are asking the USFS to manage the situation, reasonably, accommodating all users including skiers and snowmobiles. This is not to shut out snowmobiles, but to relieve the fact that skiers are shut out by the exponentially increasing acreage in the Wenatchee Mountains taken for snowmobile riding in the past decade and more.

Thank you very much to those who will speak up to ask USFS to reasonably manage (and enforce) snowmobile riding on the Forest

So boy and girls, the moral of the story is……………………………….......”we’re all human?” said one, “We’re here to help each other?‘’said another , “ we’re here to ski  and drink lots of beer.” said the guy.

or, "everyone hates a redneck until you need something fixed."

or, "everyone hates a redneck until you need something fixed."

This redneck is trying to get winter recreation management fixed !

there is clearly a lot of intentional snowmobile Wilderness trespass. Again, I own and ride snowmobiles for decades, and I agree that snowmobile riders are good normal folks in the majority. The problems arise from a lack by USFS of planning, designation (especially on the Wenatchee Mountains), and virtually no significant enforcement. And the problems are quite significant.

WMC, I know you spend a great deal of time in the backcountry. I would really like to hear about your experiences this year in the Teanaway. How did snowmobiles impact your trips this winter? Where did you observe Wilderness trespass this year? Heck, even stuff from last year would be valuable. Since there is 'clearly a lot of intentional snowmobile Wilderness trespass' in the Teanaway, and you spend so much time up there, I'm sure you'll have no problem presenting us with some good info.

I make this request because my experiences and observations from the past few years seem to differ greatly from yours.

If anyone else has input specifically on snowmobile issues in the Teanaway, please chime in. Any details, particularly about trespass entrance and exit locations, will be helpful in our efforts to self-police and improve signage/awareness/education. Feel free to contact me offline if you would prefer: newtrout@hotmail.com