Maybe I'm off base here, but I really have mixed feelings about this. While I never want to hear about lost or missing persons and appreciate the increased safety such a product would provide, I also feel this may invite more ill prepared people to access terrain beyond their ability level. "Of course it's safe honey, just look at this map. It's all really obvious." Any merit to this line of thinking?
I agree with Randy that the downsides to a new map are few. One upside would be cautions about traveling outside a carefully circumscribed area on the map without having had formal training in route finding, map reading, and avalanche avoidance and the possibility of being stranded by bad weather or injury with rescue at least
days away.
There has been an
explosion of backcountry travel by snowshoers (and AT, telemark, and XC skiers) in the last 4 years. This has been due to the Park advertising and offering free snowshoe trips, outdoor stores doing the same, church groups doing the same, etc. without offering any real training. The Mountaineers has been introducing people to the Paradise bc for decades, but the Mountaineers stress preparedness and training. The newspapers, for example, the Tacoma News Tribune regularly promotes the idea of snowshoeing at Paradise-Reflection lakes. And snowshoes are advertised for rent at the Summit House in Ashford and at the gift shop at Longmire Inn.
I emphasize snowshoeing in my discussions about the map because snowshoeing does not require nearly the investment in learning a new skill or in purchasing equipment for skiing. Investment often is accompanied by commitment that involves learning new skills, new techniques, and new knowledge--with enthusiasm. Of course, any idiot can rent AT or XC/tele gear at the Summit House and decide they want to try to ski off the summit when they have yet to have visited Paradise.
Topic Author