Alpental (late) Fall Touring

It’s that time again.  Tomorrow (Wednesday 1_8_14) is last day for open access to hike or skin up at Alpental. To clarify, that means NO Uphill travel in our Special Use Permit terrain until we give it all back next spring. That includes the Back Bowls.
   It’s sure been a slow start for us, but that means you had it extra long this fall, and it’s actually been pretty OK.  There’s been almost daily use for 5 or 6 weeks now.  Lots and lots of snow currently up at the top, so much so that for the first time in my experience we’ve even been contemplating operating Chair 2 on its own and offering Chair 1 for downloads if desired. I’m sure hoping we get enough new snow this week to take that off the table! The hardest part is trying to figure how to limit guest numbers to a couple hundred of the most deserving passholders.  Anyway, not to ramble extensively, we plan to start setting up the mountain Thursday hoping forecasted storms will give us enough extra coverage to weather the inevitable rain.  Success there would very likely mean explosive avalanche control work so that triggers the policy.  The signs will go out tomorrow afternoon and after that the only uphill hiking or touring allowed will be while the area is actually open for business (loading lifts) and then you must also make contact with Patrol Dispatch so you we can agree on a route to hopefully suit your desires and also to advise what terrain is open for your descent.  All the same closure rules still apply to terrain when you go up under your own power.  All this is done of course to maximize our own crew safety and minimize the possibility of one of us triggering a slide which could affect an unsuspecting traveler.  One new addition is a direct outside phone line to Alpental Patrol Dispatch. You can get that new phone number from the new lift and run sign at the bottom of Chair 1.  I’m not posting it here because when I tested it the other day it connected to someone else.  That will be promptly fixed one way or the other.  Please don’t use that number for current conditions. Use it only for emergency calls, or uphill travel requests. Mostly, once these uphill restrictions go in effect, almost everyone goes somewhere else to tour and that helps it not be a big deal.
Thanks for the support, and hope to see you making some powder laps soon. -Gib

Haha! Connected to someone else. .. I bet the voice answered either "Silas speaking" or "Amar here"

Thanks, Gib. Will the beacon park be available?

back bowls boundary have a terminus point?
bobby

Stoked to see this message .

A daily lottery among season-passholders and some limited first-come first-serve daily tickets would offer a way to whittle down numbers enough to keep Chair 2 safe, efficient, and fun.

Oh, it's been too long a wait for this post this season, been doing my best to help with slope compaction.

Put me down on that short list of most deserving passholders, let's go with oldest BC passes.

restrictions noted. Will pass the word along to those who don't frequent TAY and/or currently have limited internet access. To echo bobby's question, is the edge of the "back bowls" still considered to be along draft dodger ridge?

if you need help with additional skier compaction, you know where to find us :