Snowmobiles on skyline ridge Why?

I skied on skyline ridge the day on which I believe the OP was referring. There were a few snowmobile tracks in the meadow above employee housing but I didn't see any near skyline lake or "beyond."

Obviously people frequently snowmobile up skyline road in order to ski or to access the radio towers up there for maintenance. Occasionally I'll see a track or two in the meadows there. I wouldn't say those meadows are exactly a backcountry ski location. They are the same meadows that hordes of snowshoers trample, tourists sled on, Yahoo's boot pack up to ski or snowboard down, etc. They are only a 10 minute hike from the parking lot.

I really don't see a couple snowmobile tracks up there as an issue or a user conflict problem.

If you want the Forest Service to weigh in on the question of motorized winter use sooner rather than later, and if you want the backcountry skiing community energized against snowmobiles, sledding at Skyline Ridge is the way to make that happen.

If anybody disagrees, I'd be very interested to hear your arguments.

Would this be a topic if Heli skiing occurred on the National Forest section of Skyline Ridge (outside of the wilderness boundary)? What about Heli skiing on Nason Ridge? (keep in mind I do not know the border for wilderness on Nason Ridge). Motorized use I believe is the question.

That is a good point Stefan ( That does give me a good perspective on the use issues folks are having in the North Cascades). If there were heli drops, and they only skied the benign S. meadow slopes, then no it would not be an issue for me. Now if they dropped and skied All of the zones in the area, then I Would get my panties in a bunch. I would have to drive a few miles down the road and ski some other gems just South West of Skyline, I suppose.

Are We entitled to an area, that is maintained (parking) by a ski resort (not tax payers dollars)? Should Avi Classes that bring in large groups have to pay for a use permit, since they are making profit? Should there be minimum group sizes ( like in wildernesses)? These are all hard questions that Us as stewards of the land have to face. Conflict is only going to get worse as we over populate. How we go about addressing these issues amongst our selves, will determine the out come, positive or negative. Respect deserves respect.
Now isn't Skyline in the zone of Stevens Pass's expansion permit? Maybe your efforts to keep Skyline to human powered propulsion would be more fruitful to devise a coalition against us lazy lift riders? I think that a "girl" should be appointed Chairman, because they do much less whining You can borrow my Sister if you cant find one.
;This is my closing statement on this issue. Hope to see all you fine folks up on Skyline sometime, if We agree or disagree... I mean how dumb is it to argue the merits of sliding down hills? Kinda funny, if you stand back and think about it.

Wow, love this thread. Gotta laugh when you realize how much of a first world issue it is. When it comes to wilderness, forest, mountains, my general feeling is to keep the dinosaur juice out, sleds, heli, cars, all of it. "Deep Green" all the way, not to say if I had all those toys I'd use them, just like anybody else. So my politics are hard core, but I still like to play. At the same time I couldn't agree more with not pushing for more regulation, at least not from the government we have installed now, resistance is so much more appropriate. Anyways - LOL

FWIW, we saw a lot of snowmobile tracks across Skyline Lake and up the adjacent hill side back in December.  So many that a significant portion of the lake was covered in tracks.

My wild guess is that these are the same guys we saw on Yodelin two years ago snowmobiling.  They had a "Yodelin" sticker or painting on their sled and were doing laps on a snowboard.  They said they lived up there when I talked to them.  They seemed oblivious at that time that there was any conflict between their activity and the several parties of tourers up there until I explained to them that there was (at least to me, from my perspective).

Is a short approach, close in place like Skyline, Yodelin or Smithbrook really too much to ask to leave to the human powered access?

smithbrook? really? that piece of crap flat and long road is useful only for wankers who can't figure out how to go uphill in a timely manner. smithbrook is perfect for sno-mo access. that useless approach can be cut down to minutes with a sled.

as for skyline, kind of the same in my opinion. skyline is for everybody. IT'S A ROAD!!!! for sweet baby jesus's sake people. if you're looking for tranquility on skyline, you might as well give up skiing, lock yourself in the bathroom and take three hits of strong LSD. You'll be flying by yourself in no time. i'm more annoyed by giant groups of snowshoers with their rei ice axes and knee length gaiters crapping up my skin track and building giant igloos in the middle of ski runs. at least the sledders smash down the pow for skinning.