Snowmobiles on the Hog Loppet;

On Sat., Margy and I skinned up through Tronsen Basin and hung out for a while at the Haney Meadows rest stop enjoying the sunshine and the happy throng of Hog Loppet skiers. The one thing that they were NOT happy about was the snowmobiles. The skaters in particular were unhappy with the way the 'beelers had torn up the grooming. There was general consensus that this was done quite intentionally by a small group of 'beelers who were bound and determined to show their contemp and distain for skiers and for the event. We also got first hand reports of 'beelers high-marking in the rock slide area on the way down to Blewett Pass from Haney Jct.
This sort of intentional bad behavior has been occurring every year at the Hog Loppet. It's surprising that the FS can't or won't try to put a stop to it. I've talked with folks I know who work on the Cle Elum Dist. and they advise me that the most effective way to move the FS bureacracy toward a solution is to write letters to the forest supervisor urging some sort of action. A full-on closure of the route to snowmobiles is not likely due to federal regulations and local politics but there has got to be some legal remedy to prevent what can quite accurately be described as vandalism and intimidation by a small group of snowmobilers.
I would like to encourage those of you who skied the Hog Loppet this year or in previous years and had trouble with snowmobiles on the course to write or call the Okanogan/Wenatchee Supervisors Office asking that the FS try to find a solution to the problem of unruly snowmobiles on the Hog Loppet route.

Here's the address for the supervisor's office.

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Rebecca Heath, Forest Supervisor
215 Melody Lane
Wenatchee, WA 98801
(509) 664-9200
Fax: (509) 664-9280
TTY: (509) 664-9201
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pc

For what it's worth, I skied the Hog Loppet and had a great time, with nothing but pleasant encounters with the snowmobiles out that day. Granted, they did chew up the groomed track, which made for some more challenging skiing (especially for skate skiers, I imagine), but those that I saw were doing their best to stick to the far side of it and travelling slowly when in the presence of skiers.

It's difficult, I think, since it's a logging road that's open to everyone, but primarily used by snow machines for most of the rest of the winter.

All that to say that I didn't have any problem with the snow machines on the route, apart from the obvious ideal that they would choose to stay away from it on that particular day, so the skiers can have their space on the road.

How dare they ride on your.......... roads.

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How dare they ride on your..........  roads.

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I'm partly in agreement with you, as I skied the Loppet through occasional *Braaaaaps* and accompanying stink I kept reminding myself that we all have to share--after all if I really wanted the solitude and quiet there's plenty of wilderness for me to go get away from machines AND other skiers. 

But the point more is it's a day ONCE a year that is a permited ski event.  I wouldn't go out to a shared use area on a day where there was some sort of snowmachine event (don't know what kind of things they do), bringing even more than their usual users to an area, and purposely ski out, around and through their events just because I was technically allowed to be there. 

Machines have their run of VAST amounts of WA wilderness, and while I'm willing and capable of accessing much backcountry terrain and snow on my own two legs, many of our skinny skiing brethren don't have this luxury, making this event many peoples best option of a safe wilderness tour to sights and destinations they might not be able to access.

Thanks to the kind 'bilers who took part in the aid stations, and just exhibited positive interaction out on the course.

Hog Loppet was a heady day  !

The vast majority of the sledders at Blewett that day probably didn't know anything about the Hog Loppet before they arrived. It's a very popular sledding spot, and people are used to riding on and around the HL course without restrictions. In fact, large portions of the HL route are groomed several times per week for sledders. So, how were they to know that they should stay off the groomer that day? There are many ways to access the 9712 road. Were folks posted all along to route to wave the sledders off? I'm both a skier and a sledder, and I often check out the local sledding forums (snowest, backcountry rebels, slednorthwest) for conditions reports on spots not covered on skiing forums. I never once saw any notice about the HL on any of those sites. Maybe the HL organizers can post some notices on sledder forums next year and also reach out to the local snomo clubs? I'm guessing that would have a far more positive effect than calling the FS (who will do nothing IMO). Consider this: The weekend before the event I asked the FS cop who was checking snopark passes at the Blewett lot when the HL was occurring. He didn't know!

I'll freely admit that this issue can easily be filed under "tempest in a teapot". That having been said, I feel it's necessary to call foul on the implication that my objection is simply to the presence of snowmobiles on the Hog Loppet course. We need to draw a clear distinction between "I hate snowmobiles" and "I hate wilful distructiveness and harrassment by snowmobilers". It's absolutely true that the vast majority of snowmobile riders are courteous and considerate when they encounter skiers on the trail. I own snowmobiles myself and understand as well as anyone the need to "share the road". This is not the issue at hand. The Hog Loppet organizers use a good portion of a skier's entry fee to pay for grooming on the route. This is a one-time effort to prepare the route for skiers and most of the route is not part of the normal winter grooming (paid for by snowmobile registrations). The USFS has snow rangers on the course who make it very clear to snowmobilers that the Hog Loppet is in progress and that it's important to be alert, go slow and stay off the ski grooming. Any snowmobiler who unloads at Blewett Pass on Hog Loppet day could not POSSIBLY be unaware of the event. Nevertheless, every year there is a small cadre of angry, in-your-face types who make a point of engaging in bad behaviour; willfully destroying ski grooming, roaring around Haney Meadows and high-marking up the Rock Slide with skiiers going by. Objecting to this sort of behaviour does not mark one as a snooty, lycra-clad ski elitist (although there ar plenty of that type around). It's a simple issue of safety and civility.