I am so disappointed in the attitudes of many climbers here! Have you no respect for each individual's passions and interests, as well as the loss of a human life? I am an avid climber, hiker, mt. biker, and most recently a snowmobiler.
I have seen and lived all sides of this never ending dispute. Who should get access to this nation's wilderness? When all is said and done, not a single person here has any more rights to enjoy the wilderness than any one else in this world, no matter what sport they enjoy.
Don't even start to talk about things that are harmful to the environment. Has anyone ever seen base camp at Everest? Obviously snowmobilers caused that awful mess. I personally rarely see any garbage hiking, climbing, or snowmobiling. Most people who get deep into the back country have respect for our environment, and believe it or not, getting there on a snowmobile isn't easy. Your average white trash snowmobiler is too drunk to make it out of the parking lot. Personally speaking, riding in our mountains for a day is more tiring than hiking in them.
Of course there is a bad seed in every bunch, hikers, bikers, climbers, and snowmobilers alike. There is no excuse for individuals who don't respect recreation boundaries and rules put in place to protect our forest land. Ever see a hiker or climber break branches off of a tree to build a fire in the back country? I know we all love to see old fire pits and the garbage burned in them. And as mentioned in an earlier post, snowmobiles don't use 10w-40, nor do they carry extra oil into the wilderness. What, do they need to mix oil with the extra gas they filled up with on Stampede Pass? Gimmie a break. BTW, we all love beer.
I personally feel the construction of hiking trails, and the hordes of people traveling through the Washington's wilderness areas are more destructive than any snowmobile floating on top of the winter's snowpack. Do all of you prefer to park in Enumclaw and hike to Rainier before your climb? Those roads have more environmental impact than the combined impact of every snowmobile on the face of this earth. By all means you shouldn't use them! Everyone here getting into environmental concerns is a hypocrite. I think only the Amish can fairly make any comments.
I sure hope anyone here with these negative comments never gets into any trouble in our mountains in the winter. If they do, I know hope they will let the rescue team know they oppose the use of snowmobiles and they would rather be left to die.
As a final comment, every recreationalist has an area suited to his interests. Don't go skiing on the most popular snowmobile trails. Your not going to have any fun and it is only endangering the lives of everyone, as well as causing unnecessary personal conflict. Your not going to see a snowmobile in the back country down at Paradise. Everything has it’s place. Get a clue, the Cascades are enormous and have more than enough room for everyone.
Enough ranting…. You people piss me off. Go ride a sled and you will see the attraction. It’s a blast! I hope to never see any of you hiking, climbing, biking or snowmobiling. These mountains are too crowded for a bunch of whining idiots.
-NWPowder
