Say Goodbye to the South Route on Mt Adams!!!

[kailas]

As you can see, ski companies aren't about skiing they are about enviromental destruction thru building hugh resorts, especially with golf courses. When will it end, when every decent place looks like L.A.? There are enough ski areas in the world now!

[Fairweather]

That's a real stretch, K. Resort skiers have just as much right to enjoy our mountain areas as you or I. (The Crystal Mountain expansion is an example of responsible development IMO.) As I said before; this Adams proposal isn't real. It is just something put forth as a lever to acheive some other goal....a new casino perhaps.

[iain]

I'm sure Meadows is throwing out an outlandish idea that Riley knows has no chance of getting approved. Once rejected, he'll come back with another outlandish proposal, but slightly less outlandish than the first one. This makes Meadows look like a reasonable, honest company willing to compromise, though history shows that only law enforcement keeps that company from chairlifting the entire range.

[rbw1966]

Actually, this may be a negotiating lever for Riley. "If you allow the Meadows expansion then the Adams development becomes unnecessary."

[cj001f]

Actually, this may be a negotiating lever for Riley. "If you allow the Meadows expansion then the Adams development becomes unnecessary."

I was thinking his lawyers had found a way to extract more money from him. Obviously the Oregon Courts weren't enough.

[cracked]

(NFNWR would just be a short hike from the top of the lifts though... )

Car shuttle. We'll make it a bump run in a week, baby, yeah!

 

We can have a betting pool on who's going to fall off of it.

[ashw_justin]

We can have a betting pool on who's going to fall off of it.

 

24-hour sketch-cam.

[AlpineK]

As you can see, ski companies aren't about skiing they are about enviromental destruction thru building hugh resorts, especially with golf courses. When will it end, when every decent place looks like L.A.? There are enough ski areas in the world now!

 

The folks behind ski resorts are trying to make money. The ski area and the golf courses are just hooks for the real money making business which is selling real estate. How else would they jack up the price of land out in the middle of nowhere.

 

Fortunately proposals like the Adams resort are a dime a dozen. I bet you don't hear a lot more about it.

[Dru]

Maybe they could string a Gondola from the summit of Adams to the summit of St Helens. That would be a cool ride. The only way they could make it better would be if instead of a gondola, they had a suspension bridge you could drive a snowmobile on.

[ashw_justin]

Will that be before or after they turn the St. Helens crater into a giant winter stadium, with monster truck rallies on ice!!!! YYeeeeeeehahw boy! Get me 'nother $5 Berdwyser!

[MATT_B]

There is an atrical in todays Oregonian metro section about this. Sounds like more of the same. I really hope this does not happen.

[Gaper_Jeffy]

From

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/109594106889030.xml?oregonian?lcg

 

Yakama tribe gets proposal for Mount Adams ski resort

Mt. Hood Meadows outlines an 11,000-acre project that would include a casino, housing, golf courses and cultural museum

Thursday, September 23, 2004

MARK LARABEE

Mt. Hood Meadows Development Corp. is proposing a destination resort on tribal land on Mount Adams in rural south-central Washington that would have 10 ski lifts and three 18-hole golf courses.

 

 

From Our Advertiser

 

 

 

 

As presented to the Yakama Indian Nation, the 10,000-member tribe that owns the land, the resort would encompass 11,000 acres near Bird Creek Meadows. It's a popular area now used by campers, climbers, backcountry skiers and hikers.

 

Meadows' proposal includes eight chairlifts, a gondola and a tram that would take skiers as high as 11,100 feet above sea level from 5,400 feet -- the biggest vertical rise for any ski area in North or South America. It also proposes three golf courses, a spa, a casino and 2,500 housing units -- a mix of hotel rooms, condominiums and single-family homes. There also would be ski lodge and golf clubhouse buildings, plus a small village with restaurants and shops.

 

Meadows has struggled to build destination resorts at Government Camp and Cooper Spur on Mount Hood.

 

Dave Riley, Meadows general manager, said the project also would include the Yakama Nation Institute of Learning, which is envisioned as an interpretive center for classes and a museum to highlight the tribe's history and culture. He said everything from the building design to food would incorporate Yakama culture.

 

Although acknowledging opposition from environmental groups, Riley said Meadows will use cutting-edge building practices that focus on sustainability and environmental ethics.

 

"It's clear that if this resort is developed, the Yakama Nation will insist that it will be the most environmentally sensitive development in the history of resorts," Riley said. "At the end of the day, they are going to do what they think is right for their resources and their people."

 

At 12,276 feet, Mount Adams is the second-highest peak in Washington after 14,411-foot Mount Rainier. Its massive girth makes it the second-largest Cascade volcano in volume behind 14,162-foot Mount Shasta in California. But Adams is far from major towns, and a resort there would require significant road improvements to handle traffic, Riley said.

 

Ownership dispute

 

The mountain is not without controversy. For nearly five decades, the Yakama tribe battled with the U.S. government over its ownership. The tribe said boundary lines were incorrectly drawn after a surveying error. President Richard Nixon ended the dispute in 1972 when he signed over half the mountain to the tribe.

 

Tribal leaders acknowledge that such an aggressive development would drastically change the character of the mountain they hold sacred.

 

"Our understanding, even in a contemporary setting, is that if it was not for Mount Adams, the watershed would not be there to provide the nourishment for our timber, and all the food and medicine for our people," said Jerry Maninick, Yakama tribal chairman. "That's part of the commitment the mountain made to the Creator for all of eternity. Her task would be to take care of us and provide for us."

 

Maninick said some tribal members think the resort proposal fits within that cultural belief. He agrees with Riley that the resort would be a financial boon for the economically struggling tribe. Today, tribal members rely on forest products, a small casino in Toppenish, a juice company, a land-holding company and farms for income.

 

Benefits for Yakamas

 

Riley said the proposal would be a partnership in which the tribe would own the land while Meadows would build and run the resort. Tribal members would get jobs and a share of the profits, he said.

 

Maninick said the tribal council has formed a committee to look at whether such a development is feasible and in its best economic and cultural interest.

 

Meadows has not yet released its proposal to the public. But similar proposals in the past have gone nowhere, and the tribe shut down a small ski resort on the land after it regained ownership.

 

So far, Maninick said tribal members seem to be split over the idea. Eventually, all voting members will be asked to weigh in -- a vote Maninick expects to come by year's end. Maninick said the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs also would review the proposal and take testimony.

 

The resort proposal is drawing critics outside the tribe.

 

"We will fight the Meadows proposal with everything that we have," said Brent C. Foster, a Hood River attorney with the Gifford-Pinchot Task Force, an environmental group focused on reducing clear-cutting and road density, and preserving wildlife habitat. "This is incredibly important habitat, and the idea of putting thousands of luxury vacation units up there is an outrage, to put it mildly."

 

Opposition on Hood

 

Meadows' proposal to build a similar resort on Mount Hood's Cooper Spur continues to have fierce opposition from environmental groups and some Hood River Valley residents who rely on the watershed for drinking and irrigation. The ski company and opponents are in mediation over the plan.

 

Riley reluctantly acknowledges the political fight ahead. He said many people will try to tell the Yakama Nation what to do.

 

"Central Oregon has 25 golf courses," Riley said. "Some people think that's a great thing in terms of quality of life, and others would say Central Oregon would be better off it if didn't have any. This is the Yakama Nation's decision, not the Sierra Club's."

 

Maninick said although he's undecided, he's intrigued by the long-term economic prosperity the resort promises. Even so, he said, the tribe might not be ready to take such a drastic step.

 

"One of the areas our people have difficulty in is economics," he said. "It's almost always difficult for us to adjust ourselves to the contemporary setting. It's a high-risk area for our people, and they're a little gun-shy."

 

Mark Larabee: 503-294-7664; marklarabee@news.oregonian.com

[kurthicks]

This is ridiculous. but FYI, the proposal does not include the USFS wilderness area (south side, etc.) it would include the Mazama glacier though. I can't see this going through, but it sure looks like they're trying to buy off the Yakimas.

[Fairweather]

Although acknowledging opposition from environmental groups, Riley said Meadows will use cutting-edge building practices that focus on sustainability and environmental ethics.

 

Not just "environmental groups", Mr Riley! The thought of lifts along The Ridge of Wonders and downhill skiers on The Mazama Glacier and Bird Creek Meadows and Avalanche Valley -one of the most remote spots in the South Cascades - makes this multiple use advocate shudder. I still don't think this proposal has legs, but this is likely a case where Fairweather could be swayed to participate in an act of non destructive civil disobedience.

 

For a better understanding of what's at stake, please read "Tales of a Western Mountaineer" by CE Rusk if you can find a copy. And "Guardians of the Columbia" by John Williams (1910!) at the Tacoma Library's PNW section...(I have an original copy. ) This proposal enacted would break my heart.

[Squid]

welcome to the dark side, Fairweather.

Glad to have you aboard!

[Gaper_Jeffy]

this is likely a case where Fairweather could be swayed to participate in an act of non destructive civil disobediance.

 

Fairweather, at what level do you believe in Native American tribial sovereignty?

[Fairweather]

I generally support tribal soverignty and the upholding of treaties with the tribes. I don't think the transfer of Mount Adam's east side in 1971 to The Yakimas was proper and the tribe's restriction of non-native recreational access to Mount Adams environs violates the agreement they signed with the FS. (Despite the revisionist history promoted by both parties since.)

Additionally, the Yakimas have allowed motorized ORV use right up to treeline and above. Only their economic plight has kept the east side of Mt Adams generally pristine. This "deal" with the ski/casino industry would upset the balance that has existed on the east side of the mountain for the past 33 years.

[Gaper_Jeffy]

I don't think the transfer of Mount Adam's east side in 1971 to The Yakimas was proper

Why do you not think it was "proper"?

 

 

the tribe's restriction of non-native recreational access to Mount Adams environs violates the agreement they signed with the FS.

How does an agreement regarding allowing recreational access to areas within the reservation boundrary relate to the current issue?

[snoboy]

2) The wind-blown sastrugi that prevails above 9000' all winter isn't the "groomers" that the Seattle/Portland yuppies are so fond of....and I believe the slope is too steep and avalanche prone for a snowcat and rake.

 

I don't know how steep it is... but they can winch some pretty hairy stuff if they want to. Once they get skier compaction, and grooming, then it is not likely to be avalanche prone anymore.

[Fairweather]

I don't think the transfer of Mount Adam's east side in 1971 to The Yakimas was proper

Why do you not think it was "proper"?

 

 

The 1855 treaty spells the boundaries out clearly. (See link provided with Section II pasted and boldened)

 

http://www.ccrh.org/comm/moses/primary/yaktreaty.html

 

ARTICLE II. There is, however, reserved, from the lands above ceded for the use and occupation of the aforesaid confederated tribes and bands of Indians, the tract of land included within the following boundaries, to wit:

 

Commencing on the Yakama River, at the mouth of the Attah-nam River; thence westerly along said Attah-nam River to the forks; thence along the southern tributary to the Cascade Mountains; thence southerly along the main ridge of said mountains, passing south and east of Mount Adams, to the spur whence flows the waters of the Klickatat and Pisco rivers; thence down said spur to the divide between the waters of said rivers; thence along said divide to the divide separating the waters of the Satass River from those flowing into the Columbia River; thence along said divide to the main Yakama, eight miles below the mouth of the Satass River; and thence up the Yakama River to the place of beginning

[Fairweather]

I've entertained your questions. Now, for the record, please state your position on this proposal. I won't hold it against you either way. (I can understand The Yakama's temptation to bite into this deal.) But, after all, it was you who posted the story above.

 

 

On another note, I may want to rethink my weak threat of civil disobedience...at least within tribal boundaries....

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0%2C1249%2C595075018%2C00.html

[AlpineK]

2) The wind-blown sastrugi that prevails above 9000' all winter isn't the "groomers" that the Seattle/Portland yuppies are so fond of....and I believe the slope is too steep and avalanche prone for a snowcat and rake.

 

I don't know how steep it is... but they can winch some pretty hairy stuff if they want to. Once they get skier compaction, and grooming, then it is not likely to be avalanche prone anymore.

 

Yeah once you've got a ski pack, winch cats and dynamite those pesky avalanches go away.

[Gaper_Jeffy]

I've entertained your questions. Now, for the record, please state your position on this proposal.

 

I'm completely against it. However I'm more against infringement on Native American tribal sovereignty. I really hope the resort isn't built, but if it is I'll fully respect the Indians decision to decide what happens on their land. Historically we've treated the Indians very badly, let's not continue that trend.

[Fairweather]

Do you care to address the 1855 treaty? The original boundaries were quite clearly stated IMO. Additionally, the 1971 agreement guarantees the designated wilderness, which included most of the east side of the mountain as well as the west, will remain pristine. Indeed, the 1971 ceded land that is the east side of Adams still holds the "Wilderness" designation on USGS and USFS maps.

 

I think you may be confusing right sympathy for the plight of tribes with common sense wilderness management. Is your current position consistent with your position on the Makaw Tribe whaling issue? I believe there are some similarities.

[Fairweather]

Just think, AK! A lift to Pikers Peak would basically open up the entire mountain to the downhill crowd. And who's gonna' be at Killen Creek TH, or Stagman Ridge to pick them up?.....especially when the road is snowed in for over 40 miles!

 

I would bet the first novice to ski off the Rusk Icecliff in a whiteout would only be a few weeks after the ribbon cutting ceremony. The whole fucking mountain will be littered with the bones and mumified carcasses of alpine ski extremist wannabies!

 

Sounds like Mr Riley would need a helicopter on stand-by and would use it almost daily!