Hurricane Ridge winter access

[Hberg]

I posted a long post in the access forum regarding winter access to Hurricane Ridge. The brief summary is please write a letter in support of 7 day a week access to

 

Superintendent, Olympic National Park

Re: Olympic National Park Final Management Plan

600 Park Avenue

Port Angeles, WA 98362

or Sue_McGill@nps.gov

 

Hurricane Ridge has the potential to be an incredible backcountry ski area, but it is only open on weekends, and even then it is extremely variable due to stormy weather, full parking, and other issues. We are working with the park to resolve these issues. One problem is that there hasn't been a public outcry for weekday access.

 

Thanks.

[Bergretter]

Good info, and thanks for posting the park's report in the Access section. Maybe a post in the Olympic section would spread the word as well. I've been playing (and working) at the Ridge since the early '80's and have always felt pain with the changes in winter road access. Not to start a heated discussion, but after discussing these issues with friends in the ranger ranks, it seems that constant budget cuts from high up are forcing weekday road crew hour reductions to be made every year. Also of note, the road is closed much of the time due to avalanche danger to road crews and visitors via many established avalanche routes that could (and have!) ripped across the highway, maybe some active avalanche control would also help to keep the road open. As stated in the above post, please act! Every letter will help.