Comments on: Backcountry Skiing News Roundup

By: john Gloor

john Gloor — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:45:44 +0000

I for one am glad it has come to this. While most climbers and bikers consider themselves environmentally aware, apparently not everyone does. That elderly couple with the wool socks up to their knees are not too keen on the freeride bikes riding their favorite trails at breakneck speeds. I understand the ban on power drill for bolts, but wilderness also bans permanent anchors I believe. Does this mean no slings on a tree? What it boils down to is a vocal well organized group getting approval for what they do and kicking out every one else. Unless hiking is your only activity, maybe you would be better represented by a group other than the Sierra Club

In the Aspen area, the Wilderness Workshop is close to getting approval for more Wilderness surrounding the town. There will be a severe loss in biking trails, and only recently did a coalition of bikers form to object. The Wilderness Workshop is also one of the main supporters of the proposed Summit County wilderness areas. The areas are called the “hidden Gems wilderness areas” but the reality is that they are the areas many people use for multiple activities. I have heard that the Summit county commissioners are going to endorse this wilderness. Just another nail in the coffin of multi-use over there.

Unfortunately, the Wilderness proposals are being pushed forward by some fairly extreme groups (my opinion) to try to keep the extractive industries and motor sports out. There is another option which is the Special Recreation Management Area. This management tool can be used to restrict or prohibit certain uses while being less elitist than the Wilderness proposals currently out there. The SRMA is not as solid as wilderness in that it can be overturned easier, but it does offer a more well rounded usage of our public lands than Wilderness does.

My last gripe about “Wilderness” is that it does not necessarily protect the wilderness from recreation pressures. Examples are the monstrosity staircase/trail built on the lower flanks of Pyramid peak and the turd-under-every-rock syndrome at Snowmass Lake. All Wilderness does is limit the recreation to a certain elitist type while still allowing damage (only the good type!)

I love the wilderness we have near my home, and I do not want to see bikes or motors in a lot of areas. That absence is why I go to certajin places. However, I am open to modes of transportation and recreation which are newer than 100 years old for many areas.

By: Colin in CA

Colin in CA — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:54:33 +0000

Yeah Lou, I’d say climbing should not be in the same category as OHV use. It does produce noise pollution if using a power-drill, but honestly how many climbers are regular route-creators? And of route-creators how often are they creating vs. climbing? And of course, bolts can be drilled by hand, it just takes longer.

In terms of the physical impact… I just see there being a few shiny things on the rock (I’m not talking ethics here, just visual impact), potentially more use trails at the base of crags, maybe some crushed vegetation from bouldering pads if people aren’t careful, and sometimes trash. But nothing close to the physical impact of concentrated OHV use. So yeah… weird.

Of course, for the purposes of the Wilderness Act, powerdrills are obviously prohibited. I’m ok with that.

By: Kidd

Kidd — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:55:22 +0000

I live in SW Colorado this summer and this is the epicenter of 4wd users. It is so out of hand that its a traffic jam to Telluride and Yankee Boy. I my opinion its sometimes a matter of too many in a short span of time. Just a two years ago there wasn’t near this amount of traffic but a few magazine aticles took care of that. Now there are, for example, FJ7 rallies where thousands show up from all parts of the country and try and out do each other driving off road. And they are driving off road, into tundra and thru creeks, just like the commercial showed.
I’m sad to say that many of the 4wd enthusiasts are not good stewards, in fact the
amount of trash and trashed land has been the subject of several newspaper articles. We now have forest service personel driving around handing out tickets like state patrol. Too many too fast.

By: Lou

Lou — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:36:17 +0000

Pretty interesting. Funny to see rock climbing put in the same category as off road vehicle recreation. I guess if your sport involves power drilling, perhaps it is motorized?

By: Colin in CA

Colin in CA — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:00:40 +0000

Lou (and others), Check out this law review article by Jan Laitos at DU Law on the conflicts between various recreational users on federal lands. That was the only place I could find it for free. Sorry it's not all in one piece.