BC Banter: Meeting to Discuss Park City Ridgeline, Winter Wildlands Grassroots Advocacy Conference and a five-hour Rescue Mission

Utahns Meet to Discuss Park City Ridgline Development

PARK CITY, UTAH. The Summit County Council met this past Wednesday to discuss the fate of 600 acres of Forest Service land along the Park City ridgeline. The meeting focused on the question of whether the roughly 600 acres of Forest Service land should be included in the Mountain Accord Designation of Federal Lands and receive extra protection in addition to what the Forest Service already provides. The proposed measures would limit further development of roads, ATV trails, chairlifts and trams on the land, which includes Dutch Draw, Monitors and Murdock Peak, several popular backcountry skiing zones. “Roughly a dozen people spoke and all of them were in favor of adding the extra protection except for the three commercial interests, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort (Vail/Canyons) and The Colony,” says Park City local and ski mountaineer Andrew McLean. No firm decision about the ridgeline was made at the meeting, but the general consensus, with the exception of the resorts, was in favor of implementing extra protective measures. Read more about the disputed ridgeline here and a recap of the council meeting here.

Winter Wildlands Grassroots Advocacy Conference Kicks off

GOLDEN, COLO. Athlete and AMGA guide Donny Roth gave a keynote speech to kick off the Winter Wildands Alliance’s sixth Grassroots Advocacy Conference at Golden, Colo.’s American Alpine Club Mountaineering Center on Thursday, June 18. “The overall purpose is to get people excited about winter travel,” says Hilary Eisen, WWA’s recreation planning coordinator. The weekend-long extravaganza includes discussions regarding the Forest Service’s new Over-Snow Vehicle Rule, the use of maps as advocacy tools and defining a set of ethics for backcountry travelers. The conference will focus in particular on the Forest Service’s new rule for over-snow vehicle use, which was released this January and requires that Forest Service land managers create specific designations for trails, roads and areas where over-snow vehicles are permitted on National Forest Land.  Read more about the conference here, and find a full agenda for the event here.

Five-Hour Rescue after Skier Falls Near Beartooth Pass

BILLINGS MONT. Red Lodge Fire Rescue and the Carbon County Sheriff’s office rescued a 21-year-old man who sustained serious injuries after crashing on the Gardner Headwall, a well-known  backcountry zone near Montana’s Beartooth Pass. The young skier accidentally skied into a rock, causing him to fall a significant distance into a tight crevasse where his lower leg was severely injured. Because of heavy fog, rescuers were unable to use a helicopter. Instead, rescuers were lowered to the site of the injury in a rescue basket and they, along with the injured man, were hauled up in the basket using ropes. After a five-hour rescue, the man was taken to Beartooth Hospital. Luckily, the man was wearing a helmet during the crash and is expected to recover. Read more about the rescue mission here.