Living in Little Cottonwood Canyon during the winter, I'm lucky to be
able to enjoy backcountry skiing in both wilderness and watershed areas, zones
that are free (read - prohibited) of snow-machine travel. If you're
reading this, most likely you're a skier or snowboarder, and even if you use an
old beat-up sled to get deep into the mountains, once you're there you probably
trade it for skins and slog your way up the mountainside to earn your face
shots. Backcountry skiing is about solitude and isolation, a dance with
the wilderness. When not used correctly, snow-machines can create a
noisy, hectic, and often dangerous atmosphere. If you value you value the
solitude and serenity of a quiet mountain range dressed in white, then you
should know this: on June 18th, the Forest Service issued a
long-awaited rule for public comment on designating areas as open or
closed to winter motorized vehicles, this is a good first step,
but comments from our backcountry community can make it stronger! Your help is
both needed and essential to capitalize on this opportunity to bring
balance to the backcountry. By designating specific trails and areas
where over-snow vehicle use may occur, winter travel planning is an opportunity
to bring balance to the backcountry. The community of backcountry skiers
needs to be heard! Please consider adding your comment to the voices of
support for human-powered winter recreation. To get a better grasp of the
issues at hand, and help you draft a comment worthy of consideration, the
Winter Wildlands Alliance has put together a very helpful page to aid you in
navigating this beurocratic issue. Keep reading to see a few links that
can help you along, as well as my annotated comment if you're interested.
LET'S DO THIS!!!
