Forum Index > Public Lands Stewardship > Introducing Cascade Backcountry Alliance
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CBAlliance
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CBAlliance
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PostTue Feb 06, 2018 12:13 pm 
Hi All, My name is Conrad Wharton, I'm the executive director of the Cascade Backcountry Alliance. We work to ensure winter access for backcountry recreational users across Washington state. CBA seeks to foster a community voice and mountain culture for skiers, splitboarders, and other snow travelers in order to preserve access to trailheads, distribute the impact of different user groups, and preserve the backcountry experience of freedom and exploration. We have received some requests to post here, and I wanted to reach out to the community to let you know what we are working on. First off, let me be clear that our primary focus is the skiing and splitboarding community, which is rapidly growing in Washington state and is poorly understood by various management agencies. However, we share many of the same trailheads and infrastructure as snowshoers and winter hikers, and want to work on your behalf where we can. Some areas we are trying to do that currently are in Stevens and Snoqualmie pass. In Stevens Pass, we are working with the resort and DOT to hopefully clarify their parking policies and give people as many options as possible along the highway 2 corridor. We are also supporting the PCTA in their stewardship of the land near the pass they have recently purchased, and ensuring that winter access remains as that land transitions into the hands of the Forest Service. In Snoqualmie pass, we are working to alleviate issues with downhill traffic near lot 4, and improve access to the commonwealth basin. We are currently trying to get the commonwealth basin PCT trailhead plowed to improve the parking situation there. If you want to learn more, visit our website at cascadebackcountryalliance.org, and explore the projects tab. We are also holding an event at Ascent Outdoors on February 21st, 7:30 pm. We would love to hear from you in person.

cascadebackcountryalliance.org facebook.com/cascadebackcountry
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thunderhead
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PostWed Feb 07, 2018 9:54 am 
Thanks!!! This should end up being an excellent resource for us skiers!

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puzzlr
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puzzlr
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PostWed Feb 07, 2018 3:56 pm 
Thanks for the info. I subscribed to your email list. It's hard to keep track of the parking options/non-options in the winter.

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ale_capone
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PostSat Feb 10, 2018 6:27 am 
Excellent! Can't say enough good things about Rowan. Stoked he is part of CBA, and a voice for the Stevens pass Back country users. I'll be at the event for sure. Pretty excited to see Rowan present, and meet you and some of the others from CBA.

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mbravenboer
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PostSun Feb 11, 2018 2:35 pm 
up.gif I'm excited about clarifying/improving the parking options along Stevens Pass. I'll put the Ascent Outdoors event on my calendar.

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Just_Some_Hiker
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PostSun Feb 11, 2018 5:12 pm 
Thanks for taking the initiative to start something like this. We have so many great mountains for touring but they're mostly inaccessible in the winter. Snowmobilers and XC skiers have their own lobbies, but as a BC skier I sometimes feel like the bastard child of the winter recreation community. Sno-parks don't really cater to our group and the ski resorts give us the cold shoulder.

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cascadeclimber
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PostMon Feb 12, 2018 9:33 am 
A recommendation: Get a copy of the leases for the ski ops at Snoqualmie and Stevens. This may require a FOIA request, as they are reticent to let the public in on the deals they enjoy. An area of concern is there ability to "exclude anyone from the lease area for any reason" (this is close to verbatim, if memory serves). About ten years ago the powers that be at Snoqualmie tried to use this to ban uphill travel to Source Lake and also ban parking in "their" lots for anyone who did not have a lift ticket. The parking thing left no public parking north of I-90. At that time Andy Fitz and the Access Fund had to get involved to correct this, but I'd be willing to bet that, absent the light of day, the lease language was never changed. I'd also like to see someone press land managers to enforce motorized boundaries better (at all?): Snowmobilers frequently violate them on Baker, St. Helens, and the Teanaway.

If not now, when?
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FUN CH
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FUN CH
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PostSun Apr 01, 2018 11:37 am 
Hi Conrad, Do you recognize that commercial interests in public land and recreational Backcountry skier interests in public land use are often in conflict (incompatible) with each other? An example throughout the West would be ski resort expansion into areas historically used by Backcountry skiers. If so, how are you able to reconcile your public land interests as a commercial Mountain Guide and truly represent the interests of recreational Back Country skiers? Even among recreational Backcountry skiers there is often not a consensus as to what constitutes best interest.

'' what did you dream, it's alright we told we told you what to dream....so welcome to the machine'' David Gilmor (pink floyd)
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