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HikingBex
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HikingBex
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PostFri Nov 18, 2022 9:28 pm 
Anyone know why the road to Paradise has been closed during such beautiful weather this week? It’s been closed the last 2 days and is supposed to remain closed tomorrow. https://mobile.twitter.com/MountRainierNPS

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Randito
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Randito
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 12:54 am 
Having the road open is not just a matter of plowing. Staff needs to also patrol the road. Since the murder of Ranger Anderson, I think the NPS is unwilling to short staff the law enforcement aspect of patrolling the road. https://www.odmp.org/officer/21076-park-ranger-margaret-a-anderson#:~:text=Park%20Ranger%20Margaret%20Anderson%20was,at%20approximately%2010%3A30%20am.

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altasnob
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 8:59 am 
Appears Rainier updated their twitter to say the road closure was for staffing shortages. They should have added this info to their 11/18 closure notice and not leave us all in the dark. Too bad it's closed on this absolutely gorgeous November Saturday before Thanksgiving as it is supposed to snow and the road will now be closed for another week or more.

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altasnob
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 9:02 am 
Randito wrote:
I think the NPS is unwilling to short staff the law enforcement aspect of patrolling the road.
Don't doubt that this is NPS's logic but I don't understand why there is any "law enforcement aspect of patrolling the road." There are hundreds of mountain roads in Washington with absolutely zero law enforcement of any kind that seem to function just fine. Ya, it was a tragedy when that ranger was killed by that soldier who went AWOL, but I hope that single, random incident is not used as the justification for the NPS to treat Rainier like it's a war zone for the rest of time. It always weirds me out at Paradise to see a bunch of Rangers, with guns on their waist, walking around telling people the sledding zone is closed and they have to go home now. 99.9999999% of all visitors to Rainier are so benign I don't understand the "cop" component of staffing up there.

Mountainpines, ChinookPass
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thunderhead
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thunderhead
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 9:28 am 
Ahhh, the utter incompetence of MRNP strikes again.

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Randito
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Randito
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 9:28 am 
I have volunteered with ski patrol at Paradise and in that capacity use a park service radio for communication. Listening to the park LE radio chatter it is amazing how much stupid stuff happens on the road between Longmire and Paradise, there are several vehicle incidents on a typical day. A common one is people not believing the hairpin turn "10 mph" signs and impacting the snowbank. Its not a run of the mill forest service road and it does seem to attract a lot of people with no experience driving mountain roads. A large proportion of people coming to Paradise in the winter are coming with kids to use the sledding hill. It's not just well prepared hard-core skiers with 4WD vehicles heading to Paradise.

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altasnob
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altasnob
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 9:40 am 
I don't doubt that there are numerous crashes on that road every day. I spun out once in my 4wd truck hitting an ice patch in the shade on a sunny, above freezing, day. But you don't need cops with guns to help people who crash their cars. Maybe Rainer wouldn't have regular staffing issues in winter if they use cheaper, non gun carrying cops to clear accidents on the road, and tell the sledders and skiers they need to go home at the end of the day.

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williswall
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 11:39 am 
I believe the staffing is for EMT presence, or unavailability, not LE.

I desire medium danger williswall.com

joker
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Shred
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 12:23 pm 
I’m going to delay my April 15th Federal Tax deadline, “due to staffing issues”.

Mountainpines, silence, thunderhead
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Cyclopath
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 12:35 pm 
Shred wrote:
I’m going to delay my April 15th Federal Tax deadline, “due to staffing issues”.
Cool! I'll send you photos of summer hikes at Paradise to help you pass the time when you're in prison.

sarbar
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Randito
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Randito
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 3:20 pm 
The NPS could provide consistent funding for plowing the road by opening a Brew Pub in the JVC and requiring a two drink minimum. But that might result in other issues.

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joker
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 3:32 pm 
williswall wrote:
I believe the staffing is for EMT presence, or unavailability, not LE.
This is what I read elsewhere, per some folks who volunteer up there a lot.

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Shred
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Shred
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 6:30 pm 
Cyclopath wrote:
Cool! I'll send you photos of summer hikes at Paradise to help you pass the time when you're in prison.
Empty promises. You will be busy at home petting your cats and writing detailed route descriptions.

silence, Cyclopath
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Pyrites
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PostSat Nov 19, 2022 8:17 pm 
It’s not like they’ll send you to Admax.

Keep Calm and Carry On? Heck No. Stay Excited and Get Outside!

Shred
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cascadeclimber
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PostTue Nov 22, 2022 7:11 pm 
20 years ago the park staff took pride in getting the road open in the winter, safely. Now they seem to take any excuse to not open it. While the murder of a ranger is an awful thing, I also think it's awful to require that an armed ranger (LEO) be on duty at all times when the upper road is open. It was a once in over one hundred year act of violence and the LEO requirement has made a significant difference in accessibility. Same thing with the ambulance that now seems to be required, but wasn't 20 years ago. As far as staff shortages go, that's been a pet excuse for years now. Not enough plow drivers, not enough rangers, not enough gate staff, yadda. The frequency of this in winter months is, IMO, inexcusable. Staff and open the park, that's a primary role of the superintendent and other high-level employees (assistant super, chief of staff, whatever they have now). And, going back further, they used to keep Chinook and Cayuse passes open in winter, too. Wouldn't it be nice to have better access to the east side of the park in winter??

If not now, when?

ChinookPass
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