History of Public Transportation at the Ridge

Willy Nelson's Go All Points Tours currently operates a shuttle service to the Ridge.  Shuttle service is important to the overall operation of winter recreation for several reasons:

• Parking is limited and on most good weather weekends, particularly when the lifts are operating, the road closes due to parking.
• Many people would prefer not to drive in the snow.
• Tourists, particularly Canadians, can stay in downtown hotels with having to drive their own cars, or bring it accross on the ferry.
• Reduces pollution and wear on the road.
• Improves "Side Country" experience.

The General Management Plan Hurricane Ridge preferred alternative states "Alternative methods of transportation would be provided."

Unfortunately, ONP officials have recently decided to kneecap the existing shuttle provider by not allowing the service to avoid the often more than hour long wait at the entrance station on busy weekends.

Ideally, he should be able to stop at the entrance station and pick up a full bus load of people waiting in their cars to get in.

The alleged reasons for this decision is fairness to all, and the safety hazard of him driving up the wrong side of the road.  Stopping downhill traffic temporarily using the park employee in the booth seems like a simple solution to the latter problem.  Fairness is in the eye of the beholder, but rewarding those that use public transportation isn't exactly a new phenomenon.

Public transportation has a checkered history at the Ridge.

Clallam Transit operated one trip up and one down for $5 up to 1992. 

In 1993 the bus ran every half hour from 11 am to 3:30. 

1994 and 1995 reverted to one trip a day, now costing $8. 

In 1996 and 1997 Clallam Transit discontinued operation, but starting in February both years a shuttle ran every half hour.  Terry Weed, Clallam Transit director stated uncertainty about road openings was a major reason for the lack of success.

In 1998 there was no bus service, and 1999 the Ridge closed most of the winter due to massive record snowfall.

2000 had once daily service. 

In 2001 the Public Development Authority was created with Public Transportation a priority.  For 2001 and 2002 the bus made two trips up and one trip down.

For 2003 and 2004 the PDA expanded bus service offering three propane buses operating every 45 minutes, with as many as 100 passengers per weekend. "It's a wonderful thing that the service is there.  It helps reduce congestion at the parking lot.  It's good for the Park.  It's good for people who get stuck at the entrance station.  It's a good deal all the way around," said Janis Burger Hurricnane Ridge naturalist.  Barb Maynes, ONP spokesman: "It's very positive.  It's really a great benefit."

In 2005 and 2006 the PDA folded and bus service reverted to two trips daily for $5.

2007 the snow bus operation was doubtful, but finally implemented with a combination of city gas money and volunteer drivers for snow school lesson weekends only. The ONP superintendent states: "Ski bus is a great value and I urge all Hurricane Ridge visitors to consider using it.  Not only will you avoid the challenge of driving on snow and ice, you'll eliminate the bother of looking for a parking space."

There was no bus service in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

For the 2011 and 2012 seven day access trail period Go All Points stepped up to operate the service twice daily for $15 per passenger with 5 day a week service.

An ONP transportation study in 2011 did not recommend winter public transportation to Hurricane Ridge, instead focusing on using existing public transportation connections during the summer months.

To summarize, ONP officials have repeatedly paid lip service in favor of public transportation, but have done nothing to help implement it.  Disallowing the existing service to utilize one of its primary advantages  (cutting in line past the line of cars waiting for parking) is short sighted at best.

Tubing at Hurricane Ridge

"Snow Play" is an acceptable traditional use at Hurricane Ridge and most other National Parks.

When the Ridge road was first opened, the snowplay area was in front of the lodge.  The trouble with that area is that it is a convex slope and difficult to stop.  There was also at least one severe injury incident at the Victoria Overlook on the north slope. 

As a result the snow play area was moved to Sunrise in 1988, according to the ONP winter press release.  "Tubing will be allowed this season at two locations.  The traditional site west of the lodge is conveniently located near the parking lot and the facilities offered at the lodge.  A second area is located approximately one mile from the top along the Hurricane Ridge Road.  Parking is limited and a safe run is provided, especially for large tubes. (As an aside, "Cross country skiing, sledding and sightseeing will be available weekdays when the ski area is not open." ahem)

The tubing area was located exclusively at Sunrise until 2008.  People parked on the shoulder of the road, as many as 100 cars were common.  The sunrise area had several inherent problems, including being located in a known avalanche area.  Unsupervised tubing is a fairly dangerous activity.  As a result, a Ranger was required to patrol the area.

In 2007 a major project to rehabilitate the Hurricane Ridge Road was completed.  One consequence to the rehabilitation is that the radius of the curve at Sunrise was increased, which eliminated the shoulder of the road that provided parking for the tubing area.

The EA for this project did not address the loss of the tubing area in any way or winter use for that matter.

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=329&projectID=10224&documentID=10512

(It was also written by an outside consultant, something the current administration says is not allowed for the ski area improvements.  Using an outside consultant could speed up the lift replacement process much quicker than the ten years estimated for completion by ONP. ahem #2).

The following year, ONP made the decision to eliminate tubing at Sunrise.  They did host a public meeting after the decision was made.

The elimination of the Sunrise tubing area left the small children's area for those under age 8 located west of the lodge, where the tubers cross the busy snowshoe and xc trail to Hurricane Hill.

In response to public demand for an all ages tubing area, the ski club proposed to create a bermed tubing area located to the west of the bunny slope.  The ski club would provide tubes, ski patrol services, and administration.  ONP rejected that idea on the basis that it was an expansion of the operating area (this is a little questionable) and disapproved of the unnatural manipulation of the snow.  ONP also wanted the area to be free of charge. 

Meanwhile, during the seven day trial period the ski club allowed tubing on the intermediate slope on weekdays provided grooming or other activities were not being conducted.  ONP encouraged the ski area to create a tubing area within the existing boundaries of the ski area, which is already tiny by any measure.

Fortunately, a natural wind drift forms in the lee of the trees on the east border of the intermediate.  Using this  natural feature as a base, and the skill of our groomer operator, the current tubing area came to fruition.  The area is controlled by an operator, patrolled by ski patrol, and tubes are provided all for a reasonable cost.  The new area is safer, and more fun than any of the previous iterations.

Unfortunately, the demand for tubing stressed an already limited parking situation.  Each of the weekend operating days since before Christmas the parking lot has filled, creating long lines at the Heart o' the Hills entrance station.  Wait time of more than an hour are not uncommon.  Many vehicles turn around, not willing to wait in line.  Unknown numbers don't even attempt.

The cost for two additional seasonal resource protection personnel to provide seven day access is $47,770 plus $2,518 for vehicles.  If the new standard for NPS decisions is based on number of visitors, it seems reasonable that funding for two seasonal employees could be diverted from summertime wilderness duty to winter at Hurricane.

The two additional seasonal rangers would allow the road to be open on days such as are forecast for the foreseeable future where no new snow is forecast. For example, in 2011-12 season there was no precipitation from November 30 to December 25, and again for a long stretch in Jan-Feb.

Another aspect that doesn't add up is the relationship between keeping the Hurricane Ridge Road open and deferred maintenance in the Park.

Reed Robinson, the former chief of maintenance stated at a 2009 Port Angeles City Council meeting that even if ONP got a greater appropriation from Congress, the first priority for that money would be reducing deferred maintenance, not plowing the Hurricane Ridge road.

However, in recent conversations Park officials have insisted that during the 50% of the days that no new plowing is needed on the Ridge road, the road crew is kept busy with other projects within the Park.

It seems as if the four additional crew hired for the two year experiment therefore would have been able to knock out quite a few items on the maintenance punch list.  At any rate it seems that having those additional staff should be a net benefit to the overall maintenance of the park, not something to be fought tooth and nail by park administration.

Here is the tally for the month of December for the access to Hurricane Ridge complementing other recreation:

5 days were open from 9 to dusk as scheduled.
3 out of 18 scheduled days were closed all day
6 out of 18 days opened late (not counting one day at 9:07) Average late opening was 10:30
4 out of 18 closed early due to weather
2 days of full parking
15 of 31 days were closed.
 
The Park will say that the road was closed 17% (3/18) of the time, better than historical averages.
By the standards of any other road system the road was open 95.5 hours out of 744 hours in the month, or 13%.
In January there are 13 scheduled open days.

Contrast this:

I firmly believe the park will not be successful unless the communities around it are successful," new ONP superintendent Sarah Creachbaum said. "Make those relationships before you need those relationships." "When you work with anybody whose experiences are different than yours, it behooves you to shut up and listen for a while."
 

With this:

 

“Given the current park budget and weekend popularity of Hurricane Ridge, providing visitor access on the three busiest days of the week makes good sense and complements the variety of other recreational opportunities that Olympic National Park and the Olympic Peninsula offer.” -ONP response to “Why does it cost so much?”

This decision was made by a handful of senior ONP staff, none of whom have been at ONP for more than five years. In contrast, the City of Port Angeles, Clallam County Commissioners, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, Port Angeles Business Association, Port Angeles Downtown Association, Sequim Chamber of Commerce, Peninsula Bed and Breakfast Association, as well as many individuals all are on record supporting EVERY DAY access to Hurricane Ridge, and believe strongly enough to donate money to make it happen. Who has more credibility in determining what “complements the variety of other recreational opportunities that the Olympic Peninsula offer?

 

Another important distiction is that through a series of land use decisions including the 1984 creation of the Buckhorn Wilderness there is no other viable access to winter recreation on the Olympic Peninsula.  The 1984 Buckhorn designation was created while the road to Hurricane Ridge was open seven days a week and there was no reason to think that would change. 

Thank you for the chance to provide correct information about access to Hurricane Ridge.

From the November press release:“Keeping Hurricane Ridge Road open daily through the winter is a very different task than providing daily access to the park's low elevation roads, and is significantly more costly and difficult,” Suess said.  However, this new explanation indicates that they spend just as much money for these other places, probably more.  The road crew costs for three guys working 40 hours per week would be the same.  The law enforcement costs are greater because each place has its own staff.  Lake Crescent/Sol Duc has three, Elwha two or more, and Staircase two.  The additional costs for sand is slightly more but relatively insignificant.  Fuel may be more, but doubtful due to the cost just to get to Sol Duc and Staircase.  Fuel also is a relatively small portion of the cost.

1.  "The full time crew's normal work day is 5 am to 3:30 pm." The road does not open until the crew is essentially done for the day.  The exception is that occasionally, the plow/sand truck will make a second pass in the afternoon.  Compare that to any other winter road operation, where the crews plow as needed during storms while the road remains open to public vehicles.

During the seven day trail period, on average it took three hours to clear the road each day, which would be 21 hours in an average week.  Even the extreme weeks were less than 40 hours per week.

2.  "Three employees maintain Camp David Jr and East Beach, Olympic HS and Whiskey Bend, and Sol Duc."  CDJ and EB roads are shared with the county.  I am pretty familiar with East Beach Road, and I would be surprised if the Park spends ten days a year on it.  The County plows it when it snows.  PUD clears trees after windstorms.  Olympic HS road closes at variable gates depending on snowfall.  It is not plowed.  I have never seen Whiskey Bend plowed.  Sol Duc is closed to the public whenever it snows.  If they clear one lane, why not both and keep it open?  Also the GMP states that Sol Duc should close in the winter.
In 2012 there were 7,337 Jan-March vehicles on Hurricane Ridge.  The other areas that the park is busy maintianing were 52 at Staircase; 4,661 at Elwha; 750 at Sol Duc; and 5,874 at East Beach. Yet,
"We cannot justify taxpayer money to maintain weekday winter access to Hurricane Ridge Road for a relatively small number of people.”
3.  "In keeping with National Park Service standards for safety..."  What are those standards?  Why are they different for Hurricane Ridge than Lake Crescent, for example?  Why are they different than ONF and/or other National Forest and Park areas that do maintain access?

Normal operations at Stevens Pass 12/7/12

Second Plow at Stevens

Rotary Plow at Stevens 12/7/12