Page 9 - Dec_13

"Backcountry skiers can be famously defensive of

their favorite lines, and as the discussion moves to-

ward more pub- lic awareness of backcounty places

to ski, many are reluctant to share."

Opposite: skiing the steep off the top of mount mansfield, Vermont's highest mountain and home to stowe mountain resort. above: Backcountry skiers, as pictured here near the mount mansfield summit,
eschew lifts and instead hike with skins and backcountry gear. Photos by Brian mohr/ember Photography.

resorts, the land leased to those seven swer,” she told the rochester gathering.
resorts—Killington, Okemo, jay Peak, “We’re contemplating should our desig-
Burke, Bromley, stowe, and smugglers’ nation be as trails or something that we
Notch—totals less than 2 percent of the can show on a map. We’re trying to meet
total acreage available to the general pub- what our users want and also meet our

lic. that leaves plenty of space for back- standards.”
country skiers to explore.
But managing forests for skiing
But to keep the best caches secret is difficult, especially when some have
or share them with friends is a debate taken it upon themselves to “manipulate
that divides most backcountry skiers vegetation” (cutting trees) to maintain

into two camps.
clear trails. Fragile environments like
Backcountry skiers can be famously more than 150 backcountry enthusiasts attended a November evening meeting in rochester as a panel, high elevation areas or areas trying to re-
defensive of their favorite lines, and as comprised of forest service representatives, state officials and local backcountry organizers, led the bound from disturbances are particularly
the discussion moves toward more pub- discussion. Photo by evan johnson/Vermont Sports.
vulnerable. While skiers are permitted
lic awareness of backcounty places to ski, to use public lands, the priority for land
have to bring more business to the valley, ing could be an asset to the area while
many are reluctant to share.
management agencies is balancing skiers’ but it has to be the right kind of business.” at the same time allowing towns like
david Goodman, a writer from desire to enjoy the wilderness with the the economics of backcountry rochester to maintain much of their
Waterbury Center and the author of sev- stability of the ecosystem.
skiing—calculating how much money original character.
eral guidebooks on backcountry skiing in Failure to maintain this balance it brings into the state—can’t be pinned locals, second home owners, and
New england, says he understands the can have disastrous effects. the most
down with much accuracy. While snow- retailers, she says, would take on much of
desire for locals to maintain their own alarming example in recent memory mobilers buy gasoline and skiers and the responsibility for equipping newcom-
caches. But he also says skiers don’t have was in 2009 when two skiers used snowboarders at any of the resorts buy ers as well as indoctrinating them in the
to give away all of their secrets by sharing chainsaws to cut nearly 1,000 trees and lift tickets and stay in condominiums sport.
what they love with newcomers.
create a 40-foot-wide by 2,000 feet long or hotels, it’s not the same with hikers, “When you don’t have a hotel and
“skiers are incredibly and fiercely swath on Big jay mountain. the two
backcountry skiers and other wilderness you don’t have beds for people, you re-
and wonderfully provincial. they know men later pleaded no contest to federal travelers. that latter group yields impre- ally have to rely on locals and second home
their backyard like nobody else,” he says. charges of unlawful mischief, but the cise and seldom revealing statistics for owners,” she said at the rochester meeting.
“But a lot of times people aren’t going incident, many agree, was a black eye the Vermont department of tourism and
to other places because they don’t know for the entire community.
marketing as a wage to gauge their eco-
forest Service:
where to go. I don’t think you have to since then, local skiers and appro- to cut or not to cut?
nomic impact or value.
give away all your secrets to share what’s priate officials are quick to temper any en- But dean mendell says backcountry
special about your area, if you just give thusiasm about attracting a larger num- skiing could be an opportunity to drive according to a 20-page document pub-
people a taste of what’s great.”
ber of backcountry skiers to the state with economic growth to rochester and the lished by Vermont department of For-
caution.
White river Valley—an area that contin- ests, Parks and recreation, backcoun-
economics of the issue
try skiing is classified as an “allowable
Oliver Blackman, a ski instructor ues to recover what tropical storm Irene
and ski patroller at smuggers’ Notch, took away two years ago.
use” in the national forest, meaning it is
larry Plesent, president of the Green has also witnessed firsthand the results of “What we have here in rochester not confined specifically to trails. Holly
mountain Valley Business Community various forest maintenance practices and is a beautiful thing and nobody knows Knox, recreation and trails coordinator
and founder and owner of Vermont watched the evolution of the “glade” trail.
about it,” he says. “We have more For- for the Green mountain National For-
est, says that while backcountry skiers
soap in middlebury, describes local Blackman says all the glades he re- est service land than any other town―
business owners in rochester and the members are now open trails, due to the and they don’t pay taxes either, so can use any of the networks of trails on
rest of the valley as “out to make a liv- manner in which the lines are maintained. where’s our revenue? this is the start public property, there are few policies
ing, not a killing.”
many ski areas feature areas glades that of a revenue-based concept, bringing dictating how land should be managed
“In the wake of Irene, there was this have significantly altered the composition people here to backcountry ski.”
for backcountry skiing.
“It’s something that we are trying to
resounding echo of nothingness,” he says. of the landscape. areas where saplings
megan smith, commissioner of
“and we all got together and we said we continued on page 27
the Vermont department of tourism figure out and it’s raising a lot of manage-
have to work together and not only do we
and marketing, says backcountry ski-
ment questions that we are trying to an-

December 2013
VtSportS.com 9