Going to have to pay to ride Buff Pass

[idareyou]

Here we go again. People said this was the next step since the forest service implemented the "free" pass you have to have to be in this area. It's only a matter of time before they try to implement this fee all over. Vail Pass has dealt with it for years. The ears may be next. They are not happy with the amount of trucks and trailers up there and how people park on Rabbit Ears or Buff Pass. CDOT says it is becoming a big safety issue on Rabbit Ears. I have witnessed plenty of learn how to park cases at both places. Remember when you park you are not the only one riding there that day and people still need to be able to get in and out of the lot and away from the highway. It is illegal to park on the highway at the ears or on the county road at Buff Pass. The skiers love to complain about anything and everything they can. It is in their nature and the forest service listens to them.

http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2009/dec/12/buff-pass-fee-works/

 

[ProX440]

Im up in Steamboat Now and I had to pay $30.25 for a out of state residents pass however its good for the whole year.

 

[idareyou]

Next year you will have to pay for that and this fee of $5/day or $30-$40/year which ever you choose (day or year). This is in addition to the sled registration instate or out of state fee.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

What Idare is talking about is the nifty little pink tag you have to have on your person while riding Buff Pass. For the last few years it was free, just to get us used to the idea of a pass/permit. Now they are going to charge for it, but it is my understanding that it is not for the entire area, there is a small area that they are requiring the pass for but I may be wrong.

As for the parking, I'm not against paying to park and personally would love to see tickets handed out. People park like idiots up there. There are groups that literally will take 3 spots for their rig with no consideration for others riding that day. I have been very vocal about it but it has gotten me nothing but ridicule from other users on here. Now you will see that I was just trying to avoid this upcoming situation but it was treated as a joke. Park like an idiot, ignore the pleas of locals to park nicely and now you will pay to park, just like VP. Those who park rudely brought this on. I also have many pics to prove my point.

 

[Toddstud2003]

I have heard that you will have to pay on steamboat side. But not on grizzly creek side. Is this correct?

 

[hoopers]

Here we go again. People said this was the next step since the forest service implemented the "free" pass you have to have to be in this area. It's only a matter of time before they try to implement this fee all over. Vail Pass has dealt with it for years. The ears may be next. They are not happy with the amount of trucks and trailers up there and how people park on Rabbit Ears or Buff Pass. CDOT says it is becoming a big safety issue on Rabbit Ears. I have witnessed plenty of learn how to park cases at both places. Remember when you park you are not the only one riding there that day and people still need to be able to get in and out of the lot and away from the highway. It is illegal to park on the highway at the ears or on the county road at Buff Pass. The skiers love to complain about anything and everything they can. It is in their nature and the forest service listens to them.

http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2009/dec/12/buff-pass-fee-works/

Just another form of more taxes....

 

[rotax]

...Yep...

 

[ItDoAble]

If they are needed at Buff, can you get a permit at the trailhead .. or somewhere else? And that's one permit per sled, or vehicle?

 

[idareyou]

They had the free ones at the trail head/parking lot. I am not sure if these will be available there or not. The free ones were also available at the forest service office in Steamboat. It is one pass per person the way I understand it.

 

[marco7]

i personally don't think they could make a parking lot big enough up there. and yes the passes have been free at the trailhead and they are one per person. season passes have been available for free at the forest service in steamboat as a laminated card. the parking lot limits the access which i don't think is bad.

 

[skidoojohncsu]

We all knew this was only a matter of time. Unfortunately all/most of the great riding areas will be just like Vail pass with strict enforcement by the forest service. As if this sport wasn't expensive enough without buying a permit to ride.

 

[dragon12]

i personally don't think they could make a parking lot big enough up there. and yes the passes have been free at the trailhead and they are one per person. season passes have been available for free at the forest service in steamboat as a laminated card. the parking lot limits the access which i don't think is bad.

Unless you have someone patrolling the lot 24/7 it would be very hard to limit access. Anyone traveling to get there (i.e. non-locals, out of staters etc...) will park anywhere necessary to unload and ride. Look at what muddy creek parking lot turns into every year. People show up early to get a spot only to be parked in by someone who shows up later. Anyone who drives to get there will not turn around and go home, or find another riding area if there is 1 square inch of parking lot left to cram their rig into. Just look at the problems at Vail Pass or Greenrock/Albany in the snowies. Always a gripe about parking. If they would take the money spent on parking and make larger areas to park it might solve the problem as vehicles and trailers have gotten bigger over the years. I agree limiting access might be a good thing as a rider, but it also shows that we are a group that is growing in size and in the future we may be able to use those numbers to keep areas open to riding or even open some areas up that were taken away in the past.

 

[Toddstud2003]

I remember last year at grizzly creek there was never any pass" at the trail head. I seen a ranger couple times and never said anything to me. This is kinda confusing. You dont need on buff side until you get over top and down toward steamboat. That was the last I heard. Wierd rules??

 

[bushy]

I don't know the official boundaries, maybe Idareyou does? Seems this pay to play is pointed at the Dry lake trail out of Steamboat and covers the terrain the skiiers have taken. That area is on the trail map and I rarely get down there coming from RE pass. We hit it in the spring after April 15, when it re-opens to sleds. Unless something has changed, you won't need a pass to ride around the top of Buff pass or the east side down to GC lot.

 

[milehighassassin]

I have no problem paying $6 a day or $40 a season to ride up there.

 

[bushy]

It's not the money, but the implication that it costs more to "deal with us" than it does skiers and other user groups (4 wheelers). That paltry sum isn't going to turn anybody away or fix the parking problem. What "extra" services are they going to provide us that the other user groups don't already benefit from? What, are they going to pay more rangers to be a pain in our azz out there? Is the driveway going to plowed any better into MC lot? heated toilet seats? Charge the other user groups and this pill would be easier to swallow. F'n tired of being singled out and looked down on by these snobby hypocrties because they don't like the way i have fun. Politically, I don't see any benefit to giving in on this. It puts forth an image that we need more managing than the other user groups.

This rant may apply more to the Vail situation that RE. It's all F'd up what they are doing there and I'd hate to see that BS happen on RE. From what I've seen on RE/Buff, is that the only people needing passes are those coming in from the Dry Lake parking near Steamboat and crossing through the skier area. At least that's where the emphasis has been concentrated. Seems maybe the day is coming when they start extending their grip over the rest of the area.

I spose you could look at it that we are paying extra and as such, are more "worthy/valuable" than the other user groups and that our riding areas will be protected as a result. If so, then I'm in to pay a few bucks, but I think it's somewhat naive to believe this is how they see it. Nope, they're just penalizing us for how we enjoy our mountains in the winter and if they could kick us out completely they would. At least by charging us for our "sins" against fluffy-god it gives them a warm fuzzy to know they are scre wing us.

 

[milehighassassin]

At Vail Pass ALL USERS have to pay.

 

[bushy]

Oh, well good! They don't need a permit at Buff but sledders do.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Just read the article in the Steamboat Today. It's a plan designed by Kent Foster. That guy is a transplant from the East Coast and is an flaming idiot. I've argued on the phone with him for hours and it's like talking to a brick wall.
When applying for a use permit to guide he told me that there were too many commercial outfits on RE/Buff which is BS. There is one sledding outfit and it operates on the South side and they ride in circles in that meadow at the base of South Walton Peak.

He's just a guy that sits behind a desk and looks at maps until it is time to stand in front of a camera while standing on a snowdrift.

 

[Mrs Snowrider]

At Vail Pass ALL USERS have to pay.

Which is EXACTLY why I refuse to go there!