GreenWater - gate closed - WTF?

[coreyt700]

Gate open as of now

Talked to Ian this morning, he said the gate at the 12% is open and they are directing sled traffic to the gravel pit for parking.

 

[Colin]

Ice Scratchers?

I have never been to Greenwater snowmobiling but hope to go in the future. So please excuse me if i'm out of line. I have a truck and chains, I use them when I need to.... What is the big deal with riding on ice? Isn't that what ice scratchers are for? About the same price of a tank of gas, and way less than getting your truck towed out of the ditch. Your sled wont overheat and you won't look like and idiot.

 

[TNTCOPP]

Ice scratchers are good for keeping the hyfax cool and somewhat the heat exchangers, but you can heat up pretty quick running on ice with no real snow being thrown on them (the exchangers).

Secondly , the problem with the bypass at GreenWater is you climb up , and you drop right back down on the other side, where it could be , bare pavement and not even ice to ride on!

 

[Powderboy]

Well leave it to a snowmobiler who did not bring his chains and got turned around and in the ditch FS decided to close the road again just cant fix stupid

I agree but in the end to put a road in with that steep of a grade wasnt the smartest idea. I got in trouble on that road years back and havent been back since. Plenty of other places with easy access so I figure why bother? But when I went off the road I considered myself an experienced sledder. Greenwater was a more random spot for me and it caught my by surprise. If you ride there all the time and you know the dangers of that road and we dont pack and use chains then yes your being stupid.

 

[winter brew]

It goes without saying that sledders need to carry chains and use them if necessary,especially on the GW Matterhorn.
I avoid this area most of the time, often because I don't care to deal with this road or unprepared drivers.
A simple question for those "in the know".....has ther EVER been de-icer used on this road? It seems that every road in the state is saturated with this stuff,but the road that needs it the most gets skipped. I have never seen it? Why not?
The stuff works and with a quick douse after plowing would yield a bare and wet road like the thousands of miles of mountain roads that it is used on.
This road claims trucks and trailers every year, the same comments and complaints every year.....it seems odd that it should require 4 wheels drive and chains to access a very popular sno-park even weeks after any sort of snowfall.

 

[TNTCOPP]

Or like stated last year - a little sand in the right places there would go a long ways. It does make you wonder though - Christ , the de-icer goes down around here like it's going out of style - and it starts at 40 degrees some nights - crazy!!

It goes without saying that sledders need to carry chains and use them if necessary,especially on the GW Matterhorn.
I avoid this area most of the time, often because I don't care to deal with this road or unprepared drivers.
A simple question for those "in the know".....has ther EVER been de-icer used on this road? It seems that every road in the state is saturated with this stuff,but the road that needs it the most gets skipped. I have never seen it? Why not?
The stuff works and with a quick douse after plowing would yield a bare and wet road like the thousands of miles of mountain roads that it is used on.
This road claims trucks and trailers every year, the same comments and complaints every year.....it seems odd that it should require 4 wheels drive and chains to access a very popular sno-park even weeks after any sort of snowfall.

 

[TNTCOPP]

Was up Friday - pulled four-place enclosed with four sleds all the way to the end of the pavement - no chains required. Never slipped , spun, or anything - then I here this morning someone was spun out towards the top and had it blocked for a while. I don't get it.

 

[AMJ]

Was up Friday - pulled four-place enclosed with four sleds all the way to the end of the pavement - no chains required. Never slipped , spun, or anything - then I here this morning someone was spun out towards the top and had it blocked for a while. I don't get it.

That could have been us. We had an enclosed with 4 sleds. The hill looked wet but was a sheet of ice. Slid back down the hill about 50' before we stopped. Made for an interesting ride. Slapped the chains on and continued on.

 

[TNTCOPP]

That's got to be a scary deal going backwards I'm sure. Coming out Friday afternoon it was a little slushy and one would think that is when they would try and get plow in there to get that build-up of ice off the road. Maybe if it gets a little warmer they will do that - we'll see.

That could have been us. We had an enclosed with 4 sleds. The hill looked wet but was a sheet of ice. Slid back down the hill about 50' before we stopped. Made for an interesting ride. Slapped the chains on and continued on.

 

[Matte Murder]

How do you guys chain up?

I bought 2 sets of chains for my 4WD truck and one set for my double axle 4 place(that is what the guy at Les Schwab recommended for my trailer). He said some people put both chains on one axle of the trailer and some put one on the front axle and one on the back on opposite sides. I have never used chains before and have driven 30 years in the snow but just started pulling a big trailer in the mountains. How do you guys do it? I have a 24" Featherlite that is about 6000 lbs loaded. Where do you chain up? Side of the road or in the gravel pit? Also, I went up last year in my truck to check it out. If you want you can park in the gravel pit and ride sleds up the road, correct? It sounds like sometimes that is going to be the only option too, right?
Thanks.

 

[smitty5.9]

To chain or not to chain

Another fine day going to the Pyramid Creek sno-park.
For those who choose not to chain: Good luck and you may be rewarded with a fast and easy trip to the sno-park!!! Or maybe something else...
We saw two crossed-up rigs, burn marks in the road from others, and a few parked rigs as we left this evening and maybe $6-8000 damage in the vehicles we witnessed on our little drive.

For those who chain: THANK YOU.
Drag chains on enclosed trailers are AWESOME!

Today was typical - non-chained vehicles were fairly successful as long as they could keep forward motion. All it takes is one vehicle stopped in an in-opportune spot and you are no longer making forward progress - tighten the sphincter and enjoy the backwards ride you are no longer in control of.
We encountered a few of the latter and spent a few extra hours getting to the park - no worries though! It's part of the New Years day experience and we kinda look forward to it.

I fully support chains at this location - nearly every time we make this trip we encounter non-chainers who assume nothing will happen and no outside influences - eg. other vehicles will stop their progress.

Not all snowmobilers read these forums but if you do and you EVER go to this sno-park, do us all a favor and carry chains and USE them.

 

[lawsonj5]

Anybody been up to greenwater in the last couple days? Thinking of heading up saturday. Is the gate going to be open to get to the upper snowpark? Thanks for any info.

 

[jeepdad]

was up there last sunday, road wasnt bad, problem was the road on the trail was bare gravel/dirt on the way back. need mo snow.

 

[egbert]

a couple of my buddies went up there today. 5-6 inches of new snow! but it still needs more

 

[lucasc]

gate closed this morning, ???

I UNDERSTAND THAT IF THE ROADS BAD THEY CLOSE THE GATE.. BUT WHY DO THEY SPEND HALF THE DAY PLOWING ALL THE ROADS DOWN TO A SHEET OF ICE ALL THE WAY FROM THE GATE TO THE MAIN SNOWPARK, IM NOT GETTING SOMETHING HERE?? KINDA HARD ON THE SLEDS RUNNING ON 5 MILES OF SOLID ICE. WHATS THE PURPOSE OF THIS?? SOMEONE PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME..
SEEMS LIKE A WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS TO ME..

BUT OVERALL CONDITIONS WERE GREAT, 18 ISH INCHES OF FRESH IN THE MEADOWS, AND IT WAS DUMPING WHEN WE LEFT.. FINALLY WINTERS HERE...

 

[jeepdad]

I UNDERSTAND THAT IF THE ROADS BAD THEY CLOSE THE GATE.. BUT WHY DO THEY SPEND HALF THE DAY PLOWING ALL THE ROADS DOWN TO A SHEET OF ICE ALL THE WAY FROM THE GATE TO THE MAIN SNOWPARK, IM NOT GETTING SOMETHING HERE?? KINDA HARD ON THE SLEDS RUNNING ON 5 MILES OF SOLID ICE. WHATS THE PURPOSE OF THIS?? SOMEONE PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME..
SEEMS LIKE A WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS TO ME..

BUT OVERALL CONDITIONS WERE GREAT, 18 ISH INCHES OF FRESH IN THE MEADOWS, AND IT WAS DUMPING WHEN WE LEFT.. FINALLY WINTERS HERE...

i agree. it is a complete waste of tax dollars. either plow it or dont, but if they are gonna plow it lets plow it clean so that we can make it up there. the roller coaster is always a seat sucker! i dont understand this state?! apperently they want to be like california and keep everyone at home and with no outside resources! our state legisalature sucks PERIOD! RANT OFF

glad to see we finally have some snow! whoohooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[coug66]

I consider Green water my home field

I love Greenwater and 5 out of 6 times I sled their. Honestly I dislike the Matterhorn, I am happy when the lower gate is closed when the road is covered in snow and Ice.

I am not that worried about my highfaxes and carbides, I seem to find enough snow not to overheat.

The liability of the trailer going over the edge or the damage to equipment outweighs the short ride for me.

I also don't like the extra hassle of chaining up. there is enough things to do getting the sleds ready to chain up for that short trip.

The picture below was on a rainy night when the ice had a sheet of water on top. We were leaving had ok traction till the steep part before the gravel pit.
Stopped on the hill, put in park, slid back and jackknifed.When I got out of the truck I fell flat on my back on the wet ice.

Only actual damage to the trailer was a clear lense on a rear light above the door. $10.

If it didn't run into the tree where it did it could have gone down the hill.

Not my truck and trailer. It was a buddies but chains would have prevented this from happening in the first place.

Too me driving a few miles on this road and not having this as a potential liability is worth it.

 

[TNTCOPP]

Ya - that sucks. Hate it too , but when it's questionable just chain up. Only takes five minutes for a lot of added security.