RMK-King
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Jackson
- Thread starter Laundryboy
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snengineer
Well-known member
Last time it was cancelled was 81, for warm weather and lack of snow.....yall remember what happened weather wise in 82?
Here's the article from the link previously posted:
Event organizers and public officials decided to call off the World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb late Tuesday after two wet avalanches swept down the face of Snow King.
The warm weather, slides and a snowpack that is isothermal — wet and lacking cohesion throughout its depth — all factored into the decision to cancel the historic revenue-generating event, said Dale Deiter, Jackson District ranger for the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
“It was obviously not an easy decision to come to,” Deiter said. “Even more than the snow depths the concern is that the ground is not frozen. Then there’s also a safety factor.”
Deiter was referring to the avalanches. There were no injuries because of the slides, though both were triggered by people, according to Snow King officials.
The first released around 1:30 p.m. on the Upper Exhibition ski run beneath the Summit chairlift near the boot-packed path leading to the top of the Town Hill. Three feet of snow gave way and ran for 140 feet, the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center reported.
Jackson Hole Snow Devils president and Hill Climb organizer Jeff Toolson was on a ride up the Summit lift to monitor conditions on the mountain and saw the recently deposited debris.
“I looked over and I went, ‘Wow, did one of the cats make that?’” Toolson said.
His chairmate, Snow King operations manager Adam Shankland, pointed out that it was an avalanche.
“It was a pretty big red flag for us,” Toolson said. “The snow conditions are declining by the minute up there.”
The 40th annual hill climb had been scheduled for March 26 to March 29. The nonprofit charity event attracts upwards of 10,000 fans and 300 competitors, according to the Snow Devils’ website.
Its cancellation will be “incredibly impactful” to the tourism economy and cost Jackson Hole businesses “millions,” Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Golightly said.
“I can’t overemphasize how important it is to our tourism economy to have this event,” Golightly said. “Hotels and restaurants are definitely going to feel it in a significant way.”
Toolson, Deiter, Golightly, town of Jackson officials and others gathered for an ad hoc meeting before making the final decision.
“It’s a big team putting it on, so I wanted that big team to help us make that decision,” Toolson said. “By the end of the meeting, everybody was on the same page.”
The last time the hill climb was cancelled was 1981, a year the snowpack had dwindled to half the average by mid-March and ski areas in Jackson Hole had to close early.
Details were scant on the second Snow King avalanche Tuesday, which was reported late in the evening on the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center’s online database.
Snow King officials declined to comment beyond saying it was human-triggered in the out-of-bounds Pittmans slide path. They concluded nobody was injured based on tracks exiting the area.
Another skier was seriously injured in the same path in early February, and the steep, treed gully claimed the life of 30-year-old Snow King patroller Dick Pittman in March 1964.
By the account of Jackson resident Shane Rothman, the second slide on the King happened after a snowboarder dropped into the woods near the S-Chutes below the radio towers.
“It saw a guy hiking to the summit,” Rothman said. “I was standing near the saddle at about 4:10 or so debating whether I should go up there and tell him not to do it.”
Ten minutes later Rothman saw a “waterfall of snow with trees mixed in” that ran down slope to just above where Hagen Trail enters the face of Snow King. The wet slide ran for about a minute, he said, and snapped trees that were 6 inches across.
“It didn’t look survivable to me,” Rothman said.
As of Tuesday evening, Snow King Resort officials had not sounded the alarm of any skiing closures on the Town Hill.
Two uphill skiers were visible from town hiking up the bootpack at 6:30 p.m., some five hours after the Upper Exhibition avalanche released in the same area.
Wet avalanches have been releasing throughout the region in recent days, Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center forecaster Jim Springer said.
“The problem is it’s not freezing much and it’s warm,” Springer said. “Usually if it’s a clear night you get pretty good freezing, and this year not only on cloudy nights but on clear nights it’s staying warm.
“Look at the forecast every day,” he said. “If it’s a clear sunny morning, it’s going to be dangerous right now.”
The sloppy, easily displaced snow was a major factor in the decision to cancel the Hill Climb, Deiter said. Skiers racing in the Town Downhill exposed plenty of dirt, he said, and there wasn’t much chance the snow would have held up to 300-horsepower sleds.
“Frankly, it is a kick in the gut to reach a conclusion to cancel an event that provides so many benefits to the community and charities that receive donations from the funds raised,” Deiter wrote in an email, “but in the final analysis it is the right thing to do to maintain the integrity of the event, to assure rider safety and protect the mountain.
“We look forward to resuming the event next year,” he wrote.
Event organizers and public officials decided to call off the World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb late Tuesday after two wet avalanches swept down the face of Snow King.
The warm weather, slides and a snowpack that is isothermal — wet and lacking cohesion throughout its depth — all factored into the decision to cancel the historic revenue-generating event, said Dale Deiter, Jackson District ranger for the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
“It was obviously not an easy decision to come to,” Deiter said. “Even more than the snow depths the concern is that the ground is not frozen. Then there’s also a safety factor.”
Deiter was referring to the avalanches. There were no injuries because of the slides, though both were triggered by people, according to Snow King officials.
The first released around 1:30 p.m. on the Upper Exhibition ski run beneath the Summit chairlift near the boot-packed path leading to the top of the Town Hill. Three feet of snow gave way and ran for 140 feet, the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center reported.
Jackson Hole Snow Devils president and Hill Climb organizer Jeff Toolson was on a ride up the Summit lift to monitor conditions on the mountain and saw the recently deposited debris.
“I looked over and I went, ‘Wow, did one of the cats make that?’” Toolson said.
His chairmate, Snow King operations manager Adam Shankland, pointed out that it was an avalanche.
“It was a pretty big red flag for us,” Toolson said. “The snow conditions are declining by the minute up there.”
The 40th annual hill climb had been scheduled for March 26 to March 29. The nonprofit charity event attracts upwards of 10,000 fans and 300 competitors, according to the Snow Devils’ website.
Its cancellation will be “incredibly impactful” to the tourism economy and cost Jackson Hole businesses “millions,” Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Golightly said.
“I can’t overemphasize how important it is to our tourism economy to have this event,” Golightly said. “Hotels and restaurants are definitely going to feel it in a significant way.”
Toolson, Deiter, Golightly, town of Jackson officials and others gathered for an ad hoc meeting before making the final decision.
“It’s a big team putting it on, so I wanted that big team to help us make that decision,” Toolson said. “By the end of the meeting, everybody was on the same page.”
The last time the hill climb was cancelled was 1981, a year the snowpack had dwindled to half the average by mid-March and ski areas in Jackson Hole had to close early.
Details were scant on the second Snow King avalanche Tuesday, which was reported late in the evening on the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center’s online database.
Snow King officials declined to comment beyond saying it was human-triggered in the out-of-bounds Pittmans slide path. They concluded nobody was injured based on tracks exiting the area.
Another skier was seriously injured in the same path in early February, and the steep, treed gully claimed the life of 30-year-old Snow King patroller Dick Pittman in March 1964.
By the account of Jackson resident Shane Rothman, the second slide on the King happened after a snowboarder dropped into the woods near the S-Chutes below the radio towers.
“It saw a guy hiking to the summit,” Rothman said. “I was standing near the saddle at about 4:10 or so debating whether I should go up there and tell him not to do it.”
Ten minutes later Rothman saw a “waterfall of snow with trees mixed in” that ran down slope to just above where Hagen Trail enters the face of Snow King. The wet slide ran for about a minute, he said, and snapped trees that were 6 inches across.
“It didn’t look survivable to me,” Rothman said.
As of Tuesday evening, Snow King Resort officials had not sounded the alarm of any skiing closures on the Town Hill.
Two uphill skiers were visible from town hiking up the bootpack at 6:30 p.m., some five hours after the Upper Exhibition avalanche released in the same area.
Wet avalanches have been releasing throughout the region in recent days, Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center forecaster Jim Springer said.
“The problem is it’s not freezing much and it’s warm,” Springer said. “Usually if it’s a clear night you get pretty good freezing, and this year not only on cloudy nights but on clear nights it’s staying warm.
“Look at the forecast every day,” he said. “If it’s a clear sunny morning, it’s going to be dangerous right now.”
The sloppy, easily displaced snow was a major factor in the decision to cancel the Hill Climb, Deiter said. Skiers racing in the Town Downhill exposed plenty of dirt, he said, and there wasn’t much chance the snow would have held up to 300-horsepower sleds.
“Frankly, it is a kick in the gut to reach a conclusion to cancel an event that provides so many benefits to the community and charities that receive donations from the funds raised,” Deiter wrote in an email, “but in the final analysis it is the right thing to do to maintain the integrity of the event, to assure rider safety and protect the mountain.
“We look forward to resuming the event next year,” he wrote.
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Einar74
Well-known member
I was in the states earlier this year and was go to go to the first RMSHA round in Bellevue, ID. in beginning of Feb. It got cancelled and then I saw it got cancelled again in marsh and now the Main event of the calendar is cancelled the Jackson Hillclimb.
The first thought that cross my mind back in feb and again now even for the Jackson event. Is way don't the organizers have a backup location so the event can go through. SO the fans,sponsors, race team, racers can run a decent schedule.
Jackson Hillclimb even gets fans that come form Europe. So I would think for everybody and also for local business it simply have to happen.
I personally cant imagine that you cant find hill with enough snow in the Rocky Mountains to run a hillclimb race. Even on a low snow year.
I know it is a factor to have the race at a location close to down. But I am just surprised the organizers don't have a plan B.
The first thought that cross my mind back in feb and again now even for the Jackson event. Is way don't the organizers have a backup location so the event can go through. SO the fans,sponsors, race team, racers can run a decent schedule.
Jackson Hillclimb even gets fans that come form Europe. So I would think for everybody and also for local business it simply have to happen.
I personally cant imagine that you cant find hill with enough snow in the Rocky Mountains to run a hillclimb race. Even on a low snow year.
I know it is a factor to have the race at a location close to down. But I am just surprised the organizers don't have a plan B.
Ok enier74. Organize a place to host 10,000 people on short notice, enough rooms to accommodate 5,000, a national forest that will allow that many people, get some liability insurance while your at it. Should be a walk in the park for the volunteers who put thousands of hours in already. Maybe there is other places that are in the Rockies that have way different snow and it's much safer. Whip that place up for the 10,000 people and lemme know how that works out for ya.
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Einar74
Well-known member
I don´t see any reason to get all excited or angry about my comment.
I am simply saying isn´t there a reason to have another location or hill within reasonable distance so the race can go on. I would think most of the spectators have there own car, so I wouldn´t think driving maybe 10-30 min would be a big factor.
But you have a point, when you talk about national forest that will allow that many people, get some liability insurance and all that.
I am not from the states and don´t now what it takes behind the scenes regarding all the rules and regulation to run a event like that.
But it is simply a climb up a "natural hill" not a full on "man made" race course. isn´t it.
I have never been to a RMSHA hillclimb race so maybe I don´t realize what kind of effort it takes to run a hillclimb event.
I am simply saying isn´t there a reason to have another location or hill within reasonable distance so the race can go on. I would think most of the spectators have there own car, so I wouldn´t think driving maybe 10-30 min would be a big factor.
But you have a point, when you talk about national forest that will allow that many people, get some liability insurance and all that.
I am not from the states and don´t now what it takes behind the scenes regarding all the rules and regulation to run a event like that.
But it is simply a climb up a "natural hill" not a full on "man made" race course. isn´t it.
I have never been to a RMSHA hillclimb race so maybe I don´t realize what kind of effort it takes to run a hillclimb event.
He'd better bring a ladder. Keith is tall.
HAHA.
Don't make short jokes around snowmobiler. He'll get pissed and jump up and pull your socks down.
Agreed. Plus if your trying to get up the hill to watch the racing but the avi's keep taking you back down are you really having a good time?
Sounds like the hill is really a mess with this warm weather and the slides........
Sounds like the hill is really a mess with this warm weather and the slides........
no kidding, were getting the same thing happening up in SW MT, long intervals with no freezing at night means its basically a pile of water stacked up on a hillside. Big wet slides starting to release. Not what you want stacked up right above 1000's of spectators.
Pretty much the story for a wide area right now. Would have to travel a long way to find a big hill that didn't have the same danger.
Anymore info on this? Any of the OEM's going to bring a few new sleds up? Whats the time/date? Eric
what I was told was the JH Chamber of Commerce was working with the Forest Service, Tog. Mt. Lodge. The State Trails was asked to extend the grooming to help the trails, so that they could pull together a sort of Vendor Fair in the Parking Lot west of the Lodge
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snengineer
Well-known member
Probably to late to get it back on but the weather has been freezing at night lately and is supposed to get back down in the high 30's for highs midweek next week. should be enough to stabilize the warm snow-pack.
