Public input missing from hiking policy

It's unfortunate that the actions of a few bad apples spoil things for the rest of us, but as we all know, this is how we end up with regulations and laws in the first place. Many people such as me (a season-pass holder the last eight winters' have been skinning up the mountain without incident for years, being respectful of the groomers and avoiding winch-cat operations where they occur.

Having variety in winter activities is important for me, being an avid snowboarder, ski mountaineer and Nordic skier. Losing the Nordic skiing at the mountain was bad enough, but this move further limits use of the resources available at Big Mountain. Restricting the uphill traffic to daytime only ignores the main issue that most locals are working during those hours and use the mountain for their exercise late in the day.

My understanding of the history of this issue is that the mountain management did not want to create a regulation that they realistically could not enforce. This appears to be what we have now, and with no public input. This regulation is essentially limiting access to a publicly held resource, so why has there been no input for public comment?

Surely there can be a way to work through this with education and public input. With the number of people engaging in after-hours hiking representing a great cross section of our community, I think there is a great opportunity being missed to have these people be part of the solution instead of penalized for the behavior of a few. The alternative is that we'll end up with disgruntled people hiking the mountain at night anyway with further confrontations likely.

As with many similar issues in the past (allowing snowboards, creating terrain parks, etc.), there will be a learning curve of acceptance. Look at one of the major growth areas of skiing — alpine touring. Many mountain resorts are embracing this culture before they lose more paying customers to the backcountry. Many baby boomers who have skied for years don't need to do laps on the mountain all day long and are looking for other options.

I applaud Whitefish Mountain Resort for supporting this by hosting the Whitefish Whiteout mountaineering race the last three years. This event is bound to grow in popularity. We have some of the best ski mountaineering athletes in the country right here in the Flathead, two of whom are heading to the world championships this month — what a time to say that this activity is no longer welcome at Big Mountain after hours.

I was in Jackson Hole last week visiting friends, and they encouraged me to come out to their weekly Thursday night randonnee race series at their town's ski mountain. It was a fun event and well coordinated with the ski patrol, mountain management, etc. The area is embracing the ski culture and future of the sport. Maybe some similar informal night events at Big Mountain would be a way to educate skiers, engage the entities involved (groomers, ski patrol, mountain management, etc.) and have some face-to-face interaction on the issues.

I support Whitefish Mountain Resort's step toward safety with designating a time and trail for daytime uphill use, when there are more people on the mountain. How about something similar for night use? Surely there's a way to warn people of winch-cat operations and direct them to another route up a certain times. Typically the groomers tackle Big Ravine early in the evening — maybe that run could be the designated hike up at certain hours and Toni Matt at other times.

The new policy presents more questions than answers as far as enforcement is concerned. I encourage Whitefish Mountain Resort and the Forest Service to rethink this policy and absorb some public input for the benefit of all involved.

Rich Graves lives in Whitefish.