Outdoors/Adventure

As state eases Hatcher Pass snowmachine ban, debate rages on

HATCHER PASS -- Years of conflict between snowmachiners and state park rangers came to a head high in the Talkeetna Mountains in late February.

Six snowmachiners trailered their sleds up to the Gold Mint parking lot at Hatcher Pass and took off down Archangel Road.

They knew it wasn't legal.

Hatcher Pass, a popular destination for skiers and snowmachiners, is one of the few backcountry access points in Southcentral with any snow this powder-starved winter. But the whole east side of Hatcher Pass -- the side closest to Palmer -- was closed to snowmachines all season until a limited opening Friday. Rangers had said there wasn't enough snow to protect the brush and tundra below.

These snowmachiners said there was plenty.

The group of six took off up the trail to take some snow measurements of their own at about 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 25.

"We've been getting pretty frustrated with this ranger and snow depth," said 44-year-old Marty Mobley, one of the six. "We were kind of up there on our own little mini protest."

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Snowmachiners say the state should have opened a motorized corridor from the Palmer side of Hatcher Pass over to Willow as soon as there was enough snow to start grooming the cross-country ski trail up Archangel earlier this winter.

State parks officials say there wasn't enough snow to do that until Friday, when they opened the corridor because of new snow and more consolidated snowpack. The opening applies only to the Fishhook parking lot west and along the snowmachine corridor up and over the summit to the Willow side of the pass, according to a release issued by Mat-Su parks superintendent Wayne Biessel.

At least as of Friday, there still wasn't adequate cover to open other popular snowmachine areas at Gold Mint and Archangel.

"This isn't our decision," said Biessel. "It's actually Mother Nature's."

Several on that protest trip last week said they intentionally avoided the groomed ski trail at the start of Archangel Road and headed up the valley. Mobley said "everything was considerably deep."

They got back to the parking lot, loaded up and drove off. Authorities say they got a 911 call about snowmachines in a closed area that same night.

A state park ranger and two troopers pulled everybody over on the road down from the pass the morning of Feb. 26, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said. The troopers came after state parks officials called them for backup given the time, remote location and size of the group.

The six were cited for illegal motorized use and banned from coming back.

State parks officials and troopers say the men were "trespassed" -- told not to return indefinitely -- because of repeat problems with a small group of snowmachiners poaching closed areas near Reed Lakes last year and riding groomed ski trails this winter.

"This is not the first time we've gotten a complaint," Ipsen said. "We have received complaints from other users that they're on ski trails and tearing up ski trails."

The ranger involved in the citations, Dan Amyot, did not return phone calls.

Biessel said the six men cited weren't "banned for life," as some contend, but only for an as-yet "uncertain" time until an investigation resolves.

'Slap in the face'

The snowmachiners say the ban was overkill.

Once someone is given a trespass warning, they can be arrested on criminal charges if they return.

Lin Turner, another of the six people cited, grew up skiing and snowmachining in the pass. Turner's brother, Jim, owns a local store and gas station. Their father headed the local ski patrol. Lin Turner said he started a search and rescue group and worked ski patrol.

"To get kicked off that mountain, it is the biggest slap in the face that I've ever had," Turner said.

The men plan to fight the citations in court, he said.

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A group of local snowmachiners rallying around the six say the rangers are trying to block motorized users any way they can in response to pressure from cross-country skiers. Rangers say that's not the case. Some skiers have taken to social media to say the only snowmachines they oppose are the ones that break the rules.

A rally Feb. 28 at the Fishhook parking lot drew dozens of snowmachiners and supporters to a barbecue flanked by signs that read "'Welcome' Alaska State Parks," except the "ks" was replaced by a swastika. A sign at Turner's Corner, Jim Turner's yellow store and station, notifies state parks employees that they're banned for life.

Mobley was one of three snowmachiners who dug a moose out of an avalanche on the Willow side of the pass in late December.

"I like to think that I'm kind of a good member of the community. Same with Lin Turner," he said. "This park ranger, he's so power-driven it's like he's Hitler."

Mobley said the state was violating its own policy to open the east side if there's either about 30 inches of snow or a good base. Before this latest snowfall, measurements by snowmachiners earlier in the week showed 36 to 40 inches near Independence Mine -- though a measuring stick used by state parks shows 30 inches -- and 33 inches at the Fishhook parking lot.

"Every time we approach these guys, they've got a new excuse," he said. "We don't want these guys to measure the snow because they just go up and they lie to us. Every spot they measure, it's insulting to us."

Complicated call

The decision to open the Palmer side of Hatcher Pass to motorized use is based on a series of factors including snow, terrain and the potential damage from machines, especially heavier models equipped with powder tracks, parks superintendent Biessel said. "There's a conspiracy theory that says we're trying to basically eliminate motorized use up there. It couldn't be further from the truth."

Yes, 30 inches is the number often tossed out, "but if you have 30 inches of light, fluffy snow, that's a lot different from heavy, wet snow," he said. "We go by density."

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The gauge near the lodge is higher than much of the terrain most riders use, Biessel said. Mountain winds and varied terrain lead to wide variations in the amount of snow even in one small area. If there's not enough snow, or not enough base, riders can tear up the tundra. Biessel sent a photo from last winter showing a spray of dirt outlining a deep trench made by a machine's paddle tracks.

State parks officials "go through a very systematic process" to assess snow, he said. "Where these folks are riding illegally, they're trenching. The places that normally are covered with snow are not."

Asked about opening a corridor to Willow earlier this season, Biessel said on Monday there was only about 6 inches of snow in some places along that route.

As of Wednesday, the Sno-Cat operator who normally grooms the corridor up and over the pass said inadequate, unstable snow had previously made it impossible for him to get past a bridge over a creek.

"You just touch it and it breaks down," said Dave Hendrickson, who has a contract with state parks to groom snowmachine trails and other trails in the area. "You break through that crust and you go clear to the ground."

Change in the air

Mother Nature finally came around by week's end.

About a foot of snow fell in the week the citations were issued. Another wet snowfall happened this week and then Thursday night's came along, with more snow in the forecast Friday into Saturday. Biessel said in an email Thursday that one more good blast of snow should open the east side and the "forecast looks favorable."

Either way, Turner said he's starting a Hatcher Pass snowmachine association to make sure motorized users keep the access they have.

He insists snowmachines cause little if any immediate damage and none long-term. Hikers on Marmot Mountain in the summer do more harm, he said. Multiple eroded routes scar the tundra all the way to the summit of the short but steep climb by summer.

"It's got to be fair," he said. "It's a multiuse area."

Zaz Hollander

Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com.

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