PORT ANGELES — Olympic National Park officials think they’ve found a part-time remedy for the closure of the Sunrise Family Snowplay Area at Hurricane Ridge.
Park Superintendent Karen Gustin said at a sparsely attended public meeting Thursday night that she and Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club officials are working on an agreement that would allow older children and adults to slide on tubes and plastic discs on the intermediate slopes of the Hurricane Ridge Ski and Snowboard Area on days when the ski lifts aren’t operating.
Too dangerous
The park officials are trying to compensate for the closure, announced earlier this month, of the Sunrise Family Snowplay Area along Hurricane Ridge Road, which they say is too dangerous to be kept open this winter.
The park is in preliminary talks with the sports club. No agreement has been made.
“I think we’ll be able to work something out,” Gustin said.
Children 8 years old and older would be allowed to sled on portions of the ski hill before Hurricane Ridge Ski Area opens in mid-December.
Skiers and snowboarders need more snow than tubers and sliders, and there should be plenty of snow for sledding in November and early December, Gustin said.
The ski hill also would be open for sliding on weekdays over Christmas break when Hurricane Ridge Road is open but the ski area is not.
As in past seasons, children 8 and younger still can slide at the Small Children’s Snowplay Area west of Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.
Gary Holmquist, Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club board member and its national park liaison, said the club would be open to allowing sliding on certain slopes as long as the park manages the safety of the sliders and coordinates with the club.
The sports club maintains the ski slopes even when the lifts are idle.
“We’d hate to see any loss of winter recreation opportunities at Hurricane Ridge,” Holmquist said. “It’s a pretty special place.”
Gustin said too many vehicles were parked with not enough room at the Sunrise Family Snowplay Area last winter, and the potential for injury is too great.
Public safety is the park’s top priority, Gustin added.
During a $12 million resurfacing and rehabilitation project in 2008, road crews shifted the lanes towards the mountain side of the roadway grade at the family sliding area.
As a result, cars were parked halfway into the roadway last winter, Gustin said.
Park officials solicited suggestions for alternative sites for a sledding area in Thursday’s public meeting, which was more of a meet-and-greet, at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles.
No suggestions were taken.
Gustin said suggestions for alternative sites can be e-mailed to OLMP_ Superintendent@nps.gov.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
