OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Winter has arrived.
Well, sort of.
Sixteen Hurricane Ridge promoters gathered at the top of the popular, snow-covered Olympic National Park destination Saturday to mark the start of all-week access during its winter season.
They included representatives of the city of Port Angeles, business and tourism promoters and snow lovers in general who came to show their support for the mountaintop in their own backyard.
But they don’t want to keep the winter wonderland to themselves.
City officials and other Ridge boosters are calling on the town to get up to the Ridge this year in order to keep it from returning to its Friday-through-Sunday schedule from late November through March.
“If the community stands up, I think we can make it,” said City Manager Kent Myers.
Second year
This is the second year the park is keeping the 17-mile road to Hurricane Ridge, which is south of Port Angeles, open daily, weather permitting, during its winter season as part of a two- to three-year pilot project.
Due to federal budget cuts, this year is anticipated to be the last chance to prove to the National Park Service that its annual investment of $250,000 for additional snowplowing and staffing is worth it.
City Councilwoman Cherie Kidd, perhaps the most vocal supporter of daily winter access, said it’s paramount that people drive up the mountain Mondays through Thursdays to show that additional money is needed. And take a snow day if needed, she said.
“We have to earn this,” she said.
“This is our year.”
Backing the Ridge
It wouldn’t be the first time locals have stepped up to back the Ridge.
Local fundraisers collected $75,000 each of the past two years to keep the road open, a requirement of the Park Service.
The Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau is spending $3,000 on advertising in North Olympic Peninsula, Seattle and Victoria markets to attract more people to the Ridge.
Last year, there was a 12 percent increase in visitors to the Ridge from January through March over five of the past six years.
Figures from 2010 are not included in the comparison because of a lengthy road closure.
Park Service officials in Washington, D.C., have not said how many more visitors need to go to the Ridge to continue to approve daily winter access.
Visitation goal
But the park has set its own goal of Monday-through-Thursday visitation reaching 45 percent of its typical Friday-through-Sunday trips.
That’s about double the number of visitors over last year.
From Dec. 17, 2010, when the park switched back to all-week access, through March 31, there were 1,627 car trips to the Ridge between Mondays and Thursdays versus 6,990 trips Fridays through Sundays.
That represents about 23 percent of weekend visits.
Myers recognized it may be a hard sell, particularly with large pending budget cuts, but said he is still optimistic as long as the community gets behind it.
“The best advertising is word-of-mouth,” he said.
Entrance fees are collected at the Heart O’ the Hills station. A seven-day pass into the park costs $15, while an annual pass is $30.
A round-trip shuttle ride to the Ridge will be available for $20 Wednesdays through Sundays.
It will leave from the Port Angeles Visitors Center on Railroad Avenue at 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and from the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., at 9:05 a.m. and 12:35 p.m.
Downhill skiing and snowboarding will begin Saturday. Ranger-led snowshoe walks will begin Dec. 10. The Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center is open when the road is open.
To check if the road is open and get conditions at the Ridge, phone the park’s prerecorded hotline at 360-565-3131 or visit www.nps.gov/olym.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
