Page 8C
OUTSDIE
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Winter backcountry preparation a necessity
By MARK MORICAL
The (Bend) Bulletin
VISTA
BUTTE
SNO-PARK
—
Some
backcountry areas in Central
Oregon are so accessible that
it is hard to even consider
them backcountry.
Vista Butte is certainly
one of those places.
But backcountry is back-
country, and snow enthusi-
asts should always take the
necessary safety precautions
whenever they venture away
from resorts and into the
mountains, no matter how
close to town or the highway
they might be.
Just a few miles from
Mount Bachelor, Vista Butte
Sno-park is basically just
some extra space for parking
along the shoulder of Century
Drive.
I arrived there last week
to fi nd the “Sno-park Parking
Permits Required” sign
protruding just a couple of
feet above the enormous
snowpack of this winter.
My plan was to snowshoe
to the top of 6,619-foot Vista
Butte and snowboard back
down toward the sno-park.
From
the
sno-park,
reaching the summit of the
butte to the northeast is a
2.5-mile trek with a 700-foot
elevation gain.
Tumalo Mountain, located
just across Century Drive
from Mount Bachelor, is the
best-known Central Oregon
destination for backcountry
snowriders. But Vista Butte
is a decent option when
Bachelor and Tumalo Moun-
tain are getting pounded with
wind and snow.
The snowshoe up Vista
Butte started out pretty chal-
lenging on a cold, gray day
with little wind, as I slogged
for about half a mile through
deep, untracked snow before
turning onto the well-packed
Butte Trail.
After climbing steadily
for nearly 2 miles, I linked up
to the Vista Butte Trail for the
fi nal half mile. Mount Bach-
elor, Tumalo Mountain and
the surrounding hills came
into view above the tree line.
The trail grew steeper
and steeper before I fi nally
Bend cannabis
company gets
into extreme-
sports athlete
sponsorship
(AP) — A Bend
cannabis company has
found an interesting way
to market its product. It’s
sponsoring athletes. The
company,
Oregrown,
grows, processes and sells
cannabis. Founder Aviv
Hadar said he’s inked
sponsorship deals with
several snowboarders and
skiers. As the Bend Bulletin
fi rst reported, the biggest
name is John Spriggs, a
freestyle and backcountry
skier who’s competed
in the X Games. “We’re
helping him travel, and
explore the backcountry
and use cannabis instead
of
pharmaceutical
medicines,” Hadar said.
“And he’s helping us tell
that story and get that story
across.”The company is
paying Spriggs a monthly
stipend in exchange for his
promotion of the brand.
Spriggs is now among at
least three professional
athletes nationwide who
have formal marijuana
sponsorship
deals.
Hadar said cannabis is
pretty widely accepted
recreationally and for pain
relief by counterculture
athletes
like
skiers,
snowboarders and surfers.
By contrast, major sports
leagues like the NFL
and the NBA drug test
their athletes and ban
marijuana.
Have an outdoors
story you’d be
willing to tell, or a
trophy photo you’d
like to show off?
Email editor Tim
Trainor at ttrainor@
eastoregonian.com
or call him at
541-966-0835.
SKI REPORT
Spout Springs
Tollgate, Ore.
CLOSED
Anthony Lakes
North Powder, Ore.
New snow: None
Base depth: 60”
Conditions: Warm and
wet conditions earlier
in the week
Ski Bluewood
Dayton, Wash.
New snow: none
Base depth: 53”
Conditions: Ma-
chine-groomed wet
snow
Ski Fergi
Joseph, Ore.
New snow: None
Base depth: 25”
Conditions: Lions
Club appreciation this
weekend, Sweetheart
Slalom and other spe-
cial events
Mt. Hood Meadows
Joe Kline/The Bulletin via AP, File
In this 2014, fi le photo, Mark Morical carves through the heavy powder snow at the top of Vista Butte west of
Bend. Some backcountry areas in Oregon are so accessible that it is hard to even consider them backcountry and
Vista Butte is certainly one of those places.
reached the summit. From the
top, I looked out on the vast,
snow-covered high desert,
buttes popping up here and
there and the rocky cliffs of
the Tumalo Falls area visible
just to the northeast.
Several
wind-carved
cornices lined the summit of
Vista Butte. I glanced down
at possible lines through
which to snowboard.
I had heard from a few
Central Oregon backcountry
experts that the southern
portion of the butte offers the
best options for skiing and
snowboarding — and riding
that direction can place
you back near Vista Butte
Sno-park.
Most of the snowriding
on Vista Butte is among
the trees, so skiers and
snowboarders should watch
out for tree wells, areas
around the bases of trees
where unconsolidated snow
collects and creates potential
hazards for an unsuspecting
snowrider.
Backcountry skiers and
snowboarders should also be
prepared for avalanche risk,
especially after all the recent
snowfall.
At Vista Butte, the
numerous trees anchor the
snow to make for reduced
chance of avalanche, but
snowriders should come
equipped with all the
necessary avalanche tools,
including a shovel, a probe
and a transceiver.
After replacing my snow-
shoes with my snowboard, I
sank deep into the fresh snow
and began to carve my way
down the butte, fi nding open
chutes of powder near the top
but soon fi nding myself back
among the trees.
Jon Tapper, vice presi-
dent of the Central Oregon
Avalanche Association, says
backcountry
enthusiasts
cannot assume that they are
free of avalanche danger at
smaller, lower-angled areas
such as Vista Butte and
Tumalo Mountain.
“That’s a side of avalanche
education that veers more
toward behavior science,”
Tapper says. “Anything can
slide.”
He added that during a
big part of the storm cycle
in early January, several
small avalanches were
reported in the Todd Lake
area, another popular place
for backcountry skiers and
snowboarders.
“It wasn’t catastrophic,
but there were signs of insta-
bility in the snow,” Tapper
says. “That’s because there
was so much new snow.
You had storm upon storm,
creating layer upon layer.”
The Central Oregon
Avalanche
Association
(www.coavalanche.org)
which runs on donations,
relies on four backcountry
experts who observe and
report snow conditions on a
regular basis. They offer a
wide variety of locations for
their reports.
While a deep snowpack
this winter can lead to
dangers, Tapper explains,
avalanche risk depends
strictly on the composition of
the snowpack and where the
weak layers are located.
“It absolutely depends on
how each of those storms
came in, and whether there
are weak layers buried in
there, and then the evolution
of the snowpack,” he says.
“As you get more used to
understanding the general
patterns that go along with
snow in the backcountry, and
how the snowpack changes,
you would recognize that
we’re out of a period of insta-
bility, and moving toward
more stability. Things aren’t
changing as rapidly, overall.
“But things change every
day.”
Backcountry gear
A rundown of some handy
equipment for snowriding in
the backcountry:
▪ Transceivers, probes
and shovels: Transceivers
work in case of an avalanche
only if both the person who
is buried under the snow and
those trying to fi nd the victim
have them. The device’s
Government Camp, Ore.
New snow: Trace
Base depth: 95”
Conditions: Hardpack
and carveable groom.
Skier-packed powder,
hardpack, and icy spots
off piste.
signal becomes stronger
as rescuers get closer to
the victim. Probes are long
sticks, broken down like tent
poles, that are used to search
the snow for an avalanche
victim. A compact shovel can
be used to dig the victim out.
▪ Climbing skins: Nylon
material that sticks to the
bottom of skis to provide
traction on the way up the
slope.
▪ Alpine touring skis:
Skiers have their heels free
while skinning up the hills,
and then lock their heels in
for coming down the moun-
tain.
▪ Telemark skis: Skiers’
heels are always free,
whether touring or skiing
down the slopes.
▪ Splitboard: This snow-
board splits in two, allowing
the boarder to apply skins for
touring and then adjust the
two sides into one board for
riding.
Utah tourism promotes Bears Ears despite state opposition
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) —
Utah tourism offi cials said Monday
they are promoting the new Bears
Ears National Monument on a
state website despite a push by the
governor and other leaders to have
the designation rescinded.
Republican Gov. Gary Herbert
signed a resolution earlier this month
from the Legislature calling on
President Donald Trump to repeal
the designation by President Barack
Obama during his fi nal weeks in
offi ce.
Utah’s congressional delegation,
led by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, is also
pressuring Trump on the matter.
Herbert and others say they want
to ensure the lands in southeastern
Utah are used for a mix of purposes,
including development, drilling and
mining.
The outdoors industry sees that as
a threat to the state’s majestic outdoor
areas and is pushing back.
The state had already been
promoting some of the natural
features of the area online, Utah
Offi ce of Tourism managing director
Vicki Varela said. But Varela said
the state can now be “more focused”
because of the monument.
The tourism offi ce has a
full webpage dedicated to the
1.35-million-acre national monu-
ment, along with subpages high-
lighting its various features.
The website calls the monument’s
landscape
breathtaking
while
warning that it is rugged, wild and
remote without the services or facil-
ities found at national parks in the
state.
Varela said offi cials aren’t sure yet
how they’ll promote the area since
it’s now more of a destination for
serious outdoor enthusiasts.
Varela said later Monday after-
noon that the tourism offi ce is not
promoting the monument on any
social media accounts or launching
any kind of paid marketing campaign
for it. The offi ce promoted Utah’s
national parks with the Mighty 5
advertising campaign.
Varela and Herbert spoke to
reporters Monday after the release of
a new University of Utah report that
shows tourism spending in Utah hit a
record of $8.17 billion in 2015.
That marked a 2 percent increase
from the year before, putting tourism
among the largest industries in the
state, according to the report by the
university’s Kem C. Gardner Policy
Institute.
The governor didn’t know the state
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File
In this Jan. 11 fi le photo, people attend the Outdoor Retailer show at the Salt Palace Convention Center in
Salt Lake City.
was promoting Bears Ears National
Monument to tourists. Herbert said
he and some Native Americans are
concerned about attracting visitors
who will trample on sacred lands.
“It’s not like they want to put a
neon sign out there saying, ‘Come
here and camp,”’ Herbert said of the
tribes.
The new tourism spending report
comes amid heated debate over the
state’s role in management of Utah’s
iconic public lands.
The discussions escalated after the
designation of the Bears Ears monu-
ment in December despite staunch
opposition from Herbert, the state’s
congressional delegation and other
top leaders.
In protest over calls to rescind
the designation, outdoor industry
giant Patagonia and several other
companies are vowing to boycott the
semiannual Outdoor Retailer show,
which brings $45 million in annual
spending to Utah.
Varela said the Outdoor Retailer
show is “a big part of Utah’s brand,”
and a longstanding, important part of
the state’s economy that they would
love to keep.
Herbert said he hopes a Thursday
meeting with outdoor retailers will
allow all sides to try to understand
each other, reiterating his belief that
Utah is the best place for the show.
Retailers ramp up threat to pull show from Utah
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)
— A coalition of major outdoor
companies on Tuesday ramped up
a threat to get a lucrative outdoor
trade show to leave Utah unless
the governor and elected offi cials
back away from policies they say
threaten public lands.
Leaders of Black Diamond
Equipment, Osprey Packs and
28 other outdoor companies sent
a letter to Republican Gov. Gary
Herbert that says Utah leaders are
threatening the outdoor industry by
pushing back against federal land
control and management.
“We see all of these actions as
an existential threat to the vibrancy
of Utah and America’s outdoor
industry as well as Utah’s high
quality of life,” the letter said.
The letter comes two days
before Herbert is expected to meet
with outdoor retailers to try to
smooth the discord. It is the latest
in a string of moves the outdoors
industry has made to protest Utah’s
stance.
Organizers of the lucrative,
semiannual Outdoor Retailer trade
show said this year that they’re
considering moving the event
after two decades in Utah. Some
companies said they’ll boycott the
show as long as it remains in the
state.
Tuesday’s letter was signed by
CEOs of companies boycotting the
show, like Patagonia and Arc’teryx.
In the letter, the outdoors CEOs
call on Herbert and Utah offi cials
to stop pushing for the recent
declaration of the Bears Ears
National Monument to be rescinded
and to stop pushing for state control
of public lands currently owned
by the federal government, among
other actions. “If that is something
that you are unwilling to do, we are
publicly and emphatically urging
our trade group’s leadership to have
our show depart,” the letter said.
Speaking about the dispute
earlier this week, Herbert told
reporters on Monday that both
sides of the issue need to calm
down and understand each other.
Herbert and Utah’s Legislature
recently approved a resolution
calling on President Donald Trump
to repeal the monument. Utah’s
congressional delegation is also
pressing the Trump administration
on the issue.