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Show WASATCH MOUNTAIN TIMES Avalanche of Politics Leaves Open Question of Safety on Road to Alta CANYON REPORT olitics have e. been at play Canyon, in avalanche experts. Former Little say for skiers. It is only traveling from the resorts during snow avalanche forecasters, leaving the safety of those who travel the steep, winding road in question. At least a half dozen former and present avalanche forecasters say the narrow highway to Snowbird and Alta has remained open numerous times for long and short periods when it should have been closed for avalanche danger Since 1990, three Utah Department of Transportation avalanche forecasters have quit their jobs in protest. They say the safety of the canyon road can not be guaranteed during periods when which avalanches are pre is off and on for most winter UDOT director tk illegatior Craig that Cottonwooc yn However, full IS in Zwick uid Zwick the road he has ) ensure nt of — the the denies Little ubli« safe ; immediately bring ward the Forest Service, the resorts ind ¢ \ nd will talk about the procedure for closure,” Zwick told the Wasatch Mountain Times Alta and Snowbird hire their own fore- to and storms 1 Cottonwood Canyon is in question during stormy periods, windy days and times of dramatic temperature changes when snowpack can loose stability on / A, growing chorus, Service safety October report 1994, a U.S. to McConkie Forest again stat-’ ed that safety was being compromised is the avalanche expert. “There has not been an (avalanche-related) fatality in ing former McConkie. that canyon in 20 years. That is a good record and has to count for something,” Hansen said. “I Zwick. prone road in North America. “If my quitting and calling attention to the problems will make things safer, then this will have served a purpose,” Wyatt said in a telephone interview E yxmer forecasters and others still closely associated with avalanche control in Little Cottonwood Canyon including U.S. Forest tatives, say public in Service the forecasters, saying it was Hale who steep slopes. A spokesman for UDOT, Kent Hansen, played down the criticism of avalanches were imminent But Hale denies allegations that he pressures or overrides forecasters I've been doing this job for 29 prime aspect is for safety,’ And due to a rift between Hale and forecasters. For his part, however, Zwick said he did not receive the letter from Cohee and was unaware of the meet- that their safety is in question The latest forecaster to quit, Rick Wyatt, resigned effective Dec. 2, saying “no confidence” in he had the avalanche system governing the highway — perhaps the most avalanche- say UDOT’s avalanche coordinator Bill Hale has pressured forecasters over the years to change forecasts and has, himself, delayed closing the canyon when unsafe orderec UDOT casters say the ski resorts are kept safe In fact, the Forest Service operated program in the avalanche Little Cottonwood until it turned forecasting over to UDOT in 1982. Since then, there have been plenty of close calls, critics claim, including ’ buses and Once cars hit by avalanches recognized as the premier avalanche control system in the country, UDOT’s avalanche forecasting sys- forecasters don’t “When with said it’s a surprise to me.” Zwick dismissed the Forest Service report as “ill founded” and said both Lev and Wyatt had an axe to grind with Hale. “T the don’t think western there United is anyone States who in has more expertise in (avalanche control) artillery than Bill Hale,” Zwick said “When you put that with his experience and record “Bill Hale is not an avalanche Never has been. had micro-manage,” these things hit, and then people say forecaster. Never will be. You can’t however, represenin Little forecast avalanches from the cab of a truck.” — Dan Judd, former avalanche forecaster tem is in a shambles, says Peter Lev, the head UDOT forecaster until he quit in 1990. In a written statement, Ley said Hale is systematically destroying the apprentice-style avalanche forecast system that took years to build. “.. when the highway forecaster attempts to issue a forecast projecting a road closure, 1)Hale forbids the writ- ten forecast to be disbursed. .. 2) Hale has on several occasions ordered the , 4 Tay \|NO STOPPING OR STANDING) good, I have a problem it.” To the criticism that Hale did not allow distribution of avalanche forecasts, Zwick said it was a good idea that they are not circulated. “That would just leave blood-thirsty you open attorneys to a lot if of anything went wrong,” he said. Alta and Snowbird officials, he added, have praised Hale’s performance in the canyon. forecast. But former UDOT avalanche forecaster Dan Judd said people in the canyon are afraid to cross Hale because as head of canyon highway maintenance, he can make life difficult for those who stand up to him. Judd quit his Littlke Cottonwood avalanche forecasting job in 1992 to change his the road being closed by avalanches.” Lev said only inexperienced fore- casters are left at UDOT. Ithough NOVEMBER | - MAY 15 first denying any knowl- edge of a rift between forecasters and Hale, UDOT spokesman Hansen later admitted that a forecaster had written to UDOT director Zwick, not- ing the problem during February 1994. Lev met Hellgate slide area near Alta is prone to avalanche. is ‘no 3) And if that doesn’t work, he stalls for time on closing the road, putting the situation into a “too late to do anything” compromise, which has led to forecaster Y he believing and with former forecaster Zwick’s chief Dan Judd operations engineer Sheldon McConkie in March 1994, again explaining their concerns. PAGE 8; because, he said, he could no longer be responsible for the public’s safety. mate You “As a forecaster, you have an inticonnection with the snow. eat, breath and drink snow all winter. . . You know what is going on. But when you make a forecast to close the road, Bill Hale comes to life. There isn’t a time when you make that kind continued on page 16 ° |