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Show x Page 10 Tales Telemark By Jim Miller White Pine Touring Center These last few storms have brought, without a doubt, enough wet, heavy snow to turn most of our steeper backcountry powder bowls into avalanche problem. The snow is completely unsettled, and windblown with a poor base resulting in the worst snow conditions that I have seen in two years. Yet, in spite of all this most of the backcountry is in good shape. I am tired of "experts" labelling the backcountry ski terrain as "hazardous" or "dangerous." This bugs me because even under these unusual conditions most of our backcountry backcoun-try skiing is as safe to travel in as it was last August (safer actually because there aren't any drunken 4-wheel drivers around). Sure, the very steep bowls and chutes might be left alone, but the valleys, most jeep roads, the ridges and summits can be safely and pleasantly explored. The old generalities, "Never ski during or immediately after a storm," "Stay off the windy side" or "Avoid slopes above 25 degrees in angle" are all pretty much hot air when applied to the total area available for backcountry skiing. The only guideline I follow is, "Hire an experienced guide when unfamiliar with the skiing terrain." Call up the' area's1 skipatrol. They will first state, "Becau-se STMttiB&Pdf slides came clown" (in the steeper areas), touring in the backcountry is dangerous and should not be attempted." With all due respect to these folks, ( they do their job well) , just because a few slides came down does not mean that ski tourers should stay home. John Muir made a point of travelling in woods during storms to enjoy winter at it's best; so should you. Most people have enough common sense (and lack of skiing ability) to stay out of the steeper bowls. A ridge can provide access to the higher elevations, safely by-passing bowls on either side that might slide. A good jeep road cutting through heavy timber is as safe as the golf course. Most of our meadows and valleys are wide enough that even if the upper bowls should drop a rare natural avalanche the debris would stop well above anyone skiing in the middle-easy. Breaking trail, breathing hard, using energy, looking very closely at possible routes that are 1Q0 percent safe, all during a blowing snowstorm, is one of my ideas of fun. Keeping in niind that the results of a mistake can be deadly, storm skiing is a fun way to explore the backcountry. Everything, out of necessity, is now a bit toned down-can't ski anywhere you want or even as far-but winter is here to be enjoyed. Main Street DOWN UNDER "ANDREA" THIS 649-8051 WEEKEND i Fish Face Dry Year Recent snowfall, particularly par-ticularly in the northern part of Utah, has added some much needed moisture to the state's watershed, reservoirs reser-voirs and high mountains. Unless it continues, however, Utah will be faced with a short water year. In general, that water shortage is not expected to drastically affect Utah's fishing for 1977. The first area to feel the affects of a drought, in terms of the state fisheries program, will be the hatcheries. hat-cheries. The fish rearing stations have already noted significant drops in water flow from springs which feed the hatcheries. All of the 11 stations in Utah are reporting repor-ting to Fisheries personnel in Salt Lake on a weekly basis, in order to maintain a protective, critical eye on the situaiton. Serious low water situations are not considered, con-sidered, at this time, to be likely; but this information will enable fish managers to take timely, proper steps to safeguard growing fish and utilize available water most effectively, should any of the stations get into trouble. The Division of Wildlife Resources Fisheries Section planned fish rearing and planting efforts for 1977 as they would for a normal year. If water levels in the hatcheries become too low to maintain fish stocks at normal nor-mal levels, it will necessitate planting fish early. The shortened shor-tened time in the hatchery will produce smaller cat-chables cat-chables and fingerlings, which, in turn, will make growth slower and survival somewhat more difficult as temperature and food stresses would increase in plant sites. The ultimate effect ef-fect of this would be to reduce returns at some later time. . X-.' .Reservoirs ' 1 " '-Mdny'of Utah'sreservoirs have maintained their overwinter over-winter storage content at levels reasonably close to normal. Those fish already in these reservoirs should be in good condition and should be available to fishermen in the spring. If there is little or no spring runoff, reservoirs will be rapidly drawn down to lower levels-even drained to the inactive storage tank. In this case, fish in the reservoirs will be restricted in space and will be most vulnerable to angling pressure. It could mean better bet-ter angling success this summer. Some reservoirs were drawn down extensively exten-sively last year. The plants of 1976 fingerlings in these will show effects of the extremely ex-tremely low over-winter water levels; but in general, reservoir fishing should be comparable torecent years. Streams Lack of snowpack in the mountains will probably yield a small spring runoff this year, producing fishable streams earlier than usual. The Division policy on stocking streams calls for hatcheries to plant fish as soon as the water is ready. This spring could yield more stream fishing in the early days of the 1977 fishing season. Plans call for the same number of catchables to be planted, although earlier accessibility may extend ex-tend the planting schedule over a longer period. Lower water in Utah streams will v probably make fish more to the angler, tending to compensate for the effects of a longer planting season. If the current drought persists per-sists through next summer and water flows to hatcheries hat-cheries are low, fish production produc-tion would necessarily be t curtailed. In this instance, ' marginal fishing waters would not be planted and quotas in other waters would be reduced. The degree of cutback would depend on the available water. During this short-water year, fisheries ad-f ad-f ministrators will be watching wat-ching the new recycling water systems at Glenwood and Mantua hatcheries. More efficient use of water, through recirculation, is one of the outstanding features of the new systems; and the' information could be important impor-tant in future fisheries development. ' ESTHERS First 300 Race '. For Free NASTAR enthusiasts will have an opportunity to race for free this week. Datsun Days NASTAR will come to Park City Saturday and the first 300 persons to register for the races will be the guests of Datsun. Signups Sign-ups are at the information kiosk in the resort plaza starting at 8:30 a.m. Each participant will receive re-ceive a Datsun Days NASTAR NAS-TAR patch and the man and the woman posting the fastest time will be awarded, trophy. Datsun became a major NASTAR sponsor this season and is the official NASTAR automobile. A Datsun will be on display at the Resort Saturday. Datsun also sponsors the Datsun Improvement Award for the ski area which lowers its overall handicap the most during the season. However,, Park City has little chance for this honor since the snow arrived so late. Tribune Classic Sat. On Payday The annual Salt Lake Tribune Ski Classic will be held on Park City's Payday run this Saturday starting at 10 a.m. The Classic will host the top junior racers of the In-termountain In-termountain Division of the U.S. Ski Association. The youngsters will challenge a giant slalom course set by Olymic medal Jean Saubert. Miss Saubert won silver and bronze medals in the 1964 Winter Olympics. Selection of the racers has been complicated this year by the lack of races due to the snow drought. Tribune and ID-USSA officials convened con-vened early this week to make the final choices and prepare the seedings. In addition to the Classic, the Park City Ski Team will be competing in slalom events on the Payday run Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This will be Park City's first team competition of the year. Be A Sport! I Qnnr? I m SAVE UP TO 80 ON OVERSTOCKED ITEMS Y NEXT TO THE GONDOLA AT THE RESOHT CENTER j0) Back- Couhtry Skiing " "ft i' iff APR By Bob Bailey Utah Powder Guides Since it's beginning, this column has been concerned about the general lack of understanding among all backcountry skiers (both alpine and cross-country) of avalanche conditions within the areas they are going to ski. We have seen tracks traversing most of the major slide paths in this area and actually talked to some of the people who made them. In all cases the skiers making the tracks had no idea they were in any danger. This past week three incidents inci-dents occurred which amplified ampli-fied our concern for fellow backcountry skiers. Snowbird, Snow-bird, which has most of the avalanche hazard forecasting forecas-ting expertise in this area, led their first avalanche death plus another skier badly injured. This accident occurred within the ski area on a slope that had been shot and ski checked, yet still released a large slide at 1 : 30 in the afternoon. Seven Park City locals decided to go for a tour two Saturdays ago during a snow, sleet and dust storm. They were crossing the bottom of a small open slope when a slide released above them. Five managed to ski to safety, but two were caught. One was completely buried, the other was buried only to his chest. The girl who was buried was lucky enough to have a hand sticking out of the snow, so she was uncovered immediately. None of the seven had any avalanche forecasting experience. ex-perience. The third incident involved a visitor to this area from California. On cross-country skis he had traversed two of the more active slopes on the face of Jupiter and was in the middle of another one, when two patrolmen manged to talk him off. His reaction to their explanation of the danger was to disagree. When asked questions to determine his knowledge and experience on the subject sub-ject it was discovered that he had neither, but just felt it was safe. Once again, we must ask how long it will be before someone gets killed here. If you don't want to be the one, please call the Park City Patrol, White Pine Touring Center, or Utah Powder Guides. All will be glad to answer your Questions. The following were NASTAR medal winners on Saturday, March 5: Gold Maria Chambers Tyler Stagg TinaMoench Steve Louis Tom Horn RolfSandberg Jerry Metcalf Silver Scott Metcalf Bronze Tim Metcalf PatJarosz :.MikeJarosz Tim Louis Hank Louis Melanie Louis Herbert Louis Julie Louis Laurie Tisch Carrie Louis TroyForsberg Stan Smith Richard Daines Don Werkstein RolfSandberg, Jr. Perry Wood Jim Wolfe Fulton Murray GaryMears JimWyatt Larry Eccles, Jr. Robbie Wells Spence Eccles DaveMovitz GaryMears Lisa Eccles Larry Mears Anthony Chambers Spence Eccles, Jr. JoanFooton John Carpenter KarlSellery Wayne Mineer ArchSellery Avalance Claims Life At Snowbird Resort An avalanche at the Snowbird Snow-bird ski resort Thursday claimed the life of one man and injured another. The slide started on Peruvian Ridge and swept over a rocky area into Gad Valley. Killed in the avalanche was William Harkenss, 24, of Downington Avenue in Salt Lake City. His body was recovered at 1:39 pm, 24 minutes after he was buried in the snow. Ken Bronston, 31, 3515 E. Little Cottonwood Road was treated at University Hospital Hospi-tal for a broken leg. The slide traveled 1,500 feet over a 40-yard wide path and the snow depth at the base was three to five feet. Ski patrolmen arrived at the scene at 1:30 pm and DOES RACING AROUND ALL DAY LEAVE YOU WITH EMBARASSING RING-AROUND-THE-SHOULDERS? IT'S NO SWEAT WITH y ull J pit jj STOP Just one squirt removes wetness, smell, underarm un-derarm hair, portions of the epidermis, and part of the ozone layer. Tested and recommended by U.S. Army biological warfare scientists. If B.O. is a no-no in your book, get the spray that has the country up in arms. SERVING LUNCH & DINNER WITH DISCO DANCING NIGHTLY No Covr Charge No Membership Necessary OPEN 11:30 A.M. TO CLOSING TUESDAY Oldies WEDNESDAY Country Western THURSDAY Dance Contest e CASH AND OTHER PRIZES e APRES SKI MOVES - POPCORN Rusty Nail Luncheon SERVED DAILY 1 1 :30 - 2:30 SPECIAL INCLUDING ONE BEER $2.95 Park City Resort Center 649 - found Mr. Bronston on the surface. Snowbird officials shutdown operation of the tram and organized a rescue operation within minutes of the avalanche. More than 100 ski patrolmen, ski instructors instruc-tors and other volunteers probed the base of the slide. The search continued until 4:30 pm to insure that other skiers were not trapped below the surface. Liam Fitzgerald, Snowbird's Snow-bird's director of snow safety said the slide was triggered by a skier. The area had been patrolled daily and avalance control measures had been taken. Fitzgerald speculated the slide traveled over a layer of weak unconsolidated snow. 8190 m m 3 ;2 2 |