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Show SIcsq Continued from Page 9 Saturation remains a concern and further slides are possible throughout the park The Lower Emerald Pools Trail and pait of Sand Bench Trail are both dosed due to other landslides. With the road closed at the Lodge, there will limited parking at Zion all weekend Visitors should expect crowding and the road to close at Canyon Junction intermittently once parking is full on what is expected to be a busy holiday weekend. Road crews and geologists must allow the area to dry out and assess the damage before removing the debris, making repairs, and reopening roadw'ay. Over the holiday weekend, the Incident Command Team designated to woik on the rock slide event came up with an innovative idea to help speed up the process of getting the road cleared and reopened. Several precariously situated rocks needed to he removed before the parks road crew could safely clear the debris A fne monitor, (stand-alon- e nozzle) attached to a fire hose was used to precisely aim water at the base of dislodged rocks identified as overhead hazards. Rather than a 'blasting operation, which has been a procedure used in the past, the team tried utilizing the parks water trucks and firefighting equipment resources The water monitor operation was a great success Not only w as it a lot safer than a blasting operation, it saved the park a considerable amount of money, time and limited the impact on wild life and natural and cultural sensitive areas. On Tuesday, the slide area was further analyzed by park staff and geologists who determined the area stable enough for cleanup and repairs to begin Because rain is foiecast in the coming week, the slide area will once more have to be assessed after initial clearing before the road can leopen Continued from Page 9 SUU Pacesetters is a group for outdoor leadership, meaning the primary goal is to find people to work for SUU Outdoors, including the Outdoor Center, wall and group leaders for the Pacesetters trips. However, the group is also there to aid students in finding individuals to camp and hike with. As the University of the Parks, many students come to SUU to enjoy the outdoors, but the trouble can be finding people to enjoy them with, as hiking and camping solo can be dangerous and less fun. Pacesetters hopes rock-climbi- like-mind- The Zion Scenic Drive has been closed since Jan. 13 when a large rock slide covered both lanes. The Incident Command Team worked over the holiday weekend to break up some of the large rocks in order to clear the road. to help students find other outdoorspeople. senior a Sidni Walser, outdoor recreation major from Salt Lake City, and president of Pacesetters, spoke of the group's motives, saying that its tough this semester with the cold. The goal is to hike and get outdoors, which can be difficult when there is snow on the ground. Were not here to sit here and talk, were here to go out and do fun stuff, Walser said. Walser made it clear that the trips planned for Pacesetters are not overly difficult; in fact, most of the trips organized by the Pacesetters and SUU Outdoors are for beginners. Theres a lot of different levels of outdoor stuff you can get involved with here at school, Walser said, and this would be the entry level of outdoorsiness. The trips are headed by group leaders who have worked for the Outdoor or Center Pacesetters, sometimes for over two years. If youre going to go on a trip, youre going to go with trip leaders that already know what theyre doing, Walser said. The Pacesetters meet every Wednesday at 6 p.m., and while they do not have an email or text list, they are on Instagram with the handle suupacesetters. All news of events and trips can be found through their account. |