We’ve all seen the forest close in the summer due to fire danger, but it seems that the sheriffs office and the coconino national forest have taken a cue from their summertime ways and closed the forest to backcountry travel due to avalanche danger.

From the Coconino National Forest Website:

Kachina Peaks Wilderness Area Closure

Flagstaff. AZ- The Northern Arizona Emergency Operation Center is announcing the closure of the Kachina Peaks Wilderness Area on the San Francisco Peaks due to extreme avalanche danger caused by recent excessive snowfall. In the interest of public safety the Coconino National Forest has issued a temporary Forest Order closing the Kachina Peaks Wilderness area to any and all entry. This order supersedes all Kachina Peaks Winter Backcountry permits already issued this season. This means that any backcountry skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing from Snowbowl is prohibited until further notice, and violators are subject to criminal penalty.

This closure is based on recent storm activity and field observations of natural avalanche activity and snow instability. This week’s snowfall is on pace to be the greatest in over 30 years. Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue personnel have conducted two search and rescue operations in hazardous weather conditions this week. Search and Rescue must make risk assessment decisions and will take into account rescuer safety before deploying personnel into the field. This Forest Order will be cancelled as soon as conditions permit at which time Back Country permits will be valid again.

For additional information please refer to the Coconino National Forest at www.coconinoforest.us
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This definitely puts a damper on some weekend plans for up here. Unfortunately, though, I understand where they’re coming from.

I would be willing to bet that the backcountry gate at the top of snowbowl was closed on wednesday, yet a snowboarder was still lost until thursday night after going out of bounds. I would put a large sum of money on the fact that he ducked a rope, not went out through a gate.

So, even though the bitching, whining, moaning, and complaining has come out in full-force on the KPAC message board, I’m not sure that there’s really anything that can be done about it, and I don’t necessarily think it was an unjustified decision.

There isn’t a very big SAR operation here in flagstaff, and for as small as they are, they do a good job. Although, at this point in time those same people are probably very busy with all the other craziness that has been going on around town.

The thing I find most ironic about the bitching and moaning on the KPAC boards is that most of it is being done by supposed ‘experienced backcountry travelers’ or even ‘locals’.

Good for you. I’m glad that living in flagstaff instead of phoenix puts you in a much better position to bitch about what the forest service should and shouldn’t do.

I consider myself an ‘experience backcountry traveler’ and would even call myself a ‘local’ by this point (although it’s only been 5 years, so maybe that’s a stretch).

You know what I did yesterday?

I used my backcountry knowledge and my local knowledge to get some friends together, set up a skin track that gave us about 1000′ of vertical, and found some delicious turns on a completely safe slope that was in no way anywhere near the kachina peaks wilderness.

Now, I will say that we had to do some flatland hiking to get out to this area, and heard some pretty scary whumping as the lower layers collapsed through those meadows, so I would definitely put the avy danger as ‘high’ anywhere around here. The slope we were on was pretty heavily treed, and you don’t have to cross any open slopes to get to the top. We dug a pit, we spaced out, we took turns breaking trail through the knee-deep powder, and we had a blast.

So to all you haters out there on the KPAC boards I say this – If you’re really somebody who has the knowledge to be safe, and the ability to pull out a map and start looking for alternative options, then do it.

If you’re not, then please, by all means stay out of the backcountry and sit at your computer all day and bitch. I don’t mind, I’ll be out enjoying the weather.

And if you’re planing on going up to snowbowl once they open, and you’re thinking of ducking a rope, you better do it while I’m not watching, because I’ll kick you in the teeth if I’m around.