Changes at Mt Rainier -- road closed Tues, Weds

Gate did not open until 10:30 today.

Ha ! first LEO ranger there tried mightily to open the gate but had the wrong keys ??? He called for reinforcements with the magic key which took about another 10 mins . Meanwhile the the crowd tightened about him .

Seems the residents of Ashford Valley may be finally stirring it up...

Invalid consumer key/secret in configuration

Really a bummer...
I didn't ski today primarily because I wanted to go to Paradise but couldn't risk the 3hr drive to be turned back at the gate.
Their chronic gate delays and random closures have changed the risk/reward ratio so significantly that they are certainly driving down visits. I'm starting to buy into the theory that the park management seeks to sabotage year round access.

If the MRNPS was a publicly owned business there would be a serious shake-up of the management and lack of business plan. Oh right...it is owned by the people.

If the MRNPS was a publicly owned business there would be a serious shake-up of the management and lack of business plan.

I think MRNP does have a business plan, of a sort. It's called bait & switch!

IMHE, in the last couple of decades, there has grown adulation of private business (despite Dilbert cartoon, corruption, scandals, etc. etc.) and this has been transformed to pressure on federal agencies to be more "business-like". Note that businesses are now more bottom line, profit, CEO, and organization focused than customer focused. So it is not a surprise at all that the NPS is inward-looking, self-focused.

I have talked to mid-level Mt. R. NP employees who have expressed to me that they are taking a very business-like approach. They compared total winter gate receipts to total plowing costs and concluded winter access does not pay for itself, it was costly [they did not do a more sophisticated analysis of the marginal costs of access to Paradise after all the plowing for administrative and facilities management has been done.

They also assume not opening the road to Paradise creates a pent-up demand that expresses itself when they do open, so little visitation (business) is lost and if they open mostly on weekends when they snow-play area is up and running they get a double bonus in that they might very well come close to total winter visitation when road is open every day.

So. IMHO, they are pursuing a business-like plan of concentrating visitor use in time and space (by closing some access point permanently, delaying opening of others like Sunrise), offering free access during peak visitation days (holidays and some weekends), and reducing costs a little (and physical work a lot), and, in their minds, reducing winter hazards and risks (and improving their safety record). It is a win for the park: maintaing visitation with slightly lowering budget, reducing the potential for serious visitor incidents and improving their safety record, and maintaining their staffing levels for all the administrative, technicl support, and environmental remediation professional staff.

So if you are a fan of business you should like the current situation and the increasingly reduced access in the future.

If you are a fan of democratic socialism, you will be dismayed by the inward focus, lack of attention to the public's wishes, given a massive public subsidy, massive volunteer efforts, user fees that are to be increased by 2/3, increasing demand for backcountry access (to the point where a whole new bc recreation focus has been created on industrial and DNR forest lands just outside the park and NF boundaries, staffed by volunteers, and financed by donations and grants--MTTA). And you will emphasize the fact that the legislation creating Mt. Rainier and the legislation creating the NPS, through a democratic process, was emphasizing providing recreational and spiritual opportunities to the people, and the legislation creating a Wilderness in MRNP was aimed at providing for some degree of sollitude, not massive concentration of crowds in time and space. While mid-week access sometimes only is used by a handful of people, it also provides for the wilderness, solitary, and natural experiences envisioned in the laws. And, in truth, has very little marginal cost, not even a fraction of a fraction of the public subsidy of the park. Amen.

Please also note, the Park officials rarely close the park. They merely close 11 miles of road when the weather is hazardous, when it appears there may be a chance of hazardous weather in the near future, when there are equipment malfunctions, and when park staff is insufficient to ensure public safety. Who could argue with that? The Park remains open year-round; one can almost always drive to Longmire; thus full staffing is required for public service (rangers to provide info and give talks, Longmire Innn) and public and park staff safety.

Of course, the closures of the gate at Longmire occur well after the vast majority of the park has been closed to the public unless you count superman and snow machines. And the partial closures, like closing Paradise Valley Road for 2 months in late summer to, apparently repair one pothole, aren't closures of the park.

For all you business majors, remember staffing is a function of management planning. Closures because of "insufficient staff" can reflect (1) poor planning and staffing, (2) deliberate understaffing to reduce cost and access, particularly when it snows; (3) unforseen exigencies such as injuries and illness; and (4) over-inflated estimates of the need for safety personnel such a LEOs or unwillingness to pay LEO overtime.

Very well put Andrew. Although at first I may have been a bit misdirecting when I said business. Now reading your comments I see in a different light that it has indeed become a business that has no regards for its original formation. This needs to change and be made public. It is hard to do because of so much confusion of the issues along with double speak from the superintendent to the business's in the Valley.
There has got to be a visible platform through media where you Andrew, with your way of telling it, can be heard. The support from not only the Valley, but from the outdoor enthusiasts and public lands stewards as well, would be tremendous.

Coming from Seattle, the biggest blocker to park visits these days is the uncertainty about the gate. Even if the park were open only one day a week, but guaranteed to be open, people would come from afar to experience the wonder that is Paradise in winter.

Without clear and reliable guidance about the gate, it's a major gamble heading down to Paradise. Trip-planning involving MRNP in winter frequently goes like this: "What about Paradise?" "Yeah, it'll probably be great down there, but what about the gate?" "Oh, right. Let's go to the Pass."

A reliable twitter feed with updates at 4:30 am and gate-openings at 7:30 am would do wonders for winter visits.

Coming from Seattle, the biggest blocker to park visits these days is the uncertainty about the gate. Even if the park were open only one day a week, but guaranteed to be open, people would come from afar to experience the wonder that is Paradise in winter.

Without clear and reliable guidance about the gate, it's a major gamble heading down to Paradise. Trip-planning involving MRNP in winter frequently goes like this: "What about Paradise?" "Yeah, it'll probably be great down there, but what about the gate?" "Oh, right. Let's go to the Pass."

A reliable twitter feed with updates at 4:30 am and gate-openings at 7:30 am would do wonders for winter visits.

Yep, all of this would be helpful. Many travel 2+ hours to the park and can't justify the invested time without a guaranteed opening. It's getting to the point that any overnight snow, no matter how minimal, means a delayed opening. Even no snow is no guarantee with all the "staffing" and mechanical issues. Couple the delay with a 5pm closure and it's nearly impossible to make it happen. Again, I think this is clearly the plan and see very little chance of your suggestions ever being implemented. Andrew pretty much nails it. There are many reasons to limit winter access to paradise from a management perspective. There are far fewer reasons to keep winter access open. The cost-benefit analysis clearly explains the current policy. So frustrated!

Over the years almost all the people I used to ski with quit coming to Mt. Rainier because of uncertain gate openings with the crowded parking and sometimes agitated crowds. We all complained for years about better communication about gate times and there has been improvement. But access remains uncertain and closures became more frequent.

IMHO, there have been many, many bc-oriented people who just gave up going to Paradise and went elsewhere, espcially since bc opportunities in Snoqualmie Pass were publicized and the MTTA provided reliable access as well as huts for meals and resting. Reduced visitation mid-week prompted park officials two years ago to not replace 2 plow drivers and to close 2 days/week (the least used days). Of course, this led to 2-5 days/week closure when exigencies were added to the programmed closures.

This in systems theory is known as positive feedback: made access more uncertain, reduce visitation, reduce effort and staffing, make access even more uncertain, further reduce effort and staffing, make access extremely uncertain, finally make access restricted to good weather on holiday weekends (but that didn't even occur this Thanksgiving weekend--access was guaranteed only for turkey dinner at the Inn at Longmire).

Working in the natural resources field I usually give the agencies some slack, as I know they are the stepchildren of the federal funding process.

But my thinking has changed regarding the NPS, especially at Rainier. Andrew - I'd agree that this all seems like a grand set-up for closing park access except on weekends in the winter. It sucks. I can clearly remember 15-20 years ago not thinking to much about a gate opening delay unless it was really snowing hard overnight and the forecast was for more of the same.

Now? As most folks, I give serious pause to a winter trip to Rainier because who knows what will be the excuse du jour for not opening the gate. Even on a weekend.

Just as ski areas charge a reduced fee for limited operations, Rainier should offer a reduced rate for running on limited access. The customer should also be well aware what terrain is available prior to heading to the park, just as ski areas post conditions on their websites. Why is it that Rainier's website is so stagnant?

Probably because web developers cost a lot more money than plow truck drivers. And if you can't afford to hire enough of the latter, there's not a snowball's chance in hell of snagging even one of the former.

Honestly though, there are a lot of talented folks who'd be willing to help the park out. The thing is they're completely not open to it. It's hard to volunteer time and effort to a place that is as unwelcoming as the NPS.

the last post evidently knocked my carefully crafted diatribe into hyperspace; so the audience will applaud my finding that it is getting totally not-worth-the-effort-to-post until something changes

I read your diatribe, and I would like to answer your rhetorical question about what it is the LEOs do up there. After two years of skiing Paradise regularly and never seeing a LEO get out of his car, I finally saw exactly what they're there to do.

When the road construction (where they cut up the road and replace it without changing anything except the drive time) cut the power to Paradise, 2 or 3 LEOs got out of their cars to stand guard in front of the restrooms and make sure nobody tried to go in there when they were dark, even if you had a headlamp on like I did.

Standing with their backs to one of the deadliest mountains in North America, they quacked on about how taking a piss in a dark bathroom was just too risky.

Thanks guys!

Unreal:

This was just posted to the MRNP Twitter account: Invalid consumer key/secret in configuration

Yeah, I saw Park response to criticism from naive backcountry travelers ; boy I learned a lot except why openings were more reliable and dependable when snowfall was heavier and snow removal equipment was more primitive than in the last 15 years and why things like closures the day before a storm ....

I see they could only afford to use a camera that films in up to 720p...

30 inches in 24 hours? That's small potatoes for the Mt. Baker crew. And avalanche danger? There's little to none for the road from Longmire -> Paradise. I hope they got permission to use the slide photos, too.

I was disgusted by the delusional tone of the video. Instead of hiring one person to plow the roads, they hire six people to implement the Road Closure Policy--and to make excuses.

When friends from out of town want to see Mt Rainier, I recommend they drive to Crystal and ride the Gondula up to the Roundhouse.

And avalanche danger? There's little to none for the road from Longmire -> Paradise.

The section from the Nisqually bridge to Ricksecker Point has been known to slide...

Mt Baker / HWY-542 is most similar road maintained by the WSDOT to the road to Paradise.

The WSDOT does a much better job of keeping that road open -- but then if the road is closed -- the state loses at least $5 in sales tax revenue for every skier/rider that doesn't get to the ski area if the road is closed -- so the state is motivated to keep the road open.

At Mt Rainier -- the loss of revenue is less dramatic -- so they are less motivated.

Now if everyone (including geezers with lifetime free park passes) had to pay $5 each time they got to Paradise (and only if they got to Paradise) the NPS might get their plowing act together.

...
Now if everyone (including geezers with lifetime free park passes) had to pay $5 each time they got to Paradise (and only if they got to Paradise) the NPS might get their plowing act together.

I pay $15k/yr in fed taxes that I have earmarked for Mt. Rainier and asked not to be spent on the military; and I have been doing that for a few decades; comes to much more than $5 each time I get to Paradise; of course, if I was active duty military or a family member I would get a free pass and maybe I could keep my income taxes. Sheesh

BTW, Randy, the $10 lifetime passes for senior citizens (most of whom paid substantial taxes for 50 years) have been discontinued in favor of free passes for the active military and their spouses (but not the veterans of previous wars, just the current ones).

I watched video...

... barfed!

OK first post in this thread for me, but I'll join in the discontent for their ineptitude.

I'm currently hung up on the fact that they aren't even complying with their own decision matrix.

According to the matrix, LEO staff is only to be considered if there is a winter storm warning/watch in effect. Now I don't know where to find an archive of storm watches, but I can only remember 1 so far this season. The road has been closed many times with no watch due to staffing. According to the matrix, I can't see a reason why the road should have been closed (or heavily delayed) nearly any day this season (except maybe one or two)... unless dangerous "low visibility" can be interpreted as "cloudy" or "lightly snowing".

I nearly bust out laughing when the video said that plowing starts at 5AM. How many times have you watched the webcams (as also suggested in the video), only to see the plows reach the parking lot at the crack of noon? I think a headlamp bulb might be out in the plows (not in the budget for repair). Also evidenced by the vast majority of Twitter feeds not going out until 9am, with many others not until even by 11am.

Sally Jewell's NPS...

... managed as well as REI.

Watching the video made me feel six again begin scolded by the school librarian. Can they possibly be more condescending? Tisk, tisk.

it is like the nps rainier crew just wants the place to themselves, do you blame them. it's good to be the king.

The 2014 Best Places To Work In The Federal Government report is out.  The National Park Service continued its years-long decline in scores and is now ranked 213th out of the 314 federal agencies surveyed.  Specific NPS management category scores average about in the bottom sixth; the largest drop was in 'Effective Leadership:  Senior Leaders', now 256th out of 314:

bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/rankings/detail/IN10