danger at hyak!!!

I'm free on Wednesday.

When I first read these metal posts were sticking out I thought lashing some bamboo to them would do the trick. I'll help dig 'em out if that works - my schedule is open this week..

Erm, you might check with the owners of the posts (the ski area, I presume) before you remove the posts from the property they lease. The ski area may even help you remove them, as it's a liability issue for them (I bet people sled up there too....).

Good luck! :)

Curious if they are serving some purpose such as erosion control and they wouldn't want folks to take them out?

Skied Hyak yesterday.  My two cents: I would think that the poles and associated silt fences are there for erosion control which will matter most when the snow melts.  I imagine the ski resort and the homeowners down the hill who were already affected by last years land slide won't be happy if someone rips them out.  I'd hate to see the Hyak get closed to downhillers (as opposed to cross-country types) over something like this.  Also, the erosion control measures may be required by the county (or others) as part of the redevelopment work the ski area is doing.  I like the bamboo poles idea.  Maybe paint them orange.  Perhaps the folks at the ski area could come up with some nice big orange danger signs or the like.

Cheers,
Monty

These fences are very short and the only purpose was that they made some government evrimentalist feel good,  do they take away your balls if you live in the 206 area code to long?

I like the idea of flagging them with bamboo poles and if no one will help that is what I am going to do.

I am really thinking someone could get hurt

I would still cut the fence down with peoples help, I will bring a metal 14" gas powered cut off saw

author=Monty_B link=topic=14900.msg62426#msg62426 date=1261414791]
Perhaps the folks at the ski area could come up with some nice big orange danger signs or the like.

When I was up there Thanksgiving weekend there was a staff person there that warned me about them, I'd seen Marcus' post too and was ready for them and they did not dissappoint.  But do they really need to flag them?  After all, according to them the slope is in a closed area.

Big orange sticks or skier caution seem like good suggestions.  A better suggestion might be several more feet of snow.

author=arcticcat2 link=topic=14900.msg62433#msg62433 date=1261428074]
do they take away your balls if you live in the 206 area code to long?

Frankly , yes.

Hi All,

I went up the hill today with the intent to remove the metal stakes.  Due to frozen ground and some extra pressure from snow creep, they are not easy to remove.  We also intend to use them (and the attached silt fences) to help maintain any sediment that may move during the spring melt.  

So I flagged the tops of all of them with orange flagging.  In addition, there will be bamboo poles installed adjacent to each stake within the next couple days.

There are two locations where these metal stakes exist:
1) The downhill edge of the summer Forest Service road at the prominent switchback that comes into the main face.
2) The downhill edge of a temporary access road used to get to the landslide source.

Location 1 is a choke point on the main face and where most downhill traffic travels through.  Location 2 is skier's left just below the hole and gets less traffic but should still be noted.

Thank you to all who have helped spread the word regarding these stakes to the touring community.

Trevor

Thanks Trevor, that's great.  I can see how the stakes and silt fencing could be important to the property owners below -- glad to see that the slope will be safer for skiers with the fence marked.

Problem solved ! Thanks Trevor . I thought that for a minute we would have to admit to "not having any balls". turns out the whole thing was solved in a manly way.

Chris, Seattle was a lot different when I got here Shipyards,foundrys, Washington Iron works , logging, fishing and lots of balls.

In this instance we had people who were willing to do something .
Discussion and then prudent action.

I spoke with someone on the east coast just today. It's still there, it didn't fall off. You want "balls", go there.
Otherwise here in the PNW try to enjoy a fairer and more respectful attitude. As you can see; solutions can be found without destruction.

Thanks for taking care of that. What was the snow like? Inch or two on rainsoaked layer, or crusty up there?

Got this from a friend up there this morning:

-Dust on crust is back.
-We got an inch or so of lite snow as the temps dropped through the day on Monday.  Not bonding to crust
-I suspect there was some freezing rain above 4000ft on Sunday night.  Found a clear frozen layer on top and some tree ice
-A quick pit near the top of Hyak Monday found 120cm of snow.  The entire pack was wet to moist, top to bottom.
-The most recent snow fall from last week (upper 35cm) sheared off the older layer with easy to moderate force.  The interface was Q2.
-A compression test didn't produce a failure... only wet snow compression

Thanks Marcus...  and friend.

author=arcticcat2 link=topic=14900.msg62433#msg62433 date=1261428074]
do they take away your balls if you live in the 206 area code to long?

No, but if you're lucky, the brain gradually takes over.

author=Lowell_Skoog link=topic=14900.msg62470#msg62470 date=1261508638]
No, but if you're lucky, the brain gradually takes over.

LMAO!!  Well said.  Shit on an environmentalist who wants to look out for an ecosystem, but god forbid a single slackcountry skier at Hyak gets hurt.  The local slednecks probably just don't want to f-up their machines when going up to poach Silver next spring, or pop the tire of the genius who drove up the groomed nordic trails in the middle of the night like last March.

Lets just be reactionary, rev our engines and piss on anything that gets in our way...whether it belongs to us or not.

If people are so damn concerned about safety, why didn't they obey the closure sign, roping and flagging all around the landslide crater last year immediately after the slide?  I have friends who worked there at the time and had to constantly ask folks to leave the area that was CLEARLY signed and flagged.

Oh yeah, because nothing can get in the way of our selfish past-time that is skiing!