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Jan 27, 2018, Jim Hill-ish.

1/27/18
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Posted by csaenger on 1/29/18 12:23am
Intended to go to Yodelin, but everyone in Seattle went skiing on Saturday so all Stevens lots (including the nordic center) were full. That led us to WSDOT pull out that I've always been told is de facto legal west of the entrance for a trip up the clear cuts on the approach to Jim Hill. Very deep snow skied okay before noon, but once things got above freezing there wasn't much point in slogging through two feet of oatmeal. It was good we bailed when we did because there was a cop taking plate numbers and ordering tows when we got back to the road. We got off with a warning, and a finger wag to never park there again. I hope others also got off leniently.
Bummer about the fuzz. We're you parked at the western pullout(behind the guardrail furthest from H.  Creek), or along hwy2, or in the eastern pullout/ventalator access?
This is a perplexing problem that need resolution

author=snoholic link=topic=39603.msg159561#msg159561 date=1517322470]
Bummer about the fuzz. We're you parked at the western pullout(behind the guardrail furthest from H. Creek), or along hwy2, or in the eastern pullout/ventalator access?
This is a perplexing problem that need resolution


After coming out of Henry's Creek multiple times this year, I've seen numerous rigs parked parallel to the northern edge of the pullout, exactly where there is a row of "No Parking" signs. On one Saturday, there were no less than a dozen cars and six in the offending zone.

Park a couple dozen feet south of the chain link gate entrance, just west of the gate and parallel to the road. If you think your driver's side mirror is going to be taken off by a plow on Hwy 2...and your passenger can barely get out on their side of the rig, then you're parked in the right manner to maintain the good graces of WSDOT.

If you park first on a given morning, take the aforementioned western-most spot. Late arrivals, park parallel to the guardrail going east behind said car, until space runs out. *Only then* start parking side by side, with your nose in towards the chainlink fence. Please don't block the access to the fan station.

On busy days, parking should be so tight that the driver has to let passengers/gear out first, then park the rig. Yeah, it sucks. So does not being able to access the Henry's Creek drainage.

If you're remotely near the trees or close to blocking access to the exhaust fan station, then you may get towed or ticketed, and even worse, you run risk of ruining the parking for the larger skiing community.

There's been off & on problems in the past when folks have parked in the zone west of the gate, tight to the snowbank...where folks think its okay.  I'm not sure anyplace near the tunnel vent building is 100% safe anymore. The good ol' days (10 years go) of parking anywhere in the pullout for Arrowhead/Jim Hill are long gone.

Facebook post from winter 2016
https://www.facebook.com/groups/148764008559430/permalink/675207712581721/

"Attention Skiers!!
My vehicle was towed/impounded by the State Patrol from the parking spot on Hwy 2 for Arrowhead and Jim Hill. I parked in the normal spot west of the pullout tight to the snow bank. Apparently 3 other cars parked there while we were skiing and the DOT didn't like it so they had all 4 towed. $500 to get my vehicle back from Cashemere! Has anyone else been towed from here?"


TAY thread about the same parking issue from a couple seasons ago...more folks mentioning they've seen ticketing/towing from cars in what is assumed to be the safe parking area.

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=37551.0




As a local, I stand by my statements and will wager that anyone with a ticket/tow story was either in the no parking zone or out on a snowy day with active snow removal.

I will also bet this is mostly a weekend phenomenon when folks get pushed east from Yodelin, Skyline, Smithbrook, etc. due to a lack of parking and copy people who are parked illegally.

I will add the caveat - if WSDOT is plowing (this means if it's snowing), you can't park on anything as close to HWY-2 as is suggested. Start early and park at the Nordic Center or the pullout west of the tunnel on the north side of the road.

If folks park poorly or impede plowing anywhere on HWY-2 during storms, then we're going to continue to have problems. Please use your best judgment, and not beta from a certain orange backcountry skiing book or outdated website trip reports. ;)

If you have questions, check the webcams, forecast, and call WSDOT. Trust me, they'd love to save everyone the time and trouble of mitigating when folks park foolishly.


...Why doesn't someone get a definitive statement from Wa State Patrol?  I'm not volunteering since I don't park there.... but someone with a vested interest should contact Wa State Patrol on what is legal / enforced.  It'll save you from tickets / impound, or at least be available as evidence should you get ticketed / towed anyway.

It seems to me this Jim Hill/Arrowhead access and its parking situation would be a perfect issue for the newly formed CAB to work on.  Jim Hill has been a traditional ski touring destination for DECADES, before some TAYers were even born.  In my experience, parking was NEVER an issue in the past.  In recent years, WSDOT has started throwing hissy fits about it.  Why now and not before?

author=Blizz Mountain link=topic=39603.msg159571#msg159571 date=1517352526]
...Why doesn't someone get a definitive statement from Wa State Patrol?  I'm not volunteering since I don't park there.... but someone with a vested interest should contact Wa State Patrol on what is legal / enforced. It'll save you from tickets / impound, or at least be available as evidence should you get ticketed / towed anyway.


Call the WSDOT Wenatchee office. They'll spell it out for you as they have for years. Don't park along 2 during periods of snow removal or potential snow removal. Don't park in signed no parking areas at any time.

author=AlpineRose link=topic=39603.msg159572#msg159572 date=1517353404]
It seems to me this Jim Hill/Arrowhead access and its parking situation would be a perfect issue for the newly formed CAB to work on. Jim Hill has been a traditional ski touring destination for DECADES, before some TAYers were even born. In my experience, parking was NEVER an issue in the past.  In recent years, WSDOT has started throwing hissy fits about it. Why now and not before?


I have only started to see parties of ten plus vehicles here in the last few years. My guess is as numbers rise, so too does the number of people that park illegally.

Maybe it's the easterly push as parking gets crowded anywhere remotely near the ski area on weekends? All I know is it's not getting less popular, so people need to do their homework, respect the DOT's rules, and plan accordingly.

For what it's worth, we were parked roughly where clevo points out, albeit probably further west. I'm not claiming I'm in the right, just wish there was a good solution to access the region.

The parking situation could be moot if the private property everyone passes through to ski here is sold to an owner who does not allow people to cross their property.

Hi All,

I called and spoke to the WSDOT Wenatchee office today. They didn't have a clear or ready answer about this, after getting passed around to a few people. Jere (Jerry? Gerry?), the very nice lady who answered the phone is doing more research and will hopefully get back to me shortly. I will pass that on as soon as I hear something more. I think Clevo is basically right in what he says but it would be much better to hear it from the DOT and have a map or a stated policy.

Others have brought up this issue to us already, and we are well aware of the problem. Here's our understanding of the situation: The DOT, not unreasonably, sees Highway 2 as a transportation corridor that they are mandated to keep open and safe. Unfortunately, they also see people parking on or near the side of the highway as a threat to this mission. Parking in general along the highway 2 corridor is a big can of worms, especially with the resort. Our hope is that as we establish a better relationship with the resort, we can lean on the DOT together to create better alternatives.

The current situation of total ambiguity benefits no one, and we will keep hounding the DOT until they at least present some sort of policy or concrete information to help people. If we can work from there to make a good-faith effort to follow these rules, we will have more leverage to change them.

-Conrad

Is the CBA looking into having the parking area expanded? Or perhaps work to put in a sno-park. Just a thought...

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2018-01-29 08:23:08