Local ice climbers challenge new UDOT avalanche closure policies

Local ice climbers challenge new UDOT avalanche closure policies

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LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — Local ice climbers are challenging the Utah Department of Transportation's new avalanche closure procedures along the Wasatch Front because they say it restricts many of the top winter climbing routes.

UDOT officials posted on their blog near the end of November about the new closure procedures in the backcountry during avalanche control work. The website told readers, “If you don’t want your early-morning mountain therapy session to be shut down, it would be wise to pay attention to UDOT activity this winter.” And the climbing community was paying attention.

The change, which would have placed a blanket closure on all of Little Cottonwood Canyon and moved the closing time from midnight to 8 p.m., triggered complaints from ice climbers, boulderers and other members of the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance.

“In the past, no one in the climbing community was paying attention to closures because they never really affected us,” said Allen Sanderson, a policy committee member of the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance.

The time change would have restricted access to famous climbs such as the Great White Icicle, a multi-pitch climb 2 miles up the canyon. But, the climbing community riled together and spoke up.

Sanderson said he reached out to UDOT representatives such as Bill Nalli, avalanche safety program manager of UDOT, and they admitted they had not considered all of the user groups in the canyon.

“We didn’t think that it would affect as many people as it did,” Nalli said.

The change was brought on because of those who park in closed areas, but walk across the street to recreate outside of avalanche control work, Nalli said. UDOT workers would find cars and have to guess where the owners went. If there was any chance of people in their zone, they would cancel control work. While UDOT officials have never had to stop artillery work in Little Cottonwood Canyon, they have canceled a handful of helicopter avalanche control work trips because of people in neighboring drainages, Nalli said.

Once climbers and others spoke out, UDOT modified their original policy based on the public’s suggestions. The canyon closure was negotiated for 10 p.m., and restrictions were specified to certain zones of control work rather than the entire canyon. Also, the revision explained that it would affect only in-going cars, who risk citation from the county sheriff or Alta town marshal when entering during closures. Road closures will be in effect from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m., after UDOT completes their control work and clears any debris from the roads.

Now, the only closures that will affect ice climbers are those in the Coal Pit area, including the Great White Icicle, Sanderson said. UDOT does control work in the Coal Pit area on occasion, but an avalanche has only gone all the way to the road in 30 years, so closures should be rare.

Still, Sanderson hopes that with the policy change, and with those in the future, UDOT takes not only backcountry skiers into account, but all user groups of the Wasatch Front. As they finalize this policy and those in surrounding canyons, he said he is a little concerned about how this information is getting to those users.

“There are a lot of missing parts in this policy,” he said. "They need to figure out how to implement these types of policies and how to get them out to the public."

For example, Sanderson said he hopes officials will designate which parking lots will be closed by the ice climbs during control work. For now, UDOT plans to inform about closures via its website, the Utah Avalanche Center website, Twitter and Instagram.

UDOT officials said they are smoothing out the process and are accepting comments until Jan. 6. Nalli admits that the process has proved to be complicated. As backcountry user groups from all sides share their perspectives, it can be hard to find a solution for everyone.

"It's not simple out there," he said. “We're trying to educate the public on what we expect from them and where they should get their information."

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