Logging Update: Dutch Hill Legally Closed

Updated December 11, 2024

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We promised you an update once we got more info about the logging at Dutch Hill, and here it is.  The mountain is now legally closed to all recreation and the closure will be enforced by the US Forest Service Law Enforcement Division.  The USFS is serious about this!

 

The closure isn’t permanent – it’s just for the duration of the harvest work, which might last the entire 2024-2025 winter season.

 

Last year, we had been told that skiing would be allowed to continue during the harvest.  What changed?  The timing and intensity of the work.  The work was originally planned to take several seasons to complete, but the warm weather last year prevented them from working - so now they have to get it all done in one season.  Instead of one machine gradually working its way across the area, they will now have multiple teams with big machines working all across the mountain at the same time, making conditions much more dangerous.

 

The timber contract includes more than just a harvest.  They will also be repairing the erosion caused by illegal ATV use, opening patches for wildlife habitat, improving drainage and more.  Things will look very different in some spots up there when they are through.  But get this - the head of the harvest company is a BC skier!  He is very tuned in to the sport and appreciates all the work we've done to open up skiable lines.  He's going to be working with his team to try to minimize the impact on the skiable slopes, and to maybe even make some new areas skiable with very little work on our part once they leave.

 

We'll let you know as soon as the mountain is open again.