Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Great Smoky Mountain National Park will implement their new and somewhat controversial fees for backcountry camping. The $4 per night permits will go into effect on February 13. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about getting reservations way in advance for this romantic trip since [ more... ]

The Forest Service came out against a plan proposed by Canyons resort in Park City and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon that seeks to build a gondola linking the resorts. The service asked for studies on whether it would actually decrease traffic up the canyon and diminish watershed protections. They also said it would mar [ more... ]

Wyoming’s governor is calling for more snowmobiles to be granted access to Yellowstone? It must be fall. Calling on his extraordinary expertise on Yellowstone and ecology, Gov. Matt Mead pulled the number 540 snowmobiles per day out of thin air. While the NPS conducts another impact study, the current limit is about 330 snowmobiles and [ more... ]

Washington state legislators are assuring backcountry skiers that a new bill essentially making it illegal to ski out of bounds at resorts will not affect them. The bill states that people “shall not ski on a ski slope, trail, or area that is designated by a ski area operator as closed to the public and [ more... ]

A backcountry stash that’s been a popular spot for skiers and snowboarders to lap using their snowmobiles will become a motor-free zone shortly. The park service will ban snowmobiles at Richmond Hill near Aspen. Good news for backcountry skiers, bad news for snowmobile dealerships.

Skiers at Telluride have lost three backcountry gates, and Colorado backcountry skiers have lost access to a big chunk of terrain. It’s a classic battle of private landowner rights vs public land access, and a lot of people are angry at a guy named Tom Chapman, who reached out to Lou Dawson to publish an [ more... ]