Washington State Parks voted Thursday night to double the price of Sno-Park day passes.

Sno-Park passes will be $20 this season and will be required for each vehicle.

A season pass will be $40 and the special groomed trail permit will be an additional $40. Each of these passes were $30 last season.

On Sept. 3, state parks spokeswoman Linda Burnett said, “The reason for the increase is to encourage people to buy an annual pass.”

Passes go on sale Nov. 1.

Nordic skiers, snow machine drivers, sledders and others will see the price for a day pass at Sno-Parks double this winter if Washington State Parks has its way.

At its Oct. 1 meeting, State park officials will vote on a proposal for various fee increases including raising the $10 per vehicle day rate to $20, parks spokeswoman Linda Burnett said.

“The reason for the increase is to encourage people to buy an annual pass,” Burnett said.

The proposal calls for increasing the price for a season pass from $30 to $35. Special grooming permits (required at some Nordic ski parks) would also increase from $30 to $35.

A new $35 fee for out-of-state snow machines would be added under the proposal, Burnett said. Washington snow machine users already pay the Sno-Park fee when they register their vehicles, Burnett said.

Sno-Park passes go on sale Nov. 1.

Video showing the 360-degree from the "Top of the World" at Whistler Olympic Park, site of the 2010 Olympics' Nordic events.

I got a chance to hit the trails recently at Whistler Olympic Park. Read much more about the 2010 Winter Olympics Nordic site in Thursday's Adventure section.

Staffer Scott Hansen recently visited the Summit Nordic Center and filed this video:

While Alpine ski resorts continue to open (White Pass opens Friday), they aren’t the only places benefiting from this week’s snow storms.

MTTA trails circa 2001. (Photo: The Legendary Skip Card)

The Mount Tahoma Trail Association in Ashford now has enough snow to make cross-country skiing possible, Bob Myrick of the MTTA said via e-mail. Often times the trails are not skiable until the last week of December or even early January.
He said there was enough snow Dec. 13 to ski from the Road 45 Gate in Ashford to the Copper Creek Hut.
A Sno-Park pass ($10 per vehicle per day) is required to park at the sno-parks when using the trail system.
The MTTA trail system is located north and south of the Highway 706, however the south country was closed since the November 2006 flood because of the washed-out bridge over Catt Creek. The bridge was repaired over the summer so three of the four huts in the south country can be accessed this winter.
Snow Bowl Hut burned to the ground earlier this year and the MTTA is working to rebuild the hut.
The huts are available for day use. You can stay overnight in the huts for $5 per night plus a $20 refundable deposit. For more info visit mtta.org.

Reader "RickB" has pointed out that the Mount Tahoma Trails Association has updated its website with information about the Snow Bowl Hut fire. Included is information on how you can help the association recover.

Click here to check out the website.

A seven-month overhaul of Hurricane Ridge Road in Olympic National Park starts Monday, the park’s acting superintendent Sue McGill said this morning.

The $12 million project will resurface the road, the main parking lot and the pullouts along the road. The road, built in the 1950s, was last resurfaced in 1979. Three sections of the road severely damaged during a December storm will also be repaired.

The project is a partnership between the park service, the Federal Highway Administration and Lakeside Industries, a Washington contractor.

Motorists should expect delays of up to 20 minutes during the summer months, with delays of up to 30 minutes in the spring and fall. Flaggers and pilot cars will guide motorists through the active construction areas and temporary traffic signs and signals will be installed for weekend and evening travel.

Cyclists will not be allowed on the road until construction is complete. “The combination of heavy construction equipment, unpaved roadway and the need to employ pilot cars poses too many risks to allow bicycles this summer,” McGill said.

While the project starts Monday, driving delays won't start until May.

“Over 350,000 people visit Hurricane Ridge each year and while we recognize the inconvenience that road construction can pose, we are eager to get this project underway and to provide a safer, more enjoyable roadway for visitors,” McGill said in a statement released by the park. “And we’re very pleased to announce that the construction will occur during only one summer season, rather than two as originally planned.”

Click below for a tenative work schedule.

=> Read more!

This story will run in tomorrow's TNT:

Volunteers who maintained a popular hut for cross country skiers south of Ashford say they are baffled over what caused a fire that destroyed the structure sometime in the last month.

“We are fairly certain that there was no human cause to the fire because it is so extremely inaccessible,” said Judy Scavine, a board member of the Mount Tahoma Trails Association. Members of the volunteer organization maintain 50 miles of trails and four huts in the area.

=> Read more!

Pictures courtesy of the MTTA.

BEFORE

AFTER

The popular ski hut south of Ashford that burned to the ground recently was not insured, according to a board member of the Mount Tahoma Trails Association.

Judy Scavone said the MTTA could not get the hut insured because it's "just too far from the nearest fire hydrant."

The fire that destroyed the hut likely took place late last month and is being investigated by the Department of Natural Resources, which owns the land the hut was built on.

Snow Bowl Hut was built by volunteers in 1991 at a cost of $20,000.

A popular hut for cross country skiers near Ashford has burned to the ground, the Mount Tahoma Trails Association announced today.

At meeting in Ashford this morning the group unanimously voted to rebuild the Snow Bowl Hut, one of four huts in a trail system that gets 1,300 overnight visitors each winter.

The organization is seeking funding and volunteers to help rebuild the hut. Visit skimtta.org for more information.

“Our volunteer force can use a lot of support right now, moral and financial,” MTTA board member Judy Scavine said via e-mail Saturday.

MTTA officials believe the hut burned down on March 21. The cause of the fire has not been determined as in under investigation.

Visitors to the MTTA’s Copper Creek Hut on March 21 reported seeing a large fire. However, because the Snow Bowl Hut has been inaccessible the last two years because of flood damage it wasn’t until April 3 that the organization could arrange for a flyover to check the hut.

“The sight was devastating,” said MTTA board member Mike Dunn. “The hut was completely gone. To think of all the work that went into that Hut, the camaraderie of the volunteers, the enjoyment of the visitors. … It’s just so sad.”

The two-story hut on Department of National Resources land accommodated 10 overnight guests and came equipped with a kitchen, sleeping pads and large sundeck.

The MTTA recently celebrated the purchase of a new $165,000 Pisten Bulley Snowcat to groom its 50 miles of trail. They’d hope to start raising money for a second groomer.