Posted on 02/14/2025 5:53:54 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
For a growing number of people who ski and snowboard out of bounds and in the backcountry, the daily avalanche forecasts written by the Sierra Avalanche Center provide crucial, life-saving information about the stability of the snowpack and the risk of avalanches in Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada.
But the Sierra Avalanche Center announced this week that due to ongoing staff cuts by the federal government, it may have no choice but to cut back on the number of forecasts it issues. The center currently works with three forecasters who are employed by the U.S. Forest Service. They cover a 200-square-mile region that stretches from Sierraville to Bear Valley, including Donner Pass, Truckee and the entire Lake Tahoe Basin.
The news comes in the middle of a critical time for backcountry skiers in the Lake Tahoe region. During a storm that pushed through the area this week, the center issued a warning for high avalanche danger on Thursday. The unstable snowpack will also be an issue for the crowds descending on Tahoe during the holiday weekend.
A gap in avalanche forecasting would cause problems not only for backcountry skiers and snowboarders but also for the long term. Every day, avalanche forecasters trek out into the mountains to collect data on what’s happening beneath the surface of the snow. Missing a few days a week of that data collection will impede the center’s ability to monitor the snowpack for the risk of avalanches.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
If it is “critical” why isn’t Tahoe, one of the richest parts of the country, paying for it?
What is this called, the Donner forecasting group?
They can get forecasters to work for the California Department of Forestry, inasmuchas the area of concern is in California and California is rich enough to fund them.
Lifeguards for billionaires that ski from helicopters. No thanks. Not on our dime.
Now that’s the kind of white privilege that plays well in Chicago.
Like everything else that comes into play with the ongoing slide into Federalism, the Feds want tax revenue from everywhere.
No avalanche forecasting - no snow entertainment economy.
No snow entertainment economy - no revenue.
No revenue - no taxes.
It's 180 degrees from Democrat dumps where taxpayers pay but get nothing except more taxes in return.
...and strangely enough, outside of taxes, it legitimately involves the Feds because the service crosses between two states: California and Nevada.
Explain to me why a welder in Pittsburgh should send tax money for this and it shouldn’t be paid for by the people who run the ritzy ski resorts and their customers.
The whole thing sounds like a snow job.
I don’t ski...
Why should I have to pay for ski reports?
Let the ski resorts pay for this...
In case you need it:
https://www.weather.gov/rev/Avalanche
I didn’t sleep at a holiday inn express last night but I can figure out if it snows, rains, snows uphill from me, it might come down to great me.
But, is it awful?
Does the federal government pay for beach lifeguards or emergency services?
The skiers must think it’s an entitlement.
Ryan Hall and a Y’all-o-Meter.
Shouldn’t those back-country skiers be on the hook to pay for a service on which they rely?
For what people pay for lift tickets these days, that alone should pay for it.
Yes, there are a few beaches overseen by the National Park Service.
https://home.nps.gov/gate/getinvolved/become-a-gateway-lifeguard.htm
With very few exceptions, the mountains holding that snow are within their respective States. There is nothing stopping the Counties involved in subscribing for those services from a common vendor. I see no reason why people in Florida should be subsidizing skiing in California and Nevada.
Well, then they need to raise ski lift ticket & slope pass prices.
Local taxes, too.
I don’t need a hand in my wallet for a CO problem of indentured idiocy.
Cry me a river. Pay for it yourself. Stop being among the welfare queens.
Yep, I knew I should have mentioned the small exceptions. If the snow is on federal land where recreational activities occur, then yes. Otherwise, it's a local responsibility.
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