POWDER TO THE PEOPLE: Sled-skiing threatened in Aspen
Like a growing number of powderhounds, Mike Sladdin and his friends have figured out a way to get the best, freshest pow – going beyond the boundary ropes via snowmobile.
It’s not exactly a new idea on Richmond Ridge, the long spine stretching back from Aspen Mountain with dozens of picture-perfect slopes fanning down on either side. Since the 1960s, experienced skiers have logged laps on the “backside,” using a trio of snow roads shaped over time by public use.
The area is so special because of “the quality of the snow,” said Sladdin, founder and president of Powder to the People, a nonprofit committed to equal motorized access to public lands. “It’s typically untracked, it’s champagne powder, and just the feeling that you have the place to yourself. It’s a spiritual backcountry experience – it helps balance the soul.”
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But motorized access to the cold, north-facing slopes of Richmond Ridge may get much more exclusive – leaving out regular skiers like Sladdin. A proposed travel plan for the White River National Forest would close off the area to snowmobiles, and allow only permit holders to use the historical access roads. Aspen Powder Tours, a subsidiary of the Aspen Skiing Co. that has a close relationship with the Forest Service, currently has the only permit for that area.
The Forest Service is updating its 20-year-old Travel Management Plan, and is taking public comment on it through Oct. 26. Another option – Alternative C – would make the backside an open play area for snowmobiles, but the Forest Service and local governments have expressed their preference for the more resource-focused Alternative D – which would essentially exclude public snowmobile use. Commercial permits have been awarded since the late 1960s, and are not threatened by this process.
But Richmond Ridge isn’t exactly an environmentally pristine place. On both sides, it’s dotted with private cabins and remnants of the mining era, and ribboned with roads. A ski area was contemplated for the area in the late 1970s, but fell through because of financing. And last year, Powder Tours had a permit to operate three snowcats per day back there.