From KZone: Guerilla Trailblazers Arrested

[RENO]

I still don't understand how they could cut something so huge and nobody at the resort saw it?

[kingdom-tele]

your would not see it from the resort proper unless sitting at the tram house or up on the northway

it must have taken a while though and to not see the progression on the line is odd, that being said though - i hike up there weekly and its 50/50 if you can see big jay or the hand in front of your face, i never noticed it before

[from_the_NEK]

Originally Posted by millerm277

You've gotta wonder what they were thinking....I'm sure no one will notice a giant ski trail cut through the protected forest below a major mountain peak...

Seriously, that must have taken a LOT of time and effort, that's a lot of trees if it's really 60 feet wide, and moving them off the trail will either require heavy equipment, or a lot of cutting.

However, now that the damage has been done, it would be a shame to let their efforts go to waste....hopefully it wasn't south-facing.

It sounds like they had been working on it for several weeks (from what I gathered from the article I saw). The trees on the upper parts of Big Jay aren't real big due to the harsh enviroment making it hard for trees to grow large. However, it sounds like they had to be using power tools to clear cut a strip like that. Moving them off trail wouldn't necessarily require heavy equipment. Cutting the trees into smaller pieces and the aid of gravity allows a couple guys to move a tree fairly easily. Hopefully the tree waste they moved off of their "Swath" didn't adversely afect the good lines that were already in place on Big Jay.
I know that "pruning" that I have done on a 1/4 mile long glade took me about 2 full days of work with a lopper and a bow saw. I never cut anything greater than 2-3 inches in diameter. I can't imagine what could be done with a couple of chain saws and a couple of weeks .
Cutting down trees larger than that is just wrong (not that don't feel that there is a certain amount of pushing the boundary between wrong and right in my pruning operations). This situation is lending fuel to the fire that gives all pruners a bad name.

[snoseek]

Originally Posted by RENO

I still don't understand how they could cut something so huge and nobody at the resort saw it?

can't really see it from the bottom of the resort. view from 242 is pretty good i think.

[RENO]

Any pictures?

[wa-loaf]

I found this on TGR that has a similar thread to this one:



Looking at this pic, why on earth would you need to cut a trail here?

[OldsnowboarderME]

So how many of you will ski it this winter?

[AdironRider]

My boys at UVM are already talking about it. While Ill be out west the majority of the season Ill be around the Burlington area for about a week in Feb. Ill post up a TR once I hit it.

Seriously though, while it sucks these nimrods thought they needed to clear cut an area, mother nature has a remarkable ability to retake the land suprisingly quickly. Within 5 years, those who didnt know about it to begin with wont be able to notice Im sure.

[David Metsky]

Originally Posted by OldsnowboarderME

So how many of you will ski it this winter?

On TeleTips a group is organizing a volunteer work weekend with the National Forest people to replant up there this summer/fall and mark the affected area as regeneration zones.

[riverc0il]

Originally Posted by kingdom-tele

was up on jay for the jay challenge cheering a friend on - having heard about investigation and the details from one of the state workers i too couldn't believe it when he said it was clear cut...

well, it is, there is now a huge open gash on big jay, it is awful, and sad, i can only wonder how it will effect the drainage of heavy rain and snow over the years, land slide does not seem out of the question, you can now drive my VW down the face of big jay

everyone be careful this fall heading into the woods with loppers - and be smart, if you have to chop it down then it isn't the right way

This makes me beyond angry. Not only to have the clear cut verified but also on Big Jay of all places. That was the last place in the world that needed cutting. The best part about Big Jay is the natural aspects of that area. I encourage all fellow Big Jay skiers to join me in a complete boycott of that area pending many many years of regrowth. Not only on philosophical grounds but also practical as that area will almost surely be avalanche prone now that all those anchors have been removed. These guys really deserve to have the book thrown at them.