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YNP winter reservations languish

By CAROLE CLOUDWALKER


This document was published online on Wednesday, October 15, 2003

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Winter room reservations in Yellowstone Park are down 17 percent at both Mammoth and Old Faithful compared to last year.

Some people speculate the cause is public objection to stricter rules governing Yellowstone winter use.

But Rick Hoeninghausen, director of sales and marketing for Xanterra Parks and Resorts, says to date the only area where getting into the park this winter might pose a problem is at West Yellowstone during the Christmas holiday.

"Park-wide, there still is availability throughout the winter," with that exception, he said.

He said winter visitors can choose from 130 rooms at Old Faithful Snow Lodge and 100 more at Mammoth.

And anyone willing to be flexible is likely to get into the park, one way or another, by being open to alternatives. These can include:

  • Switching entry dates.

  • Using a different entrance.

  • Catching a snowcoach into the park and renting a Xanterra sled once there.

  • Using a commercial guide rather than taking a private snowmobile, to take advantage of the 80 percent commercial-20 percent private breakdown of entries that begins this winter.

    "There are no days this winter when the park is completely sold out of entrance reservations," Hoeninghausen added.

    And Xanterra's job is to "never just say, 'Sorry, out of luck,'" but to help prospective visitors make an alternative plan, he said.

    The maximum numbers of snowmobilers allowed into the park at each entrance were devised based on historic averages, he said. The Park Service will allow 950 snowmobiles per day parkwide - 20 percent of them privately owned sleds. The idea is to reduce pollution and impacts on wildlife.

    While agreeing that those goals are admirable, at least one Cody snowmobiler who has been going into Yellowstone in winter since 1979 says he has no plans to return often in the future.

    "The fact is, they don't want you there, so why go?" said Bob Hodecker, who owns four older two-stroke sleds that he said "don't leak gas or drop oil" and "run great." They are not the "clean and quiet" four-stroke "Best Available Technology" (BAT) sleds Yellowstone is moving toward.

    Hodecker plans to take his sleds "to the Beartooths, the Big Horns, the Snowies and Dubois," but will avoid Yellowstone, "because of all the stupidity of things up there."

    That includes, in Hodecker's view, "too many buffalo," as well as too many rules and a greater cost, not a big factor but just one more issue to deal with, he says.

    Another obstacle is the training that will be required of individuals going in unguided, he said.

    "I've been going into the park since 1979 - why do I need training about going into the park?" Hodecker asked. By next winter, park officials say, all groups of private sledders must include someone who has undergone training. It will be provided by the Park Service, but the precise delivery method still is being devised.

    Hodecker has agreed to join fellow snowmobilers in a "run" into Yellowstone to benefit multiple sclerosis victims. That will be in February; reservations were made by leaders of the run.

    But as an individual, "I do not have any (entry or room) reservations at this point," Hodecker said. And he has no plans to secure any.

    One entrance point where room reservations are not even possible this winter is Flagg Ranch near the South Entrance, said Mike Perikly of Tempe, Ariz., president of Flagg Ranch Resort.

    He said Flagg will not open its restaurant or motel this winter, but things "look really good" for snowmobile rentals available there through Togwotee Mountain Lodge in Moran. He is negotiating with the Park Service for Togwotee to take over the rental concession at Flagg Ranch.

    If that happens, Flagg Ranch still will sell fuel for snowmobiles, and will have a warming area, restrooms, and a place to buy snacks and to rent warm outerwear for riding, Perikly said.

    Meanwhile, Claudia Wade, marketing director for the Park County Travel Council, says a decline in snowmobilers through the East Entrance would be detrimental to Cody businesses.

    "If there is a decline in snowmobilers, it certainly would impact the community," she added.

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