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Pahaska Tepee closing due to Sylvan Pass uncertainty - By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Monday, January 15, 2007
Pahaska Tepee Resort owners took steps Monday to close the lodge because of the unreliability of keeping Sylvan Pass open this winter.
Pahaska staff was notified of a layoff, and guests were told their reservations were cancelled, owners Bob and Angela Coe said.
“We're closed,” Angela Coe said.
Bob Coe said of the 26 days of Yellowstone's winter season as of Monday, the pass was closed 10 days.
“That was two times for five days each,” he said.
Park spokesman Al Nash said the first closure was because of avalanche danger and the lack of a contract helicopter to replace one that was being repaired.
Nash said the second closure was after a second helicopter was lined up and its crew trained, but winds and weather prevented it from flying.
Nash said for safety reasons there is no plan to use the howitzer atop Sylvan Pass unless there is a life-threatening emergency, though that gun has been used for many years to trigger avalanches and keep the pass open.
“It (the pass) was closed five days last week, and it was really unjustified,” Angela Coe said.
“There was no snow up there to speak of,” and even after the helicopter arrived and explosive charges were dropped, “there was no real avalanche triggered.”
“They shot 10 blasts and only two somewhat succeeded,” based on information provided by guides bringing guests across the pass last week, Bob Coe said.
While the pass has remained opened since Friday, Coe said Yellowstone employees manning warming huts in the park have been discouraging people from crossing Sylvan Pass, telling them there is high avalanche danger and cautioning them that if they come over, they could be stuck at Pahaska or in Cody for days.
He said Pahaska lost one weekend trip because of this. A guide decided to find another destination for his guests after being warned off by park staffers in the Canyon area.
The group that turned back Friday involved sleds - it seems small, but it's all we've got,” Bob Coe said.
He gave notice of the layoff to his staff Friday and some workers already have left. Pahaska, for decades a beehive of activity in the winter, has seen its business all but evaporate in recent years as uncertainty and park winter use rules have impacted tourism.
Coe has little optimism about changing his mind, even though Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis and other officials plan to meet with the Cody chamber's Park Committee in Cody on Thursday.
“We'd probably stay open ... if she (Lewis) makes any concessions,” Coe said. “But it seems to me she's already decided to close the East Entrance. It's too bad the people in Cody are the last to be notified.”
He said he first learned of the park's long-term plan to permanently close the East Entrance in winter “from the newspaper.”
He affixes heavy blame for the situation on Lewis, John Sacklin and new, “inexperienced” rangers at Lake, who appear to be making decisions about snow conditions.
“We had great reservations and there's money there,” Coe added. He said he had 25-30 guided groups booked to come over the pass at various times this winter, stay overnight and return to Yellowstone.
But he said people are afraid to take the chance on being stuck on the downhill side of the pass in case of closures.
Coe plans to drain water from the main lodge “one week from Thursday” unless Lewis shares some good news when he meets with her this week.
“They (park officials) don't seem at all concerned with us,” he said. “We had four inches of snow and they closed the park for five days.”
Coe added that he is “holding out for them to change their policies,” but he said Yellowstone officials “have never done anything for us - I expect nothing now.”
He said the plight of snowcoach operator Jon Sowerwine of Wapiti seems to parallel his.
“They've had two trips, and now the coach sits out there with snow from the last snowfall on it,” Coe said.
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