Haines Borough Manager David Sosa said he’ll recommend the assembly approve use of out-of-bounds area for a snowboard and ski competition this spring.
The assembly would need to approve a resolution opening up the area on the face of Telemark Ridge for use by Freeride World Tour, an international competition that is partnering up with Haines-based heli-ski company Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures for the March 14-22 event. The assembly meets next on Dec. 16.
Sosa recently met with several community members concerned about allowing the competition to access area on Telemark Ridge, outside the borough-created boundaries for heli-skiing.
“I am awaiting some draft recommendation comments based on conversations with community members. I do intend to recommend that the permit be granted subject to a number of provisions based on the conversations,” Sosa said.
“Among the provisions will be items such as keeping a specified distance from recorded positions of goats, provision for reporting wildlife spotting, and adhering to recommended flight routes and profiles,” he added.
It is taking longer than the code-mandated period of seven days to produce a recommendation because of the community conversations, Sosa said. “Part of the delay has been engaging with the community and then relaying back to Freeride World Tour the concerns so that they clearly understand the issues,” he said.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Kevin White attended a meeting between Sosa and residents Thom Ely, Eric Holle, Deborah Vogt and Carrie Weishahn to share his concerns about mountain goats in the area.
Ely, who lives on River Road across from Telemark Ridge, said he was willing to accept use of the out-of-bounds area only if it is for this one event, one time. “No repeats,” he said.
“(Tourism director) Leslie Ross just put the big pitch that this will be great marketing for Haines,” Ely said. “It’s a compromise. And I’m like, ‘OK, I can live with it.’”
Ely said he got clarification on the precise area Freeride World Tour wanted access to, which is the part of Telemark Ridge that faces the Chilkat River. He was glad to see they weren’t interested in Haska Bowl, which Ely said acts as a giant amphitheater and would bounce sound all around the valley.
Weishahn, who lives at a residence near 40 Mile Haines Highway that faces the river, said she was worried opening the out-of-bounds zone would become a slippery slope.
“My concern was that if they start using the front ranges, then it might happen up here where I live,” Weishahn said.
Freeride World Tour issued a press release last week announcing Haines as its fourth stop on its spring tour, calling the selection “historic” and referring to the town as the “mecca” and “epicenter” of freeriding.
“Alaska has long been recognized as one of the best locations in the world for skiing and snowboarding,” said Freeride World Tour general manager Nicolas Hale-Woods. “It is fantastic working with the community there and we expect this event to be one of the highlights of the season.”
The press release saud 16 men and seven women will compete in the skiing category, while eight men and five women will compete in the snowboarding category.