This archive contains links to selected old news articles.
The most recently archived articles are added to the top.
From Winter/Spring 2010:
Matching Goal Met!
We've made our first significant goal in Project Phoenix funding!
Thanks to
everyone's generous donations, we had enough contributions to capture the
$4000 of matching funds offered by Mary and Jerry Zyskowski in the $8000 challenge!
We now have raised over $35,000 for the new Snow Bowl Hut.
Way to go everyone!
And PLEASE... keep up-to-date and stay involved via
Project Phoenix Status and Helping.
Patroller Gene Glasunow has been the driving force behind the new "10th
Mountain Division Memorial Ski Trail", a new cross country and snowshoe trail
dedicated to America's first Ski Troops of WWII who trained at Paradise on Mt.
Rainier. Checkout Gene's great
And stay tuned for a full
writeup!
From Summer/Fall 2009:
High Hut's
EXTREME Makeover
WOW!! A fabulous team of volunteers work together to
provide a major facelift to High Hut. Our hats are
off to all of them!!! Checkout pics of the progress
and the star team in
And don't miss your chance to join another star team having fun
helping our trail system:
attend the
October Work Party.
PROJECT PHOENIX Moves Ahead!
The MTTA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that, after many months of
research and listening to your ideas, Phoenix Project Manager Michael Smith has
delivered a conceptual design for an affordable, comfortable replacement for
Snow Bowl Hut. Checkout:
And, PLEASE consideran easy Online Gift.
Any and all donations are appreciated.
MTTA is so lucky to have fabulous volunteers and some very young
trail users (future volunteers?).
Here are some pics to
CLIC, followed by the story told by Board Member Judy Scavone.
Thanks to the many grooming volunteers that came out this last week (Ed
Book, Brian Feld, Sullie, Bob Myrick, Mike Dunn), the skiing has been great.
No one is more thankful than Bob Brown, who usually gets stuck in the groomer.
Bob says 'Thanks, guys! I appreciate the break!'.
Thanks also to Mason White and Stan Rawrysz, for taking the time to dig out
the blocked culvert on the South District trail. We have been looking
for that culvert, and Mason spotted it as it was melting out of the snow.
A huge help: we no longer have to worry about the next storm taking out
more of the road.
And congratulations to the youngsters from Olympia Community School, for
snowshoeing 'All The Way' to Copper Creek Hut, for an overnight visit.
What a
bunch of troopers! (Congratulations to their teachers and parents: what a
feat, to organize a nice, safe group trip like that!)
Fun in the Sun
Jan 17th-19th CLIC-the-PIC!
While the Seattle area was under a thick blanket of cold fog, the weather at the Ski Huts was in mid 50's with clear skies, sunshine galore and the absolutely fabulous spring skiing conditions.
Photos by ski patroller Gene Glasunow.
Ski Patrolling Pics
Ski Patroller Gene Glasunow gets some great shots!
Just
CLICK THE PIC!
December 12th brings snow to our trails!
CLICK THE PIC, and checkout our
Trail Conditions.
Access is Restored!
(as of Jan 15th)
MTTA is pleased to announce that the 92 Road Middle Sno-Park is
now open!
The trek is now 4.5 miles to Copper Creek Hut, on a gentle
and enjoyable grade. For further road and trail updates,
please see our
Trail Conditions Update.
Wow! What incredible amounts of snow have fallen.
And it keeps coming! The
MTTA would like to let all of our users know that the state's Snow
Plow Contractor is having extreme challenges keeping our access
roads open. The Sno-Park funding for plowing those
roads is limited, and in combination with the extreme volume of
snow... well, we just can’t guarantee anything! We would
like to apologize to all of you that could not get up the roads, and
want everyone to know that they should always have chains, even with
4 wheel drive. High clearance vehicles are highly
recommended, and please be aware that we cannot guarantee that a
plow will be there before you are ready to leave in the morning.
From October 2008
October Newsletter
Read about: MTTA Back on Track, Rebuilding Snow Bowl Hut, How you can help with Gala, plus some great pics from Last Winter.
All this and more in our
October 18th (this Saturday!)
9:30am
Workparty to help rebuild the Alpina Shed!
We have the materials - we just need YOU.
Dinner will be provided.
Meet at the Ashford Fire Hall at 9:30am. Please RSVP by
E-mailing Bob Brown.
It is with great regret that we inform everyone that Snow Bowl Hut
burned to the ground on March 21th, 2008. For more information and
details on helping, see
Snow Bowl Hut Destroyed by Fire.
South Side
Closure
The MTTA Board regrets to report that our
South District (including Snow Bowl, High Hut and the Yurt) will
remain closed until fall of 2008.
The good news is that plans are on-track for re-opening our South District this fall.
See Fall 2008 South District Access and
and
Letter from the MTTA Board.
In the News
A Tacoma News Tribune's article provides a nice summary of
how we got our new Snow Cat and MTTA's challenges looking forward.
Please
E-mail /
Call Today!
Please help MTTA secure 2009 state funds to keep our roads plowed,
groom our South District, and better handle emergencies.
See: Help Secure State Funding.
MTTA has lost revenue from 3 of our 4 huts for the second year
in a row and recently had the unplanned expense of a $6000 snow plow when
DNR was not successful in finding a SnoPark plow contractor.
In addition, much cash has already been committed to meet
matching funds for the new Snow Cat (this project was started before
last fall's flooding disaster).
Please help MTTA by considering an easy Online Gift, or by mailing a check to MTTA, PO Box 206, Ashford, WA 98304.
All gifts are tax deductable.
From October-December 2007:
New Snow Cat!
(Dec. Update)
Thanks to everyone's tremendous efforts and generosity,
we now have a new Snow Cat on order. It is now
expected by the end of December!
Checkout our
(140K PDF)
and the
smiles
when the deposit was made.
The fundraising drive met its goals, and a new Snow Cat has
been ordered. Checkout the list of donors (PDF) and the smiles
when the deposit is made.
Thanks to everyone's tremendous efforts, and MTTA Vice President Mike
Smith's donation of the last $1,000, the Snowcat fundraising
drive met its goals on October 13th, 2007.
The photo
shows MTTA Treasurer Tony Abruzzo making a down payment of
$10,000.00 to Mark Lesher of Peterson Equipment, with Vice President
Mike Smith and Grant Manager Gene Glasunow in the background.
The new Snow Cat will provide expanded grooming in our
North District.
A NEW SNOW CAT
Sept 24th Update
Our #1 2007 priority, a new Snow Cat, is almost within reach, but we still need your help!
In the past two weeks, a FABULOUS team of volunteers has chaulked
up over 900 hours!! This should bring
our total hours up to 7000, making us eligible for $75,000 in matching
grant funds.
That brings our total $'s raised to almost $149,000,
but we
need an additional $2500 to reach the Snow Cat purchase price.
YOU can help us win this race!
PLEASE provide
an easy Online Gift,
or mail a check to MTTA, PO Box 206, Ashford, WA 98304. Even small
donations help!
Checkout who's who on our
and
learn more about the Snow Cat Fund Raising Drive.
THE NEXT STEP...
After helping out the Snow Cat drive with a donation, be sure to take the
next step:
Attend
Fall Gala at Seattle REI
on Nov 3rd!!
AND
be sure to bring items for the Silent Auction.
Off to the Races
Our SnowCat Drive, which started before the flooding disaster,
has a June 2007 deadline. Help us win the race
by adding your name to our
with an Easy Online Gift.
From March and April 2007:
St. Patrick's
Day Follies
"Got the Starbucks, wine and gourmet goodies?"
Checkout volunteer patroller Gene Glasnow's answer: St Patrick's Day Follies (~2 MB)
Grooming Reduction
Continued SnoCat mechanical problems finally add up.
Grooming will be limited for the rest of the season, but
you can help.
See: Equipment Problems Limit Grooming
Shed your blues and rock for the
rock! A Benefit Concert for Mt Rainier National Park
and more. Join Randy Oxford, Nicole Fournier, Geoffrey Castle
and 20 other incredible bands for a weekend of blues, jazz, country, soul
and funk.
Feb newsletter
Get the details on the "Epic Adventure to High Hut" --
read the
(problems? - download Adobe Reader)
From February 2007:
The very first
Celebrate Snow Days
Feb 3rd & 4th
Join in the fun at the first annual
Celebrate Snow Days
in Ashford at the Base of Mt Rainier. Don't miss the
fabulous prizes available at the
which is open to all snowshoers and x-c skiers (including beginners!).
With a snow man building contest, free carriage rides, movies and slideshows,
and wine tasting, there is fun to be had by all.
Learn more...
From January 2007:
In the News
Longview's Daily News:
The Results are in.
Members:
Please see our
Members
page
for the election results and also for our
new on-line Mission Statement and Org Chart.
Does a Free Lunch Exist?
Find out at the first-ever:
Lop-to-Hut Event!
Jan. 13th (this Saturday!)
Kitsap Sun:
(with a shot of our own Ed Book!)
Kitsap Sun:
(our Trail Operations Coordinator!)
Tacoma News Tribune:
(Paradise is closed through at least March)
Dec newsletter
Get the latest news - read the
(To access this file, get the Adobe Reader).
MTTA makes National Geographic's
list of "Basecamps on the Edge"!
High Hut described as "A Volcano of One's Own".
Check it out:
Weekend Getaways: Basecamp's on the Edge
(140K PDF)
and the
smiles
when the deposit was made.
The fundraising drive met its goals, and a new Snow Cat has
been ordered. Checkout the list of donors (PDF) and the smiles
when the deposit is made.
Thanks to everyone's tremendous efforts, and MTTA Vice President Mike
Smith's donation of the last $1,000, the Snowcat fundraising
drive met its goals on October 13th, 2007.
The photo
shows MTTA Treasurer Tony Abruzzo making a down payment of
$10,000.00 to Mark Lesher of Peterson Equipment, with Vice President
Mike Smith and Grant Manager Gene Glasunow in the background.
The new Snow Cat will provide expanded grooming in our
North District.
Fall Gala at Seattle REI
on Nov 3rd!!
Our SnowCat Drive, which started before the flooding disaster,
has a June 2007 deadline. Help us win the race
by adding your name to our
with an
Easy Online Gift.
Join in the fun at the first annual
Celebrate Snow Days
in Ashford at the Base of Mt Rainier. Don't miss the
fabulous prizes available at the
which is open to all snowshoers and x-c skiers (including beginners!).
With a snow man building contest, free carriage rides, movies and slideshows,
and wine tasting, there is fun to be had by all.
Learn more...
Fall Gala at Seattle REI
