MATT SCHUBERT’S OUTDOORS: No rope tows at Hurricane Ridge yet
Published 12:01 am Thursday, January 5, 2012
EXCUSE ME IF I sound a little less grumpy than normal.
I’m still trying to shed all of those 70 degree days I was forced to endure down in Phoenix, Ariz., during the holidays.
Mountain hikes and day long bike rides through the Valley of the Sun left me a little on the dry side.
Now awash in the familiar liquid sunshine of the Pacific Northwest, it’s only a matter of time before I’m back to my more typically truculent temperament.
North Olympic Peninsula winters are about shared misery, after all.
Who am I to not partake?
On that note, here are a couple of outdoor items:
Ridge news
Don’t expect any operational rope tows atop Hurricane Ridge this weekend.
Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club President Lori Lynn Gray said she doesn’t expect organized ski activities to start up this week.
It remains to be seen if things will be up and running next week.
It’s also beginning to look like the scheduled ski school opener, set for Jan. 14-15, will have to be postponed a week as well.
Mountain manager Craig Hofer and his crew have been unable to get on the Ridge to throw together the intermediate rope tow because of a lack of snow.
Fresh powder has fallen on the mountain in recent days.
It just hasn’t gathered enough in certain spots for Olympic National Park to allow Hofer on the intermediate hill.
“It’s definitely not happening this week,” Gray said. “We’re going to shoot for an opening next weekend.
“We’re ready to go except for the intermediate rope.”
For more information on ski activities on the Ridge, visit hurricaneridge.com.
PSA fundraiser
The kids demand their fish, and the Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter delivers each year with its Olympic Peninsula Kids Fishing Program.
In order to make that happen, the group will hold its annual fundraising auction and dinner Thursday, Jan. 19, in Sequim.
The proceeds from the auction provide most of the funding for the kids fishing program at the Sequim water reclamation pond.
The auction/dinner is set to begin at 5 p.m. inside the Guy Cole Convention Center at Carrie Blake Park.
A spaghetti dinner will be served starting at 5:30 p.m. There is no fee for the dinner, although donations will be accepted.
(Those who choose not to donate must accept the title of cheapskate.)
There will be live and silent auctions, with the former being held following dinner.
Live auction items include fishing trips with Peninsula river guides for salmon and steelhead, and charter boat trips for salmon, halibut and bottomfish out on the ocean and Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Club members will also be offering saltwater trips departing out of Port Angeles, Sequim or Sekiu for salmon or halibut.
The 11th annual Kids Fishing Day will be held Saturday, May 19, at the reclamation pond.
The pond is stocked with 1,500 trout, some of which weigh as much as five pounds.
For more information on the events, contact Herb Prins at 360-582-0836.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
