OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Beginning early this month, Hurricane Ridge will be open on some Thursdays this winter season.
“We’re shooting for as early as the first week in January,” said Todd Suess, deputy superintendent of Olympic National Park.
“We’re hoping to be able to do it as early as Jan. 6.”
The Hurricane Ridge Winter Access Coalition will pay Olympic National Park $11,000 for the winter season — January, February and March — to hire a seasonal ranger for the Ridge, said Suess and Frank Crippen, a member of the coalition.
That means the Hurricane Ridge visitor center will be open only during those Thursdays when the 17-mile road from Port Angeles to the snow play area does not need extensive plowing.
“It’s not a scheduled Thursday. It’s a soft opening,” said Crippen, who also is the owner of North by Northwest Surf Co., and a ski school director for Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation.
That won’t include rental services.
Aramark manages the food, gift shop and ski equipment rental concessions at Hurricane Ridge, said Pam Dahl, Aramark office manager at Lake Crescent Lodge.
Aramark will not operate concessions at Hurricane Ridge on Thursdays, and they do not open on Fridays. They will be open only on Saturday and Sunday after the holiday season.
Bathrooms are managed by the park, and will be open on Thursday and Fridays.
But the road will be open and the visitor center will be open.
The park snow-plows Hurricane Ridge Road on Fridays through Sundays and Monday holidays, unless a storm is in progress at or near the 5,242-foot summit.
The visitor center is open at the Ridge whenever the road is open.
Both, along with Aramark amenities, are open now through Sunday. That will change after the holiday season when the park returns to its winter schedule.
The coalition had aimed to raise $48,860 to pay for the ranger and for Thursday snow plowing after park officials said they did not have the funds to add another day.
“We just didn’t have that funding to put into that, given the priorities we have at the park,” Suess said.
The coalition failed to reach its goal, but managed to collect donations of about $20,000, Crippen said.
“We raised enough for a ranger for an extra day,” he said.
Park officials already are working on hiring an additional ranger to allow the good-weather openings on Thursday, Suess said.
The seasonal ranger probably will be full time or nearly full time, and will take on other duties connected to Hurricane Ridge, he said.
“We are excited to be able to have additional staff to open the Ridge for another day when possible for the visiting public to enjoy,” Suess said.
“It’s been a great process working with the Hurricane Ridge Winter Access Coalition to form this partnership,” he added.
Earlier efforts aimed at keeping Hurricane Ridge Road open year-round failed to meet park requirements.
In 2012, the National Park Service ended a two-year experiment to provide weekday access to Hurricane Ridge because visitor counts were not high enough to warrant the expense, park officials decided.
A community fundraising campaign had raised a required $75,000-per-year match.
The Park Service required an increase of 45 percent in visitors when compared with the previous five-year average but recorded only a 19 percent increase.
Crippen said the Winter Access Coalition will work toward collecting $50,000 to open Hurricane Ridge Road every Thursday for the winter of 2015-16.
Donations can be made at www.accesstheridge.org.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
