1987-12-01_PERMIT FILE - C1981017 (300)

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McClure Pass Slope: The long, gentle south-facing, aspen-covered slope that drops 1,750' on a 21 average slope for approximately 8,500' (1.6 miles) from the 10,555' point on the Hayes Creek divide to the 8,800' level just north of the McClure Pass or No. 133 Highway. The snow cover on this beginner-intermediate terrain would require continual mechanical maintenance and at best it can only be considered as a very marginal option due to the exposure and distance from the base area. The Lee Creek and McClure Pass segments are on another National Forest (the Gunnison portion of the Grand Mesa-Uncompaghre-Gunnison) that is headquartered in Delta. However, the ski lift tie between the Hayes Creek and Lee Creek units is obvious, and the ski patrol and lift operation procedures could be patterned after those used in the Vail "back bowls" and "Campground" trails at Snowmass. As mentioned in my 1969 abstract most of the expert terrain in the main or Bear Creek-Spring Creek segments - and there's an ever-increasing need and demand for this type - would of course involve using some of the avalanche "paths" that drop from the north side of the Hayes Creek- Coal Creek divide. The steepest pitches are in the 70 percent (35 degrees) to 75 percent range. Another example is the 10,048' "Hump" in Section 9 and the steep slopes that are bisected by the #5 mine road. The average grade here is about 50 percent with pitches in the 70 percent range in the upper half of the nearly 1,600' vertical drop. The isolated "Slot" west of the #5 mine that was mentioned earlier as a remote possibility for advanced skiers, has an average slope of 32 percent in the 2,000' drop down a relatively narrow (440' to 600' wide) corridor with a slope distance of about 6,300' . A few short pitches approach 75 percent (37 degrees) . However, a lift to serve only this slope could not be justi- fied in view of its isolation and limitations. -12-