Sled area near Wanoga slides to halt
Published: November 27. 2005 4:00AM PST
Families going sledding this winter will have to pay for the privilege or make do with local parks.
One year after the U.S. Forest Service began work on a sledding hill near Wanoga Sno-park, the effort to build a safe, free snow play area has skidded to a stop.
The problem, according to project head Marv Lang, is money.
Lang, recreation forester for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, said federal dollars allowed the district to clear a hill for sledding and put in an access road that should be graveled next year.
But a grant earmarked for remaining work won't be disbursed until 2007, and won't be enough for the district to do everything it wants - pave the road and parking lot and build a heated shelter with bathrooms, changing rooms and electricity.
"We're probably a couple hundred thousand dollars short of where we really want to be," Lang said.
Because the hill near Wanoga Sno-park is currently within an active snowmobile area, he said the area won't open to sledding this winter.
"Essentially, the winter of '08-'09 is realistic for completion," he said.
In the meantime, he said, sledders will either have to pay at Mt. Bachelor or Hoodoo Ski Area, or scout out other places. Day passes at both places cost $25 for adults and $20 for children under 12, and more on the holidays at Mt. Bachelor, according to the Web sites for each area.
Free sledding areas exist roughly an hour's drive away, at the Santiam Pass Sno-park off Highway 20 west of Sisters, or the Marks Creek sled hill east of Prineville.
The old ski hill at the west end of Skyliners Road, just outside Bend, sees heavy wintertime use, with a correspondingly large number of accidents, Lang said. The U.S. Forest Service has posted a sign warning sledders of the risks.
Bend resident Lloyd Vordenberg, who is trying to drum up community support and donations for the snow play area, said accidents at Skyliners underline the need for a safe place nearby.
"There are horrible crashes there all the time," he said. "What it does to me is just point out the advisability, the necessity and the wisdom of having a really good snow play park where kids can enjoy themselves and not risk running into a tree or a car."
Vordenberg took over the direction of "Let 'Em Slide," a nonprofit dedicated to creating the new sledding area, after original leader Peter Hanson died earlier this year.
The organization has raised slightly more than $4,000, largely from individual donations, Vordenberg said - pocket change, given the funds needed to complete the area.
"I'm trying to go for grants, contributions from really excellent companies that have a history of community service, that could help us out in a big way," he said.
Local contractors, he said, could make a major difference by donating labor and equipment to gravel and pave the road and parking lot.
Both Lang and Vordenberg said, however, that the quality of the shelter will depend on the willingness of residents to volunteer their time, labor and skills.
Without outside help, Lang said federal funds might only cover a bare-bones shelter, without bathrooms and perhaps without heat.
"When it comes time to put in the shelter," Vordenberg said, "(we need volunteers that) have carpenter skills or just strong backs."
Let 'Em Slide continues to accept tax-deductible donations for the play area.
The effort to establish the new sledding area could also benefit from community members willing to step forward to represent sledders, Vordenberg said.
Lang said it hasn't been hard to convince people the need exists.
"There really just isn't a place to go," Lang said, "and that's the whole crux of why we're doing this thing."
For more information or to make a donation, contact Vordenberg at 312-8837 or go to wanogasnowplay.com.
Yoko Minoura can be reached at 541-383-0387 or at yminoura@bendbulletin.com.
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