Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Death Valley puts brakes on running, cycling races

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Next year, for the first time in 27 years, runners won't be able to tackle the Badwater 135. Death Valley National Park recently put a moratorium on foot and cycling races through the desert hot spot 200 miles east of Los Angeles while they study ways to make the events safer.

"We're devastated," said Farar-Griefer, who is the first woman to conquer the race route back to back. That entails running 135 miles from Badwater Basin in Death Valley to near the top of Mount Whitney, then turning around and running back to the starting line....

More Here

Wow, that seems pretty restrictive on the part of DVNP. They have never had an accident, but they are putting a stop to it anyway. Worse than the tight restrictions on Half Dome ...for "safety reasons".

Am wondering if safety concerns aren't more for motorists than runners & cyclists? Having lived near DV for several years, and often traveling thru it, I found there are frequent "events" which don't receive much publicity. Sections of the hundreds of miles of highway in the part have steep dropoffs in places, sometimes without guardrails, so suddenly coming upon runners & cyclists without advance warning can be discerting to say the least. When these encounters happen on a corner, forcing one driver into the other lane ... I've been in one of near misses more than once.

The above is pure conjecture on my part. But I have a hunch there are myriad complaints from the motoring public re: the risks these events place on everyone.

Let's see, the organizers have a history of safety; therefore, the government, in its infinite wisdom, decides to study something that has been proven safe. While doing so shutting down the races with willing participants, who most likely sign personal safety waivers.

Can you say, a waste of money, I know you can.

I wonder if safety is the real reason for this decision? Just a thought....

I have run 7 Death Valley marathons over the years put on by Dave Horning and Envirosports (mostly through Titus Canyon, a couple road races also). The races have always been professionally organized and run with port potties at the beginning and end of the races; busing to and from the start and finish, AND the requirement that when you picked up your number, you showed your park entrance pass. The hotels were always booked for the races.....

Yes, park rangers were always present to oversee the race. But I always thought that the cost of the rangers being present was offset by the entrance fee that runners paid to the park and by the cost of the accommodations.

Anyway, this is sad if carried out and all organized events are cancelled.

paul

For those who haven't read or comprehended the originally cited article, the issues include traffic safety:
"Chipman said park officials aren't so concerned about runners and cyclers, who they know arrive prepared to survive the area's heat and rugged terrain.

But as such events have grown in popularity, she said, participants, their support crews and spectators have begun to jam the park's narrow two-lane roads, creating a dangerous traffic hazard."

Other concerns expressed by Chipman are mentioned in another article:
http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/12/23/41144/safety-concerns-put-badwater-and-death-valley-endu/

Just so we understand what people expect from the Park Service, how many traffic related deaths do you suggest the Park Service should wait to record before wasting money on including traffic safety concerns in special event permitting?

Dale B. Dalrymple

Paul,
I was coming down to the Whitney Portal this year just as the first runner was getting there. Most of the participants and support crew are awesome. I chatted with one guy for bit before leaving with my friend.

The issue I faced as I was coming down the road at night was that a lot of vans parked by the road and following the runners. Whenever I saw a runner, I slowed to a crawl and carefully passed. Many of the vans parked or support crew vehicles (I'm guessing) following the runners didn't care about anyone else. They had their high beams on and blinded oncoming traffic and refused to turn it down. The issue is that some, a minority, seemed to think the road belonged to them and acted like overzealous police.

I happened to be back in late September and once again there was some bicycling event up the Portal Road. With this event, there were issues stated in the article with cyclists riding abreast and generally oblivious to everyone else. I'm not saying every participant or even the majority do this, but that it does happen and not something made up in the article.

I do not believe these events should be cancelled. They are awesome as far the people involved and their feats of human endurance. Some participants and their support should be more cognizant of others just as drivers should be cognizant and respectful to these runners and cyclists.

This is disturbing; I find myself agreeing with Dale completely.

No accidents and no deaths. Only some traffic and a few less-than-considerate bicyclists and support crews.

I dunno, seems like stopping these things because drivers might have to slow down is a weak excuse. Driving unimpeded at high speed through any park should not be a high priority, (even if I like doing that.)

I will agree, though, that bicyclists riding double and blocking traffic should be addressed.

The abbreviated answer: Fear of Lawsuits

Sooo, fear of lawsuits, concern for deaths, possibility of rescue, costs involved for said rescue. This is serious.

Mt Whitney next?

Dale, I appreciate that the Park Service has a responsibility to consider the safety of all visitors, but I fail to see why it takes more than one day to come up with a plan to address the issues.

Why does it seem necessary to halt any event?

Events like these are held very frequently in all areas of the world. In my area (the bay area) there is some event that involves either runners or bicyclist every month that includes the support vehicles and many "re-fueling sites". They somehow manage to hold these events without problem. Why not the same in Death Valley? Portable Solar/Electric signs are available to post warnings to motorist. It would be easy to enact rules for the riders/runners to consider motor vehicles during the event (I understand enforcement might be different than enactment). I believe bicyclist understand that in a contest between a bike and a motor vehicle there is only one "winner", and they then nearly always will concede "right of way". As it happens, bicycles enjoy the same "privileges" as the motor vehicles, and it is the motor vehicles that should move to the left when passing bicycles. For the most part the roads in Death Valley are straight and have few visibility limitations, so I really do not see it as asking too much for the motorist to pass on the left, just as they would if they were overtaking another motor vehicle. For those areas that are not straight, with good visibility, impress upon the bicyclists and runners the importance of staying single file, as far to the right side of the road as safety permits (for the bicyclist).

So, back to my original question. Why does it take more than one day to decide on some procedures to address traffic safety concerns?

You forgot to tell us how many deaths it would be OK to require before agencies respond.

These things haven't been prohibited. They have been postponed until the special events permitting procedure is updated to include the safety requirements for the traffic interactions the events now generate. I think you can expect requirements for advanced publicity of traffic restrictions, traffic control, traffic enforcement, and assignment of the costs to the promoters of the events that generate the requirements for traffic control. I think you can expect traffic control requirements to apply to both the public and the event participants as the popularity and size of events grow. I don' think that setting tradeoffs between cost, safety, public access and event access will be simple or quick.

Dale B. Dalrymple

Dale,

Let's see what we have here. Races which have been run without incident. There is a lot of data to suggest these races are safe to participants and the driving public. Therefore, it would seem to me outright stupid to cancel all events until we can pay people to do a survey.

If some idiots within the bureaucracy want to waste tax dollars on a survey, don'cha think they could do while these historically safe races are run?

I can change my mind on this, if the government shows me the are not safe to the runners or the driving public with the data they currently have.

When competitive events are held in urban/suburban areas there are multi-lane streets available that are closed to traffic for the events. There are alternate highways for local traffic and medical emergency tranport. There is a pool a thousands of off duty police and medical personnel available to work security enforcement and safety in the area. The cities have a staff with the full time job of facilitating events. The city contains thousands of venders in place to provide services to contestants and crowds.

Death Valley has 2 lanes, often without shoulders. The race runs 135 back-country miles, not 26 urban/suburban miles. There are no alternate routes if you close the road for the event. There are long distances to services. There are no large pools of available enforcement and traffic personnel. (The Badwater 135 race already imports their medical personnel from out of area. See their website.)

If you can't see a difference that would take more than a day for development and review of a management plan, we'll expect to begin the public comment on your complete proposal tomorrow. (Don't forget to have your lawyers review it before you post.) Better yet, find out how much lead time it takes for the organizations in your area to set up events even where they have resources available and check out your local government procedures. Tell us how simple they are in the easy case.

Dale B Dalrymple

One or two other observations -

Many of the people visiting/traveling thru DV are tourists, and a high percentage are non-English speaking. So, no matter how much you improve signage, how does one account for signs in French, German, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, etc, etc. These tourists are not expecting to contend with a running/cycling competition.

And John - not to nitpick, but your statement - "for the most part the roads in Death Valley are straight and have few visibility limitations" isn't entirely accurate. Certainly there are many miles with long sight lines, but many sections - like descending into Badwater from Lone Pine, or working your way in/out of Panamint Valley from Trona, contain many hairpin turns with very little tolerance for swerving.

Also - keep in mind there are other running/cycling events scheduled there other than the mega-events mentioned here. I've encountered smaller events for which there was zero warning/signage.

I completely, agree -- this IS serious.

I believe that the next target will be the contractors like the folks who run the whitewater rafting at Grand Canyon Nat'l Park.

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While the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, and the Bay to Breakers are as you have described, they are by far in the minority. There are far more bicycle rides/runs (by orders of magnitude) held on two lane roads, with more limited visibility and no better shoulders than offered in Death Valley. See: http://www.bbcnet.com/Ridecalendar/default.aspx From this one web site you can see over 50 centuries between Dec. 1, and May 1, 2014. For most of these routes there are no alternative routes for motorists, and no pools of available enforcement and traffic personnel. There are many more web sites listing many, many more rides and runs with similar profiles.
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No different than most of the referenced events in my comments above.
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I actually do see a difference. My "one day" comment was a bit glib, and an oversimplification, I admit. Particularly as you have expanded the scope of the review to include cost sharing, always a sensitive topic. However, if these hundreds of other organizations can work out the logistics and costs, why not the Park Service? I would like to think that the Park Service is better than most of our other government agencies. That the Park Service is more agile, efficient, and pro-active. Focusing on what it can do, as opposed to what it cannot do. Why not simply call a few of these organizers, and ask how they do it? You might learn something.
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I have to agree. What has changed with these events to warrant closing them down while a study is made. They could just as easily conduct the study while allowing the events to continue.

Unfortunately, once they close something down, it is highly likely that they will NEVER reopen that activity.

Hmmm...there were these toilets somewhere in the Sierra, one at 10,395' which was deconstructed and removed and another at 12,300' that got itself torched in April 2007.

My guess is these will never be "reopened".

The nanny state has to justify its existence by taking on straw man issues.