Outdoors

November 29, 2011 4:30 pm update
Because of what appears to be a simple scheduling error, Jason and Joel Duby were not arraigned as planned on Tuesday. A supplemental summons will be issued and a new arraignment hearing is tentatively planned for the next two weeks.

November 29, 2011 6:20 am
Prosecutors have filed charges against two other close relatives of a Juneau guide. That now makes at least three men from the same family implicated in what appears to be an expanding investigation of possible poaching activities in the area.

The Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions has filed charges against two brothers of Michael Patrick Duby, 37, owner and operator of FishHunter Charters.

Jason W. Duby, 36, of Clelum, Washington faces charges of bear baiting without a permit, hunting in a closed area, and taking a black bear without an appropriate permit.

Joel M. Duby, 27, of Richland, Washington faces charges of guiding without a valid sport fish license and engaging in sport fish guiding without a guide license available for inspection.

Both of the Duby brothers are scheduled to be arraigned telephonically in Juneau District Court on Tuesday.

Alaska Fish and Wildlife investigators say they were tipped to Michael Duby operating bear baiting stations roughly 270-feet behind his house and about tenth of mile from the 7200 block of Glacier Highway. Such stations – even if permitted in Juneau – would be illegal less than a mile from a residence and a quarter-mile from the road. It’s alleged that the Dubys set up a trail camera and bears were lured with marshmellows, fish, dog food, and whole duck with breast meat intact. Investigators set up their own trail camera and logged several instances of Jason and Michael Duby checking the bait site, setting more bait, and going out with a compound bow and a rifle in June 2009. Investigators say Jason Duby at first denied ever trying to hunt because he didn’t want to pay license or permit fees, but he changed his story when confronted with a picture from a trail camera. A picture discovered at Michael Duby’s house also allegedly showed Jason Duby taking a bear there in June 2007. Investigators named two other men, Jordan Morse and Andrew Morse, who were convicted for helping Jason Duby haul out that illegally taken bear.

Joel Duby’s charges stem from taking out sport fish clients in May 2007 even though he didn’t have a valid annual guide license. Investigators suggest that Joel Duby may have even forged Michael Duby’s signature in a logbook on the ‘Brody,’ one of his brother’s boats. Clients identified Joel Duby as captain for their particular trip, not Michael Duby. Investigators also say that Joel Duby didn’t even have a standard sport fishing license that season which they say is a prerequisite for a guide license.

Michael Patrick Duby’s father, Michael W. Duby, 61, has already been charged with providing guide services without a license, allegedly for a sport fishing trip in April 2008 while taking out the ‘Brody.’

Michael Patrick Duby has not been charged with any recent infractions or crimes under state law. He’s currently awaiting sentencing in January 2012 on a federal charge related to selling migratory bird parts over the internet.

(Editor’s note: Joel Duby’s hometown corrected to Richland.)

Juneau has received nearly 50 inches of snow since Nov. 1st. While normal snowfall is 12 inches, last year we got less than two inches for the month.

It’s no wonder city officials have been hearing a lot of complaints about snow removal in the past few days. The topic opened Monday night’s CBJ Assembly meeting.

“I’m telling people on the street if they fall and hurt themselves on them sidewalks, sue the city,” Patrick Owen told the Assembly. He lives in downtown Juneau and has been watching the old, young and in-between unable to navigate the sidewalks.

“Keep that snow off so people can walk on them sidewalks. That’s what them sidewalks are for,” he said.

Dennis Harris lives downtown, but drives taxi throughout the city and borough.

“If you want to ask someone the opinion of how (CBJ) Public Works takes care of our streets, just ask a taxi driver,” he said.

Harris lives on 12th Street in the area known as “The Flats.” He’s watched children walking in the street on their way to Harborview Elementary School, because the sidewalks are plugged with snow.

“Snow removal is not rocket science and it’s not pushing snow around,” he said. “It’s snow removal.”

Owen and Harris echoed many of the emails and phone calls Assembly members have been getting since the snow storms started.

Public Works Director Kirk Duncan also has been hearing about and seeing the problems. He told the Assembly he was really concerned about The Flats, between 9th and 12th streets. “The snow in there is just horrendous,” he said.

Duncan outlined the strategy for clearing Juneau streets:

“We go after all the majors first and then the neighborhoods. We continually hit the main arterials and get to the neighborhoods as we can get to them,” he said. 

Property owners are responsible for clearing the snow off sidewalks in front of their businesses and residences.

Both Duncan and City Manager Rod Swope say city street clearing crews are doing the best they can with the resources they have.  Swope says the borough is responsible for plowing 110 miles of road, so it’s not going to be perfect.

“The state will plow, we’ll come in and shovel it off and then the state will come back and plow it again.”  He said the same thing happens in residential areas.  

“People will get out and shovel; city will come back through and plow and there’s another amount of snow on the sidewalk. Folks, there’s just no other way of dealing with it in a community like this,” he said. 

Several Assembly members said sidewalks should be a priority. Karen Crane described what she saw on Sunday as she was driving past the downtown Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

“There was no clear sidewalk there. There was an older person trying to walk down that sidewalk and slipped and fell into Egan,” she recounted.  “I understand the comments about the sidewalks, but especially where they’re a borough responsibility, like in front of Centennial Hall and along the highway, those sidewalks need to be a priority.”

Assembly member Randy Wanamaker has been hearing a lot from parents whose kids have had to walk in the street on their way to school.  He asked whether it’s the responsibility of the school district or the city to clear the walks near school buildings.  

“Parents wonder why the city hasn’t been taking care of the sidewalks where children are walking on their way to school at Riverbend, or on their way to Harborview. Whose responsibility is it to clear those streets?”

Kirk Duncan couldn’t answer the question.  He took over the CBJ Public Works Department last summer, after six years as manager of Eaglecrest Ski Area, where snow is a precious commodity. He admits he’s still learning the winter part of his new job.

“I’m not giving you a really good answer because, quite frankly, I don’t know.”  Duncan promised to have more answers for the Assembly at the Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting on Dec. 12th.

In the meantime, the snow has turned to rain and more is in the forecast. Now it’s semi-frozen slush that’s clogging up the sidewalks and thoroughfares;  drains are plugged and water is standing in the streets.   And it’s only November.

Eaglecrest has more snow than any other ski area in North America.

The city-owned ski area opened on Friday to one-hundred inches of snow at the top of the mountain and about 45 at the base, the most snow in recent history for November in Juneau.

According to a database of ski conditions at 97 open ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada, the amount of snow is well above any other area, many of which are operating with manmade snow – Juneau’s is the real thing. www.skicentral.com

Ski Patrol Director Brian Davies called Eaglecrest ski conditions like mid-winter. There’s more snow right now than the area got during that last ski season.

The snow came this month in three major storms. Mountain operations manager Jeff Brown said the groomers started working it immediately to make a solid base. Opening day came eight days earlier than the target date of December 3rd, with dry powder on top of that base.

At 80, Al Shaw seldom misses a day of skiing when Eaglecrest is open.

“The coverage is like February. It just doesn’t get much better,” he said. “You know there’s a few places to fill in and obviously more snow will show up. If you miss this between now and the first of the year, you’re basically missing a whole season.”

Shaw was among those enjoying this weekend’s early three-day opening. Judging by Friday’s crowd, Juneau was ready for winter. Though the numbers are still being crunched, general manager Matt Lillard estimates 1,500 skiers and snowboarders turned out. Eaglecrest sold about 250 day tickets on Friday, which is very high for an area that gets most of its business from season pass holders. Lillard says the area has sold about 2,000 season passes so far.

Long-time Eaglecrest skiers Bob Marshall and his wife Deborah Craig take an annual ski trip to Utah. They agreed it seemed like mid-winter on their hometown mountain.

“I don’t think you can do better!” Marshall said. “At Utah they have 25 inches right now.”

Craig said skiing this weekend was “as good as it gets in February and March. It’s just amazing out there.”

Eaglecrest will be closed Monday through Friday and open on Saturday for its regular season.

Eaglecrest will open on Friday. The city-owned ski area has enough snow to open a week earlier than planned, so winter operations begin the day after Thanksgiving.

General Manager Matt Lillard says the mountain has received more than 46 inches of snow since Nov. 12th.

“The snow has been of excellent quality. We’re working with our groomers and mountain operations team and packing down as much as we can and moving it around, really setting up the base for a fantastic year,” Lillard says.

The snow has been a mix of the heavy wet stuff – needed for a good base – and lighter, dryer snow. Lillard took some runs this morning.

“Right now there’s a nice base underneath and some fresh powdery snow on top,” he says. “And once the mountain operations and grooming team have some more time to go back over it, it’s going to get even better.”

Lillard has been on the job just two weeks, moving from Londonderry, Vermont, where he was the assistant general manager for Magic Mountain Ski Area.

He says more details of Eaglecrest’s opening day will be announced next week, but it looks like Porcupine, Hooter and Ptarmigan chairlifts will be running.

The rental and repair shops will be open, some ski and snowboard instruction will be available, and the cafeteria will have a limited menu. Mountain Lift Coffee also will be opening. The Eaglecrest Snow Bus will not be running opening weekend, but will start Dec. 3rd.

If KTOO’S memory is correct, the last time Eaglecrest opened Thanksgiving weekend was in 2003. There was a limited Hooter-only opening Nov. 18, 2006.

For more information, check skijuneau.com.

It may look like ski season, but Eaglecrest Ski Area is still closed – as are most U.S. ski areas.

Eaglecrest is warning hikers that there is no ski patrol or avalanche control within the ski area boundary and out of bounds.

“They need to treat it like backcountry,” says Marketing Director Jeffra Clough.

In recent days a number of people have been hiking up the mountain to ski or snowboard, she says. Some parents even dropped off their kids at the mountain on Monday when schools were closed.

“We’re seeing hikers that are a little bit younger and they may not realize that it is a backcountry situation out there on the mountain,” Clough says. “You do need to be prepared for avalanche danger and unmarked terrain.”

Avalanches have already been seen on the mountain and the danger of slides will continue to increase.

Clough says hikers also need to beware of snow cats and other machinery working on the mountain.

She says Eaglecrest has far more snow than usual for this time of November, but Dec. 3rd is still the target date for opening the ski area.

City and Borough avalanche expert Tom Mattice says the people hiking at elevation are the major concern, but slides are not yet a problem in Juneau urban zones and Thane.

“The urban paths still have a fair amount of anchors and not tremendous amounts of snow down low yet,” Mattice says. “The people that are hiking are the biggest concern, especially in the Eaglecrest area.”

A backcountry avalanche has already claimed one life at a closed ski resort in the Lower 48. Professional ski and snowboarder Matthew Jamie Pierre – often seen in Warren Miller ski movies – died Sunday at the Snowbird Ski Resort near Salt Lake City, Utah. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the 38-year-old Pierre was swept away in an avalanche he triggered while snowboarding.

Thursday marks the beginning of the 59th Annual Ski Sale in Juneau. The event is a fundraiser for the Eaglecrest Ski Patrol and Juneau Ski Club, which is the youth ski team.

Folks planning to sell their extra winter gear can check it in this evening, tomorrow afternoon and Saturday morning at Centennial Hall. The actual sale is 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, go to juneauskisale.org.

Meanwhile, Eaglecrest’s new general manager is on the job.

Matt Lillard, his wife and two-and a half-year old son just made the move across America from Londonderry, Vermont, where he worked for Magic Mountain Ski Resort.

Lillard says the two ski areas have some similarities:

“Size wise they’re actually quite similar, 700 acres is where I come from, and two lifts as opposed to four here, but we both pride ourselves in having some great terrain and great community,” Lillard says.

He’s settling into the Juneau ski area, learning the lay of the land as well as the bureaucracy of Eaglecrest, owned by the City and Borough of Juneau. But Lillard says the biggest challenge in the ski industry is always the weather.

“The New England weather is different from Southeast Alaska weather so I think getting a good grasp of that and how that works will be the biggest challenge,” Lillard says, “and after that just a lot of learning curve to pick up in a short amount of time.”

Weather permitting, opening day at Eaglecrest is December 3rd. Snow is building up, with about 7 inches at the base and 41 inches on top on Thursday.

Lillard answers to the city and the Eaglecrest Board of Directors, which sets ski area policy. The board has contracted with a local research firm and international ski area planning company to write a 20-year master plan to guide its decisions.

The first of two public meetings on the plan was held last week, and as KTOO reported, a random telephone survey shows hiking and biking trails and summer tourist attractions to be very important to the future of the area. The telephone survey questions are similar to a current online survey (skijuneau.com), which will be live until the end of November.  Click on the audio for more on the master plan study.