Eagle River access

whiteh2o · 05-10-2006

Progress has claimed the Avon put in/takeout on the Eagle. Currently it is fenced on either side of the bike path with a locked gate at the access road in the near future. After speaking to the town of Avon, there is no plan at this time to replace this ramp. East West partners are the developers of this project, and do not return phone calls.

liquidchaos · 05-10-2006

Thanks for the beta, we are talking to the town manager about this but we might be screwed. This is definatly going to mess up the commercial outfitters a whole lot. hopefully we can arrange access for the next month or so. in the plans for the whole development includes a public park and the plans for the whitewater park, so hopefully its just for this season, but who really knows? if anyone has a contact with East-west, or can help with this access it would be greatly appreciated! feel free to email me off list to work toward a solutiuon.

dfs80@hotmail.com

outdoormikeg · 05-10-2006

Yeah I rode by there last night as saw some of the heavy machinery working and the fences.

Kayakers should be able to work around it, we'll just have to walk a bit, but it will screw the commercial outfitters once the Chute season starts.

I'll poke around and see if I can find anything out and I'll post it here.

sj · 05-10-2006

Heading up tomorrow. If we put in just on the S. side of the freeway and take out at Bob. Are we still OK? I haven't been up there in probably 6 years so any beta would be cool. sj

ENDOMADNESS · 05-10-2006

SJ....i take it you are rafting. if you want to take out at Bob's you can do so on the South side of the River (river left) right after the bridge. There is a water pumpstation building there with a gravel "ramp" that leads up to Hwy 6 and the Beaver Creek East parking lot. So park your shuttle rig in the Beaver Creek lot and then drivew it over to the gravel pullout on Hwy 6 just downstream of the bridge. Cops don't want people actually parking in the gravel pullout.

This gravel pullout and old pumpstation ramp access will eventually be our access point. Our company is doing the design for this crap ass gondola project. Yesterday there were some good confrontations with some rafters (understandably) when they starting fencing the thing off. The Po PO had to be called. The developer now realizes they should have provided access BEFORE they closed off our spot.....duh

ENDOMADNESS · 05-10-2006

Forgot---I have talked with the project manager and made them aware that access is needed immediately (they know from yesterdays fiasco) and the developer said they were working on it right away. The bad part is this is a CDOT highway.....you can figure how long that will take.

whiteh2o · 05-11-2006

To follow up on Endos comments, There is a gravel road with a locked gate, on river left, just past Bob the bridge. It is a class 4/4+ take out. I have heard this will be the future river access point. I am reasonably sure it is not going to be available for this season.

liquidchaos · 05-11-2006

I spoke with the avon town manager today and he stated that the old takeout was private property all along and is now owned by east-west. If it does not hinder their progress and they can still comply with osha regs. then they wil try to give us access at least through run off. The town of avon has been working on an easment to access the river left ( owned by Vail resorts) to build the whitewater park this fall, they are trying to expedite that process to allow us to use it as a take out this spring, but the lawyers are involved so it may be a while. I encourage everyone to call who they can and let them know that this is a big issue. In the plans for this development include a public park and access for the new park, but not during construction for safety reasons. please call larry brooks avon town manager and voice your concern at 748-4000 and hopefully we will have a safe, legal solution soon! feel free to email me with suggestions!

dfs80@hotmail.com

AQS · 05-11-2006

I just talked with Larry brooks as well and have a few other things to add.

He said he just finished talking with East-West and the old river right takeout will not be reopened because of liability.

Vail Resorts is going to open the East lot for river runner parking. It has been locked since Beaver Creek closed.

The bike path on river right will stay open until after runoff. The river left access is still tresspassing until an easement is signed and they are working hard to get this pushed through asap. Please don't jeapordize this because this will also be our access once the playpark is built in September.

So it looks like this is the scenario for a legal put-in/ take-out:

Park at the Beaver Creek lot and access the river via the bike path on river right. CDOT says they are OK with unloading boats on the side of the road, river left above where the easement is being worked on. You will then have to walk to across from Burger King and get on the bike path to get to the river.
Rafters will have to do the same, but Larry said he has instructed the Avon Police to let cars pull up on the sidewalk accross from Burger King to load or unload a raft only. That must be done quick and if problems are caused or too many are there for too long they will shut that down.

I hope this makes sense, if anyone has any questions feel free to give me a call or stop by the shop.

-Sean

liquidchaos · 05-11-2006

Thanks Sean, we all appreciate it!