Discarded sleds among 'huge mess' left behind at Mount Charleston

Every winter thousands of visitors from the Las Vegas area head to Mount Charleston for a day of sledding on its idyllic, snowy slopes. 

But when the snow melts, what’s left behind is trash that park services struggle to remove.

Broken and discarded sleds make up a large portion of the debris, according to Leonie Mowat, director of operations and communication at the Southern Nevada Conservancy.

“With the snow melting, we’re able to see it all at once and see the huge mess that gets left behind,” Mowat said.

The Southern Nevada Conservancy provides trash service twice a week and manages volunteer services. The organization also typically manages two large cleanups, one in May and one in September, where Mowat said an average of 500 volunteers pick up tons of trash in a single day. 

Those large, single-day cleanup events have not happened this year due to COVID-19 protocols, leaving litter to pile up on Mount Charleston in greater volume than usual.

More and more, Mowat said, sleds are making up a majority of that trash. Visitors lose their plastic sleds in the snow and leave them behind, or plastic shards break off and contaminate the soil.

Mowat said because organized cleanups aren’t happening, it’s hard to say how much sled trash people left behind this winter, but she said it had to be at least 1,000 pounds.

Mowat said volunteers collected 3,000 pounds of trash from October 2019 to March 2020, when volunteer trash pickups stopped because of the coronavirus. From October 2017 to September 2018, volunteers collected more than 13,600 pounds of trash. From October 2018 to September 2019, volunteers collected about 18,000 pounds, she said.

“We measure our results specifically for the Forest Service so that can be reported federally,” Mowat said. “It’s really sad that even though we’ve had more and more volunteer help over the years, the trash itself has grown.”

Mowat said there’s no federal funding for trash pickup and that trash and recycling cans at trailheads were donated.

“It’s such a strange position to be in when you have millions of visitors come up here and there’s literally no budget for trash,” she said.

Mowat blamed the abandoned sled phenomenon on people sledding in shallow snow. The Southern Nevada Conservancy warns people not to sled unless there is at least 12 inches of snow on the ground. This year, there was about five to seven inches of snow.

“Anybody that’s sledding on a plastic sled is going to get a broken sled because they’re sledding on rocks,” Mowat said.

Mowat said officials see an average of 10,000 cars on the road on a snowy day, but Mount Charleston is getting more visitors this year. Nevada State Routes 156, 157 and 158 are regulated by Nevada Highway Patrol and Metro police. The law enforcement agencies that manage traffic, parking and road conditions sometimes have to close roads because of congestion.

Law enforcement also deals with safety issues when people park on the shoulder of the road to sled in random open areas.

“Everyone just kind of pulls off willy nilly on the side of the road,” Mowat said.

The Lee Meadows area is considered a sledding hill, unofficially. Some of the land belongs to Clark County and some to the U.S. Forest Service (which partners with the Southern Nevada Conservancy), and due to its unrecognized status there is no specific signage addressing sledding and littering concerns.

“Because it’s not an official sledding area, it makes it awkward to put signage about sledding,” Mowat said.

With Mount Charleston being so close to a major city, Mowat said those who litter might not understand there isn’t the same trash service that a park collecting fees would be able to afford.

“It’s a small, small place that’s right next to a very large urban population, and honestly, the visitation comes in expecting urban park amenities,” Mowat said.

Updates about snow conditions can be found at www.GoMtCharleston.com/snow-season. Travelers also can dial 511 for road information in Nevada or visit www.nvroads.com/511-home