Vote for Utah ski bus

[FBGM]

I think Gondola and snow sheds are the best answer (besides going back to 2010 level of business and nonIkon pass and 50% more people in SLC)

The estimated costs of this project make me scratch my head. But whatever. I don’t live here anymore.

This is also going to take forever to come to completion. If it does. So get used to traffic issues for years to come still

 

[thetrailboss]

Why doesn’t UDOT release a count of positive and negative gondola comments?

The Utah Department of Transportation collected over 50,000 public comments regarding the proposed gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon, but UDOT doesn't categorize whether the comments are positive or negative.

www.sltrib.com

 

[4aprice]

Slight veer here. Seems to me Utah is the one place that could handle another ski resort. Not only the stuff like the expansion of Nordic Valley, but other locations too. There is a lot of distance between Sundance and Eagle Point down in Southern Utah and a lot of mountains. When we drive from Cottonwood Heights back to Denver the mountains behind Provo and BYU seem just as high and snowy as they do above the SLC Valley. I don't know what's back there but as thin as the Wasatch is width wise there seems to be several peaks up there that could possibly be developed and they always appear to me to have plenty of snow. I realize that a lot of it is probably National Forest but there seems to be plenty of population off of I-15 down at least to Spanish Fork so its not remote. My BIL bought back in 2002 just after the Olympics and SLC has just exploded since then.

 

[jimk]

Slight veer here. Seems to me Utah is the one place that could handle another ski resort. Not only the stuff like the expansion of Nordic Valley, but other locations too. There is a lot of distance between Sundance and Eagle Point down in Southern Utah and a lot of mountains. When we drive from Cottonwood Heights back to Denver the mountains behind Provo and BYU seem just as high and snowy as they do above the SLC Valley. I don't know what's back there but as thin as the Wasatch is width wise there seems to be several peaks up there that could possibly be developed and they always appear to me to have plenty of snow. I realize that a lot of it is probably National Forest but there seems to be plenty of population off of I-15 down at least to Spanish Fork so its not remote. My BIL bought back in 2002 just after the Olympics and SLC has just exploded since then.

I agree, Utah has a large enough local and vacationing skier base to support more ski areas. There has been some development of places like Wasatch Peaks (private), Mayflower, Woodward Park City (terrain park).

You're right about plenty of big mountains. Mt. Timpanogos is near Provo & Sundance and is 11.7K. Mt. Nebo is 11.9k, both are taller than any Wasatch mtn near Ogden and SLC. But location-location-location near airport and resort town like Park City is hard to compete with.

Took this photo of Mt. Nebo on 24 April 2023, elev 11,928, tallest peak in the Wasatch range and one of the more southern. Photo taken from northbound lane of Interstate 15 about 100 miles south of Salt Lake City.


The idea of building a whole new major ski area from scratch just about anywhere in the US seems so hard these days with environmental restrictions and anti-development sentiments. Expansion of existing places seems more likely. Snowbird's Mary Ellen Gulch beyond Mineral Basin has been on the drawing board for a while, not sure if they'll ever break ground on it.

Second Mt. Nebo photo from same dramatic day:

 

[raisingarizona]

I’m in the Wasatch working for the summer and becoming more familiar with this place. The interconnect or One concept makes more sense to me than ever. Everything is already pretty much connected and the bits that aren’t aren’t much more then a spitting distance. Big Cottonwood would probably become the central hub for the Wasatch ski arena. It would probably alleviate some traffic I’d think as well.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I’m in the Wasatch working for the summer and becoming more familiar with this place. The interconnect or One concept makes more sense to me than ever. Everything is already pretty much connected and the bits that aren’t aren’t much more then a spitting distance. Big Cottonwood would probably become the central hub for the Wasatch ski arena. It would probably alleviate some traffic I’d think as well.

Bingo! And the marketing advantage it would confer would be nothing anyone in North America could compete against.

It just makes sense. Defeating the eco nuts is the (very) hard part, because they'll presumably have allies / like-minded people in both Salt Lake County & Park City.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Its as much the backcountry "don't infringe on my line" crowd as it is the Eco Nuts. One Wassatch would be a better for the environment. Less cars and buses. Instead of fighting it, everyone should embrace it.

There's too many people living and visiting there now for the current mode of transportation to work. Connecting all of those world class resorts together would make a very special ski experience that doesn't existing outside of the Alps. I've been saying that for a long time...

 

[jimk]

I agree with the one wasatch comments. If they connected a bunch of the ski areas a huge amount of Salt Lake City resident skiers would park over by The Canyons instead of heading up to fight traffic in 190 or 210.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Its as much the backcountry "don't infringe on my line" crowd as it is the Eco Nuts. One Wassatch would be a better for the environment. Less cars and buses. Instead of fighting it, everyone should embrace it.

Oh, 100%. That Save Our Canyons crew is so full of **** with all their "environmental" arguments it's coming out their ears. They just want the backcountry 100% to themselves, as if occasionally seeing a lift tower in a small fraction of the area will ruin their experience. If they made these few (could probably be done with as few as 3 new lifts) new connections anyone with an EPIC or IKON could get on a lift in Park City and ski to Solitude/Brighton/Alta/Snowbird instead of having a 1 hour drive on their hands. It would be enormously popular, and yes, alleviate some traffic.

 

[jimk]

It will be interesting to see if the crowds of 2023 are the new normal in Utah? I'm expecting the crowds to lessen a bit next year. That is based on less prodigious snowfall. Normally, after about March 20 things get really fun and mellow in Utah. That was my experience, at least, in the five years prior to 2023.

 

[thetrailboss]

Oh, 100%. That Save Our Canyons crew is so full of **** with all their "environmental" arguments it's coming out there ears. They just want the backcountry 100% to themselves, as if occasionally seeing a lift tower in a small fraction of the area will ruin their experience. If they made these few (could probably be done with as few as 3 new lifts) new connections anyone with an EPIC or IKON could get on a lift in Park City and ski to Solitude/Brighton/Alta/Snowbird instead of having a 1 hour drive on their hands. It would be enormously popular, and yes, alleviate some traffic.

SOC's goals are not at all realistic. In their view ALL development in the Cottonwoods should be removed.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Then by that silly reasoning there should be no humans in those canyons either.

 

[thetrailboss]

Then by that silly reasoning there should be no humans in those canyons either.

Exactly. That's why I cannot take them seriously.

 

[FBGM]

New ski area should be on the west side. All that land is privately owned, gets decent snowfall, the west side of the city is growing, spread traffic out. Once upon a time ago there were plans for a ski area over there.

 

[thetrailboss]

New ski area should be on the west side. All that land is privately owned, gets decent snowfall, the west side of the city is growing, spread traffic out. Once upon a time ago there were plans for a ski area over there.

I've heard that Rio Tinto/Kennecott Land has these plans. I have yet to see anything. That would be pretty cool to ski that side. Those mountains have been getting good snow the last few seasons when the lake effect is more north/south oriented.

 

[thetrailboss]

It will be interesting to see if the crowds of 2023 are the new normal in Utah? I'm expecting the crowds to lessen a bit next year. That is based on less prodigious snowfall. Normally, after about March 20 things get really fun and mellow in Utah. That was my experience, at least, in the five years prior to 2023.

As you said, it will depend on the snow.

 

[Hawk]

My friends that live in Sandy said that this year was really changed by the amont of closures at Big Cotton wood. They couldn't say if that impacted the crowds on the non-closure days but that overall they skied less because of the closues.

 

[thetrailboss]

My friends that live in Sandy said that this year was really changed by the amont of closures at Big Cotton wood. They couldn't say if that impacted the crowds on the non-closure days but that overall they skied less because of the closues.

Yes, they had way more closures in BCC due to avalanche.

 

[thetrailboss]

Gondola Approved In Little Cottonwood Canyon Despite the Huge Environmental Impact

How will the gondola plan approval affect local Utahns? How will it affect Little Cottonwood Canyon? Is it possible to stop this decision?

utahstories.com

 

[BenedictGomez]

^ That article's a completely biased farce. The author probably has a compost pile & an EV car & tells no fewer than 3 to 6 people he meets about both of them daily, completely unsolicited, and regardless of the conversation's subject matter. It would be nice to read pro & con opinions about this subject from both sides, but pretty much all I've seen so far is various degrees of propaganda.