Vote for Utah ski bus

[thetrailboss]

My son is there right now and can't get to the mountain. The canyon road is closed for avalanche mitigation. I told him to go to Snowbasin.

Yeah an avalanche took cars off the road last night. So mitigation is very important and necessary now.

Little Cottonwood Canyon reopens to downhill traffic following avalanche

Skiers, snowboarders and anyone else otherwise recreating up in Little Cottonwood Canyon will be stuck for some time as officials say an avalanche has forced the road to close.

www.fox13now.com

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

My son is there right now and can't get to the mountain. The canyon road is closed for avalanche mitigation. I told him to go to Snowbasin.

It looked like the busiest Wednesday non holiday week this year at Snowbasin. They spread out quickly so it was still way better than Park City, Brighton or Solitude.

 

[machski]

It looked like the busiest Wednesday non holiday week this year at Snowbasin. They spread out quickly so it was still way better than Park City, Brighton or Solitude.

Been years since I've been to Snowbasin and since then, they have supercharged that lift network. You only have he one base portal but once you move folks up and out of there, that Terrain and lift fleet really keep it fairly chill. And yet another HSQ coming in this summer.

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

Been years since I've been to Snowbasin and since then, they have supercharged that lift network. You only have he one base portal but once you move folks up and out of there, that Terrain and lift fleet really keep it fairly chill. And yet another HSQ coming in this summer.

There's a John Paul HSQ in addition to the Needles Gondy at the base. If you can get a coveted spot in the Wildcat lot there's a 6 pack there next to the triple, soon to be HSQ. They have a nice lift network. Most of the chairs have been Leitner Poma that have been very reliable.

 

[machski]

There's a John Paul HSQ in addition to the Needles Gondy at the base. If you can get a coveted spot in the Wildcat lot there's a 6 pack there next to the triple, soon to be HSQ. They have a nice lift network. Most of the chairs have been Leitner Poma that have been very reliable.

Yeah, we skied in mid 2000's after the winter games and it was just John Paul and Needles for detach out of the base back then. Even still, once up with the Strawberry Gondola on the other end, really spread people out. With all the additional detaches they've thrown in since then in between and as you said out of the base, it is one impressive lift fleet.

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

On another thread I just read there was another multi hour delay in the LCC from just 4 inches of snow. I hope they do something there like better avalanche mitigation and more buses. The gondy propo$al sounds like a potential boondoggle. If they do go ahead with it though it would be nice to keep the crowds at Alta/Bird.

 

[thetrailboss]

On another thread I just read there was another multi hour delay in the LCC from just 4 inches of snow. I hope they do something there like better avalanche mitigation and more buses. The gondy propo$al sounds like a potential boondoggle. If they do go ahead with it though it would be nice to keep the crowds at Alta/Bird.

I had a parking rez for this morning. When I saw that the road was closed overnight AND it snowed I canceled. BCC is not much better.

 

[thetrailboss]

“This parking is being provided, not as an expansion of capacity for the use or [sic] resort,” he wrote, “but rather it will relocate the on-street parking on Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd. that Solitude customers utilize and which support the resort.”

So replacing 240 parking spots alongside SR-190 with a 593-car parking lot is NOT an expansion of capacity? How dumb does Alterra think people are?

Utah ski area’s parking lot plan under fire over concerns about watershed, traffic

Solitude Mountain Resort has requested a conditional use permit to build a 593-space parking lot in an aspen grove across SR-190 from the ski area's main village. Critics say the lot will damage Salt Lake City's watershed, further snarl traffic in the canyon and be a visual blight.

www.sltrib.com

 

[BenedictGomez]

I imagine it's more about the fact that Alterra cant charge people is they part on the state's property (i.e. a road).

 

[ThatGuy]

Gotta make that ancillary revenue somehow

 

[thetrailboss]

Solitude addresses their parking proposal. Get out the popcorn.

Amber certainly comes across as defensive. Maybe it is just me, but I find her voice to be grating. The specific portion as to the parking lot start at about 43 minutes. I do praise them for recognizing the issues with parking on SR-190 and would be supportive of them merely replacing existing parking slots, but that is not what they are doing here (they are increasing parking as they are losing 300 or so spots and are proposing a lot of 590 spots).

I also think that Sugarloaf and Boyne might take issue with their logo you see on the slide in the first five minutes or so (and I think you can see below in the preview). It certainly looks like a marketing intern cut and pasted the 'loaf's logo and old font type and tried to alter it a bit.

In the 90 minute video you will only hear maybe one reference to IKON (blackouts lifted for base). Nowhere else does she acknowledge the change in strategy to IKON and discount passes to increase volume.

And the last questioner (at about 1:31:30) was clearly a "friendly" one.

She did near the end actually apologize to critics and tried to smooth things over. I don't envy the position she is in because her hands are tied with regards to geography, room, IKON pass program, etc. But at the end of the day I felt that there was a lot of finger pointing and allegations that others were misleading the public about their plans and that seemed to be in the category of hot under the collar.

 

[thetrailboss]

Opinion: Canyon gondola would be a fiscal disaster. Here's why

UDOT’s math supporting the gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon never worked, and in today’s economy it makes even less sense.

www.deseret.com

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

Good article. The UDOT hacks are dreaming of fat envelopes for years to come. The LCC Gondola project has boondogle written all over it.
Remember the initial cost estimate for the Big Dig was approximately $2.8 billion, but the final cost reached around $14.6 billion.

 

[thetrailboss]

Good article. The UDOT hacks are dreaming of fat envelopes for years to come. The LCC Gondola project has boondogle written all over it.
Remember the initial cost estimate for the Big Dig was approximately $2.8 billion, but the final cost reached around $14.6 billion.

It’s actually Snowbird’s owner that really wants it…

 

[bigbob]

Wasn't one of the problems the lack of bus drivers? Buses siting in a parking lot won't help. Plenty of dump trucks siting around my area without seat warmers.

 

[jimmywilson69]

I came to post the same thing...

 

[machski]

I don't know. I mean if cities in Mexico can make entire urban ropeway networks be cost effective, you would think we could on the USA too. I get LCC has an alpine element with those hazards that are different than pure urban, but seriously. Take a look at some of the networks up and running down there.

 

[thetrailboss]

I don't know. I mean if cities in Mexico can make entire urban ropeway networks be cost effective, you would think we could on the USA too. I get LCC has an alpine element with those hazards that are different than pure urban, but seriously. Take a look at some of the networks up and running down there.

AFAIK Mexico does not currently have huge tariffs on steel and European products.

 

[1dog]

Mexico receives $60B in US repatriated dollars - about 95% of all money sent back from foreign countries. I always wondered how much tax revenue Mexico grabs from that. I would not lay the blame so much on tariffs- however temporary they may be so much as state and federal regulatory issues.

Big Dig was closer to $24B with interest, transit change costs, and of course law suits. CA HSR ( so far) is already at $14B and not even usable ( ( seriously, how many people wanna go from Bakersfield to Merced? Gov Dukakis promised BD would not exceed $2B in 1982.

Point is we are so inefficient in large transportation projects compared to say Japan, or even EU, the only two options appear is limit cars/people, or live with the current traffic nightmares. I did get a ticket for not pre-purchasing a parking pass at Brighton,but they waived it as it was my 1st time. The rental SUV had 3 tickets on its plate! Just last year alone.

Americans love their own transportation- cars and trucks - EU? Not so much. Wouldn't a car-free LCC and BCC appear 'wunnerful'? Never happen. Whats the % of foreign visits compared to US? I bet its 20% or higher?

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

It’s actually Snowbird’s owner that really wants it…

Fortunately it sounds like the people of Utah oppose the planned gondola welfare for Snowbird.
The article made a very important point:
"Even the private ski resorts that would benefit most from the project have shown no interest in investing their own money in a project that primarily benefits them."