Fireworks have already been shot back and forth between Solitude Mountain Resort, backcountry skiers, the US Forest Service and watershed protectors over Solitude’s proposal to expand the ski resort boundaries into Silver Fork Canyon. Now Solitude is backing off their original desire to occupy the entire drainage.
The new expansion has been cut back to 182 acres, located on the Solitude side of Silver Fork. This is in comparison to the 463 acres proposed in the original plan.
According to a statement on Solitude’s website, the backcountry skiing areas of Meadow Chutes and West Bowl are no longer part of the proposal.
To accomodate the Silver Fork expansion, a new lift would have to be installed, and the Honeycomb Return lift would require a realignment.
Solitude argues that allowing resort skiers to have access to what is currently backcountry terrain wouldn’t change the area that much. According to the release, “many Solitude skiers presently use this area of Silver Fork for resort accessed side-country lap style skiing. Safe monitoring of this terrain will benefit these skiers, as well as expected additional Utah recreationists. As a state, Utah continues to grow as a skier destination, with skier visits increasing by 37% in the past ten years.”
Solitude has submitted their application to the US Forest Service.
There’s no doubt that Solitude’s desire to expand into Silver Fork Canyon is something on-piste skiers will rejoice about, and backcountry users will fight tooth-and-nail.
To see the area of proposed expansion, check out this map, courtesy of Solitude Mountain Resort. You can also read the entire statement on their website at http://www.skisolitude.com/community/