As the blueprint for the Mountain Accord is making its way through public comment, meetings, and presentations, many skiers have expressed concern about proposed federal land trades with ski resorts. Resorts want more land from the U.S. Forest Service for base facility expansion. They are willing to trade higher-elevation, backcountry land in return. The concern lies with the upper slopes surrounding Alta, especially the fate of Grizzly Gulch, which is among the most popular backcountry access points in the Wasatch.
In response, Alta General Manager, Onno Wieringa released a statement to bring Alta’s perspective of the Mountain Accord process into focus. The most interesting nugget is the possibility of trading Alta’s private land holdings in upper mountains for base-area lands currently held by the Forest Service. Wieringa specifically mentions the land extending from Highway 210 to the top of Emma Ridge.
Grizzly Gulch, however, seems to still be up in the air. Judging by the tone of Wieringa’s letter, it sounds like a very sweet deal will have to be struck for Alta to give it up. Rumors abound that Alta wants the land adjacent to Catherine Pass, such as Mount Tuscarora, for a possible trade for future ski resort expansion. None of that is verified, but it would make sense for Alta to covet land that currently borders the resort.
Where will all this lead? Time will tell. But one thing is for sure – if these land trades between Alta and the Forest Service do happen, upper Little Cottonwood Canyon will look and feel a whole lot different.
You can read Wieringa’s full letter below:
Dear Alta Skiers,
Mountain Accord is attempting to address mountain transportation and land use issues in the face of projected population growth. Mountain Accord recently released a draft blueprint of their direction for a 40 day public comment period that goes until March 16.
The Blueprint’s goal is to meet Mountain Accord’s purposes, which include responsible stewardship of natural resources, preservation of quality recreation experiences, establishing an environmentally sustainable transportation system, and contributing to a vibrant economy.
For Alta Ski Area’s part, we will try to balance the recommendations of the four system groups of Mountain Accord with the hope that at the end of the project we can still have a high quality ski area and summer recreation place for you to enjoy. Additionally, we will take great care to preserve your watershed and forest health, while at the same time working to improve transportation for all of us in and out of the canyon. Lastly, we will try to maintain or improve a position for our company that keeps us economically sustainable so we can continue to offer high quality recreation.
We have not offered up recommendation about a transportation option, only that we would like to see a more reliable, avalanche resistant option. We will leave transportation planning to the experts.
As part of the Mountain Accord process we may be able to pursue a land trade that could do two things:
Trade our upper mountain private lands for Forest Service base area lands. This would get the Forest Service out of base area development issues to best focus on forest health and recreation. The trade would allow us planning flexibility to deal with base area issues such as a possible transit center with the Town of Alta.
Trade 120 acres of our land to the Forest Service to be dedicated to uses other than commercial skiing and allow the public to own and control land from State Highway 210 to the Emma Ridge-something that does not exist today.
We are still working with the Forest Service, Salt Lake City, the Town of Alta, Save Our Canyons and other user groups relative to Grizzly Gulch. Today we own most of the land to the top of Grizzly Gulch where it joins up with Solitude. We are all working to see if there is an acceptable replacement for us ever giving up that land.
The Mountain Accord website has a wealth of additional information to help you stay informed on this important quality of life issue.
Best Regards,
Onno Wieringa