The dispute between Alta Ski Area and the Central Wasatch Commission (CWC) continues to escalate. On Wednesday, Alta sent emails to its subscriber list asking their pass holders to sign a petition in support of the resort. This after Alta was carved out of the Central Wasatch National Conservation and Recreation Act. In that email Alta asks their loyal skiers to “support Alta’s vision of preparing for recreational growth in a manner that preserves the Alta experience and manages the impact on the environment.”
Alta’s Message
According to the email, Alta believes the currently proposed legislation should:
• Provide solutions to reduce congestion and improve transportation and parking in the Cottonwood Canyons.
• Respect and protect private landowner and ski area permit holder rights.
• Authorize land exchanges of sensitive private alpine lands for heavily used base area lands in ski areas.
• Provide protections for sensitive public lands and watershed.
• Legislation should be fair to all stakeholders.
You can either show your support of Alta, or show them your displeasure at https://www.alta.com/blog/supportalta
CWC Response
In response, Central Wasatch Commission stakeholders were perplexed and mystified. On Thursday, the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance tried to “clear the air” by saying that they were involved in dozens of discussions that looked for ways to accommodate Alta’s stated demands, and wish Alta was part of the legislation. WBA goes on to say: “The collective of the CWC has offered multiple solutions – some of which included major compromises. These options would have benefitted Alta and the public by protecting high-value public lands and allowed Alta to obtain developable, high-value lands at their base in return. Alta would not accept any of those options. As a result, Alta Ski Area was left out of the bill due to their refusal to make any compromise, which we were able to achieve with all three of the other ski resorts.” Read the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance’s full statement here.
Save Our Canyons responded on Thursday as well. They state that it’s “confusing to have Alta Ski Area suggest that the Central Wasatch Commission is caving to special interests. Save Our Canyons couldn’t be further from a special interest — we work with dozens of user groups, ski areas, public land managers, watershed managers, wildlife biologists, elected officials, land owners, educators, transportation and transit leaders, local governments, to respond to and find solutions to issues in the Wasatch. While Alta Ski Area looks out for its own interest, we work for the community interest.” Read Save Our Canyon’s full statement here.
Finally, the Central Wasatch Commission responded with the following statement:
“Mountain Accord and HR 5718 (Congressman Chaffetz, 2016) included an agreed-upon compromise agreement to address Grizzly Gulch and Alta Ski Resort, which Alta Ski Lifts decided to withdraw from in 2018. The Central Wasatch Commission (CWC) respects the decision of Alta Ski Lifts to withdraw from that agreement.”
“Since June 2018, the CWC has continuously sought a new solution that would include Alta Ski Lifts in the Central Wasatch National Conservation Recreation Area Act (CWNCRA) and the legislatively authorized land exchanges. Many proposals put forth by stakeholders from Alta Ski Lifts, Save Our Canyons, Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, Friends of Alta, Town of Alta, Salt Lake City Public Utilities, the CWC, and others were aimed at finding a new solution. To date, an agreement has not been achieved that was tenable for all stakeholders involved.”
“Throughout these efforts, the parties, including Alta Ski Lifts, agreed in discussion and writing that a fall-back, acceptable alternative would be to remove Alta Ski Lifts from the CWNCRA and allow Alta Ski Lifts to pursue its expansion proposals through existing administrative processes, thereby leaving Alta Ski Lifts harmless in the proposed legislation. Action by the CWC on November 19, 2018 requested the Utah Congressional Delegation and Congress to pursue legislation consistent with the Alta Ski Lifts exclusion from the CWNCRA, and continue to seek a solution to the Alta Ski Lifts-Grizzly Gulch issue. The CWC remains committed to finding a solution with all parties.”
“Recent statements from Alta Ski Lifts express a false narrative that the decision to leave Alta Ski Lifts out of the legislation, and subsequently, out of the land exchanges, was motivated by a deliberate desire to punish Alta Ski Lifts. To the contrary, the CWC seeks to respect all parties and seek solutions fair to the parties and to the goal of protecting the Central Wasatch Mountain range for its many wonderful qualities and uses.”
“We look forward to ongoing discussions with Alta Ski Lifts, State, local and private interests, our Utah Congressional Delegation, and the many stakeholders that call the Central Wasatch home.”
What do you think? Is Alta being disingenuous? Or do they have every right to exclude themselves from a collaborative process to operate their land holdings and resort as they see fit?
Personally, I am terribly conflicted. On the one hand I love skiing at Alta. The vibe, the terrain, and the old-school feel is what keeps me coming back. On the other hand, I am an avid backcountry skier and would hate to see Alta develop and expand into Grizzly Gulch. Ever since new management took over at Alta, I’ve found their tone to be disturbing. It worries me that Alta is slowly becoming the exact opposite of what they advertise – a resort that seeks to preserve the skiing experience for future generations.
Just wait — snowboarding will soon be allowed at Alta.
Please- no boarders for Alta; the snowboarders should move their “on boarding” desires down the hill to where they are ACCEPTED. Having some bit of the past to shine forward is great for skiers now and those skiing later when we are gone. It’s not as though there is no other place to snowboard in Utah, next door or elsewhere!
Appears some are trying to find a creative loop hole for their board to be “all inclusive” – not permitted to ride the Alta lifts, yet permitted to ride down, they should enjoy that moment and move on. Options are good and plenty elsewhere are perfect for snowboarders and it’s OKAY!