SLTrib article on Alta plans
- Thread starter jkamien
- Start date
As the resident rabid Altaphile, admin surely has opinions on whether a Baldy tram and/or high speed Supreme/Wildcat lifts are a good idea or not.Admin":7reb5lzg said:
I'm going to let that softball go by. James???Admin":7reb5lzg said:
Tony Crocker":253sowf3 said:
Since you've asked for my opinions:
1. Regarding a Baldy tram, given the limited uphill capacity (I'm picturing a Big Sky or Snowbasin-style beer can) I have no problem with that. That type of lift won't put any more people up there per hour than can already reach the top of Baldy by foot anyway. And I'm personally all for minimizing my hike and having quicker access to Ballroom, Baldy Shoulder and East Baldy on control days, even when the Baldy Chutes remain closed or they don't allow the public on the lift. Finally, that would increase Alta's lift-served vertical from 2,020 feet to 2,538 feet, which is more reflective of the amount of skiing available at Alta than the current vertical drop would lead one to believe.
2. I'm a huge fan of the proposed Flora lift, which will eliminate the EBT. The EBT is often closed on high avalanche danger days, swelling the lines on Collins as its closure bifurcates the resort. Without the EBT bisecting the East Baldy Chutes, those lines will be far more appealing to ski, too.
3. Eliminate a few parking spaces by making a more user-friendly bus transport terminal? Absolutely.
4. Enlarged Alf's? Badly needed. You always know that will be the busiest restaurant on any given day, as the majority of visitors tend to stick to the intermediate groomers off of Sugarloaf.
5. A quad on Wildcat? I'm not a fan. It seems totally unnecessary as lines are seldom an issue on the Kitty, although I'm cognizant of the fact that parts must be getting tougher to replace on that old Riblet (?) double.
6. Eliminating Albion? Who cares? I haven't seen it spin in years. And that would provide a good source of parts for the current Wildcat lift, too, as they're identical construction or nearly so.
7. I'm far more interested in lifts on Flagstaff and in Grizzly Gulch. Those, however, are likely to be far more contentious to groups like (Save Us From) Save Our Canyons and the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance. Carl Fisher's comments in that article should surprise no one, for SOC has made a thriving business about opposing anything, anytime, anywhere. I still remember speaking with him years ago when I asked him what he'd accept with respect to an interconnect proposal. He responded that they'd accept no compromise whatsoever, and if they had their way they'd eliminate every lift-served ski area in the Wasatch as "unnecessary."
8. The proposed day lodge between skier services and the Collins base terminal would be a good thing. It would increase food service competition in the Wildcat base area and provide much needed additional seasonal lockers to drive the rental price down (there's currently a lottery for the ones in GMD, and the ones in Buckhorn are hideously expensive). I'm guessing that the owner of GMD is none too happy about that idea, though.
9. I'm also not a fan of the idea to replace Supreme/Cecret, either. Cecret is surely plagued by the same presumed parts problem as Wildcat, and this is a center-pole double that's different from Albion, but replacing both lifts with a single lift would mean a longer runout at the bottom of Supreme and more people per hour accessing that terrain. That lift proposal has been on the discussion list for many, many years, and the implementation of the moving carpet at the base of Supreme was only intended to be a stop-gap measure.
jkamien":1vovfdzc said:
Opinions are easy...you know what they say about opinions. As for "what may actually happen," the answer is "anything, everything or nothing." The public comment period is now open in accordance with NEPA procedures. I don't know if an EIS has been drafted for any of those wish-list items or not, but if it hasn''t that's another year followed by another comment period. In the end it's up to the stroke of a pen from the Wasatch-Cache National Forest supervisor, but that could be literally years away. Then there are the lawsuits appealing any decision...it goes on and on.
Marc_C
Active member
I'm still very confused about where this lift will be located and it's alignment.Admin":z8g13mem said:
I don't see how there's a big enough footprint in that location for a sufficiently sized day lodge.Admin":z8g13mem said:
I agree about the additional run-out, but skiers per hour can be easily adjusted with number of chairs.Admin":z8g13mem said:
Marc_C":u1m0zaak said:
Basically a very short lift from the flats between Germania Pass to Sugarloaf, running up to Germania Pass on the ridgeline just above the top terminal of Collins. To get from Albion Basin to Collins Gulch you'd disembark Sugarloaf and ski down to those flats, where you''d load the Flora lift to get to Germania Pass, bypassing what the EBT is now. Yeah, it adds a lift to the circuit but it would be very short and not take much more time than gliding down the EBT, especially on those days that you're getting sandblasted in the wind tunnel.
You know that wet spot on the flats of Devil's Way that always takes time to fill in early season? That's where Lake Flora used to be, and where Alta is proposing to restore it.
get_outside
New member
"1. Regarding a Baldy tram, given the limited uphill capacity (I'm picturing a Big Sky or Snowbasin-style beer can) I have no problem with that. That type of lift won't put any more people up there per hour than can already reach the top of Baldy by foot anyway. And I'm personally all for minimizing my hike and having quicker access to Ballroom, Baldy Shoulder and East Baldy on control days, even when the Baldy Chutes remain closed or they don't allow the public on the lift. Finally, that would increase Alta's lift-served vertical from 2,020 feet to 2,538 feet, which is more reflective of the amount of skiing available at Alta than the current vertical drop would lead one to believe."
Question on this one from a splitboarder who tours pre/post season so don't claim to have intimate knowledge of Alta as those here, but know it pretty well. Wouldn't a Baldy tram result in the Ballroom, Baldy Shoulder and East Baldy areas all getting tracked out even more quickly? Isn't part of the appeal of those areas that you have to earn those turns, keeping out those unable or unwilling to take on that type of effort? Not to mention that's gonna look like total sh**, no?
Question on this one from a splitboarder who tours pre/post season so don't claim to have intimate knowledge of Alta as those here, but know it pretty well. Wouldn't a Baldy tram result in the Ballroom, Baldy Shoulder and East Baldy areas all getting tracked out even more quickly? Isn't part of the appeal of those areas that you have to earn those turns, keeping out those unable or unwilling to take on that type of effort? Not to mention that's gonna look like total sh**, no?
East Baldy rarely gets skied now. Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder, however, already get tracked out pretty quickly as they are accessed via a gravity traverse. Any tram would only affect those areas on those days that Baldy Chutes are open, which would be relatively few and far between, and as I pointed out earlier a tram would not put many more people per hour up there than already access it by foot.
The big benefit of the tram would be that Patrol can get up there more quickly after a storm. This would allow them to get the Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder areas open more quickly because they can control the terrain above it more easily.
The big benefit of the tram would be that Patrol can get up there more quickly after a storm. This would allow them to get the Ballroom and Baldy Shoulder areas open more quickly because they can control the terrain above it more easily.
get_outside
New member
cool. thanks for clarifying gentlemen
Mike Bernstein
New member
Admin":2nrz61d3 said:
While I'd normally agree, as someone else pointed out, you can modulate uphill capacity with chair spacing, which I suspect they'd do. With respect to the longer runout, that shouldn't be dismissed, but keep in mind that this also offers the prospect of much easier round trips from Catherine's out to Patsy Marley.
couldn't agree more re: Wildcat - completely unnecessary. would be better to simply replace with a new fixed grip double.