Tony Crocker":253sowf3 said:
Admin":253sowf3 said:
I've known about it since it was first submitted last year.
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.
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.