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Snowbasin Resort has identified seven projects it wants to do soon to improve recreational opportunities at the ski area above Ogden.
Because many of those activities would take place on public lands, the U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment through April 28 on any issues that should be explored in an environmental assessment (EA) the agency will prepare.
Written comments should be submitted to District Ranger Robert Sanchez, Ogden Ranger District, 507 E. 25th St., Suite 103, Ogden, 84401.
Five of the seven projects were part of Snowbasin's master development plan approved by the Forest Service in 2009. The Forest Service agreed last year to add the other two projects to the list — rehabilitation of an access road near the upper Porcupine Lift and ski-run improvements to lower Penny Lane.
In a release seeking public comment, Ogden District Ranger Robert Sanchez said the proposals are designed to "provide timely and effective means of addressing recognized constraints to resort operations and will result in improved recreational opportunities and visitor safety."
He noted that none will expand Snowbasin's boundaries or go beyond the resort's carrying capacity, as identified in the master plan, "nor are they linked to any off-site, private land development. They would simply improve the overall recreational experience offered at Snowbasin on [Forest Service] land."
Proposed projects involve:
• Installation of a high-speed, detachable Strawberry Quad lift that would be an alternative to the Strawberry Express gondola, which often shuts down in high winds because its top terminal is on an exposed ridge line.
"In the past, snowcat shuttles have been necessary to evacuate stranded skiers from the Strawberry [area] when the gondola has suddenly closed," the Forest Service noted. "To avoid this situation, the entire [area] is closed when weather conditions are threatening, eliminating 35 percent of the resort's terrain capacity."
The proposed quad lift would end 675 feet lower, not as exposed to the weather but still providing access to 80 percent of Strawberry Bowl, Snowbasin said.
• Replacement of the Wildcat fixed-grip triple chair, built in 1973, with a high-speed detachable quad that would double potential usage to 2,400 people per hour.
"The proposed lift would improve skier-traffic flow in the Wildcat area, facilitate circulation to other areas of the mountain and provide additional opportunity for racing and race training," the resort's proposal said.
• Installation of 15,000 feet of buried water line to provide snowmaking over 40 acres of hillside served by Wildcat lift.
• Widening Mt. Ogden Bowl ski run, which is so narrow it can be quite tricky for intermediate skiers, especially when visibility is limited.
• Upgrading hiker-created trails along the ridgeline that serves as Snowbasin's western boundary — known as the "Circle of Cirques" — to Forest Service standards to reduce erosion and improve safety. Trails to the cirque from Needles Lodge and the Mount Allen access road also would be improved.
• Take out an existing maintenance road serving the upper portions of Porcupine and John Paul lifts, re-contour the ski slopes the road crosses to smooth out the fall lines and develop a new, shorter road along the existing sewer line corridor.
• Improve visibility in an area where Penny Lane, the main return path from the Strawberry area to Snowbasin's main base, intersects Snowshoe run.
Snowbasin study
Suggestions about issues that should be addressed in an environmental assessment of seven projects that Snowbasin Resort would like to do should be sent to Robert Sanchez, Ogden Ranger District, 507 E. 25th St., Suite 103, Ogden, 84401.