Talisker Mountain Incorporated, the parent company of Canyons, acknowledged this week it is considering options to connect the Snyderville Basin resort to Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon, a move that would stand with the most ambitious of the skiing era in Park City.
There have been ideas over the years to create some sort of connection between the Park City-area resorts and the ones in the Cottonwood Canyons, particularly in Big Cottonwood Canyon, but none of them have advanced. Talisker Mountain Incorporated’s involvement, however, could bring a higher degree of credibility that others in the past lacked.
Ted Wilson, the director of governmental affairs for Talisker Mountain Incorporated, said on Tuesday a route between the two resorts could cover a little more than a mile. He described an alignment that would roughly run from the top of the Dreamcatcher lift or a nearby lift at Canyons to a spot at the lower parking lot at Solitude. Wilson said a traditional ski lift and a tramway are under consideration.
“It opens up a new link to the higher canyons without the traditional difficulties of an interconnect,” Wilson said.
The term interconnect in the ski industry is typically used to describe a connection between different resorts. An interconnected lift system involving the Cottonwood Canyons resorts and those in the Park City area has long been envisioned as a possibility, but it is not something that has come close to being realized.
Under the Talisker Mountain Incorporated idea, someone skiing at Canyons would be able to access the terrain at Solitude via the connection. Wilson said Solitude officials support the idea.
Wilson said a Canyons-Solitude connection, meanwhile, would reduce traffic in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
He said a timeline has not been set for the project. Wilson said it is expected that permitting on the Solitude side of the project will be needed through the United States Forest Service, the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities and Salt Lake County. Summit County would be required to grant an approval on the Canyons side, he anticipates.
Wilson said Talisker Mountain Incorporated cannot yet outline financing options and he declined to discuss whether public monies will be sought.
More details could be made public within a few weeks, he said.
He predicted the idea will encounter some opposition. It is likely that Save Our Canyons, a watchdog group that is active in the Cottonwood Canyons, will closely monitor the discussions. It is not as clear, though, what sort of support or opposition might come from people in the Park City area.
Supporters could see a connection as better positioning Canyons and Solitude against competition locally and in the wider ski industry. Connected ski resorts, popular in Europe, are rare in North America.
A connection would likely become a crucial marketing tool for both Canyons and Solitude. There are 5,200 acres of skiing terrain between the two of them, an expanse that would make them a behemoth in the industry.