The leader of a prominent Wasatch Front environmental group quickly condemned the idea of linking Canyons with Solitude Mountain Resort with a tramway or a ski lift, claiming that such a connection would doom the backcountry while not greatly reducing traffic, as the promoters contend.
Carl Fisher, the executive director of Save Our Canyons, was highly critical of the idea in an interview shortly after Talisker Mountain Incorporated publicized its interest in some sort of connection early in the week.
Fisher said the idea conflicts with the long-range plans of governmental bodies like the United States Forest Service, Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City. Those governmental entities protect the Cottonwood Canyons watershed.
“They have a long road filled with controversy and conflict,” Fisher said about the plans of Talisker Mountain Incorporated and Solitude.
Save Our Canyons is a not-for-profit group primarily involved in issues affecting public lands in Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon. The group is named after the Cottonwood Canyons rather than the Snyderville Basin mountain resort now named Canyons. Save Our Canyons has not been involved in Park City-area issues. Solitude is situated in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
An official with Talisker Mountain Incorporated, the parent company of Canyons, outlined a route that could run from a high-elevation location at the resort to a spot at Solitude’s lower parking lot. Ted Wilson, the director of governmental affairs for Talisker Mountain Incorporated, said early in the week a traditional ski lift or a tramway are possibilities.
Talisker Mountain Incorporated is exploring the idea with the goal of reducing traffic and better positioning Canyons against other mountain resorts. Connections like the one that would link Canyons and Solitude are rare in North America but more popular in Europe. More details could be released within a few weeks.
Save Our Canyons envisions continuing heavy traffic in Big Cottonwood Canyon even if there is Canyons-Solitude link, saying Big Cottonwood Canyon is more convenient to Salt Lake skiers and snowboarders than Canyons. The link to Canyons would be an added attraction at Solitude, drawing more skiers to the resort, Fisher said.
“This proposal is not about transportation. It’s solely about (ski) area expansion,” he said.
He said Save Our Canyons prefers additional public-transportation options be considered instead. He called the Canyons-Solitude idea “transportation that benefits, essentially, two corporations over what’s best for the Wasatch.”
Meanwhile, Save Our Canyons is also concerned with preserving the large expanses of backcountry between the Park City-area mountains and Big Cottonwood Canyon. The terrain is popular with skiers and snowshoers, and many see it as some of the most pristine acreage in the immediate Park City area. Fisher said a connection would “decimate” parts of the backcountry.
“There would be no backcountry,” he said, adding, “It becomes the lift-served backcountry.”
Save Our Canyons has posted a message about the plan on its website under the headline, “Resorts Wage War on Wasatch Backcountry!” The message criticizes the idea, arguing that a tramway or a lift “will change the wild character of this popular destination in the canyon.”