Though the bill introduced to Congress last week supporting Talisker Corporations’s gondola project has some wondering if its only a matter of time before construction starts, the debate is anywhere from over. Ski groups and resort managers. County officials and engineers. As the Wasatch Range Recreation Access Enhancement Act quietly waits in Washington D.C., opposing factions are growing in Utah and conversations heating up.

Mike Goar, the Canyons Resort manager, said it’s been a busy week between fielding questions about the gondola project, dubbed “SkiLink,” and prepping the resort for its opening weekend.

“The feedback we’ve received depends on the audience,” Goar said. “There are those on one side of the fence and those on the other and not too many straddling.”

The Wasatch Range Recreation Access Enhancement Act was sponsored by four of Utah’s five congressional representatives and would allow the Canyons Resort to purchase 30 acres of U.S. Forest Service land to build the SkiLink connecting Canyons Resort to Solitude.

The only representative opposed to the bill, Rep. Jim Matheson, said he could not support something that may jeopardize such a critical water resource to the Salt Lake Valley.

“From the days of the pioneers, water has always been a critical Utah resource. A secure water supply is a key factor of our future economic growth. Any proposal that would negatively affect the watershed of over 500,000 Utahns should be met with skepticism,” said Matheson.

Concerns about future development and impact on the watershed serving Salt Lake County have driven opposition to the long-discussed project for years.

Laura Briefer, the special projects manager for Salt Lake County Utilities, said the water from Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons provides 20 percent of the water to Salt Lake Valley.

“This particular project is one ski lift. We already know there are about 10 or 11 other ski lifts waiting in the queue,” Briefer said. “Look at that cumulatively. The entire watershed of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons will become commercial skiing.”

Black Diamond President and CEO Peter Metcalf wrote an open letter to Gov. Herbert on behalf of the ski and snowboarding industry voicing opposition of SkiLink.

“Further ski lift expansion will compromise the present balance and integrity that exists between wilderness and ski areas, let alone watershed integrity,” Metcalf wrote in the letter. “There is no doubt that an interconnect is an attractive idea but, if done, must be done carefully to preserve that balance.”

Goar, however, insists his plans are not to further expand into the mountains, but rather to build the single gondola that would help bring interest into the area and his resort. He added that the resort’s intent was never to sidestep or hide from any regulations involved in building the lift, and that SkiLink would still have to meet the endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Salt Lake City Dept. of Public Utilities has long been opposed to connecting resorts, Goar said, “and the flavor of this proposal is no more acceptable than others were in the past.”

When it comes to water quality, Goar said a preliminary analysis by Canyons Resort has shown the lift could be built without affecting the watershed.

“Our position on a jeopardized watershed is it is simply not true,” he added. “We have some science on our side that shows without question that connects have been built in the past with no, or very limited, impact to the environment.”

EcoSign President Paul Matthews, who has built more than half a dozen gondolas around the world and is working with Talisker on the SkiLink project, said he wasn’t surprised by some of the reactions to the project.

“These connections don’t increase your capacity numbers,” Matthews said. “Solitude is the size it is now and Canyons is the size it is now. They would still need county permission to get bigger.”

“Watersheds are very often an issue in the mountains,” he added. “I just think that the learning curve with technology and techniques has gone far enough that we know to not pollute.”

“What happens when people come to Utah is that they will sleep at one place, but they go out almost every single day to a different resort,” Matthews said.

Matthews designed the project to consider environmental issues. Construction would be done without building any roads, using helicopters instead of trucks. The actual SkiLink, modeled after other projects Matthews has designed would consist of 18 towers about one square yard a piece, totalling18 square yards. The terminals, which would drop off skiers and snowboarders only at the terminals located in the two resorts, would be roughly 10 meters by 30 meters and wouldn’t require any maintenance roads.

Goar said the real issue is whether or not continued development would follow in the wake of a gondola, something he said Canyons Resort had no interest in.

“If the terms of the legislation specifically required that we not develop anything adjacent to SkiLink, meaning along the corridor, we would sign up for that in a heartbeat,” Goar said.

When it comes down to it, Save Our Canyons Executive Director Carl Fisher said the decision to got straight to Congress cut out an opportunity for a public process.

“The resorts are saying this is just a couple of towers and a ski lift,” Fisher said. “What that really is, is a foot hold. In five or 10 or 15 years they will need more condos, hotels and restaurants to accommodate everything.”

For Bishop’s office, the choice to support SkiLink seemed obvious said spokesperson Melissa Subbotin.

“This proposal is a way to link two of Utah’s premiere ski resorts together and allow both local residents and tourists to have access to both areas without having to drive the 35 plus miles through the canyon,” Subbotin said. “It creates jobs for the state, reduces traffic and makes accessing both resorts more convenient.”

For now, SkiLink still has a long road ahead. If the bill passes Canyons Resort can purchase the land, the resort still needs to gain approval from both Summit and Salt Lake counties before any construction can begin.