Skiers are, by nature, an聽adventurous lot. That sentiment couldn鈥檛 ring truer than here in Utah where on any given day you鈥檒l聽find snow lovers of every stripe taking advantage of our legendary powder. But when it comes time to聽chart a course of sustainability for the future of the Wasatch, our passionate diversity of user聽groups can often be our own worst enemy.
Lately there has been significant聽momentum, and confusion, regarding the topic of an interconnected Wasatch. Not just the concept of聽skiing between resorts, but getting to and from the communities that surround our slopes. It’s a聽subject that is incredibly polarizing and with good reason: skiing and snowboarding in Utah is both聽big fun and big business.
Instead of defining the problem聽sometimes it鈥檚 more helpful to first define the opportunity. As a Utah native who sometimes hopped聽on the ski bus instead of the school bus I know I鈥檓 not alone in wanting to find a more efficient聽way to access Utah鈥檚 mountains from the valley floor, and once I get there, ski between the聽central Wasatch鈥檚 seven iconic resorts taking advantage of a little bit of each area鈥檚 unique character聽and attributes. Breakfast at Deer Valley, powder turns at Alta, lunch at Brighton, and apr猫s聽activities on Park City鈥檚 Historic Main Street? Sign me up!
The answer comes from the聽marriage of two separate and distinct concepts: an over-the-snow, inter-resort ski connection that聽would allow skiers of all abilities to glide between resorts using gravity and chairlifts; and a聽fast, efficient, and safe mountain transportation solution moving people between metro and聽mountains. The goal is simple: more time on the snow and less on the road.
Every form of development comes聽with environmental concerns. Thoughtful and responsible planning by all entities involved will help聽maintain the quality drinking water and pristine backcountry terrain that we enjoy today. A聽game-changing, economy-stimulating, multi-resort connection and environmental sustainability simply聽do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Momentum and support for this聽vision of responsible connectivity is as high as it鈥檚 ever been. At the final meeting of the Mountain聽Transportation Study Stakeholder Committee, several agency heads agreed that it is time to select聽a transportation solution and begin in-depth studies that will also look at alternatives as well聽as environmental impacts.
Just a few short years from now聽Utah鈥檚 little corner of the ski world could be vastly improved over what it is today. Same great聽skiing but with better access and more options: a four-season mountain playground that borrows the best聽European transportation ideas and incorporates them with an American tradition of聽conservation and sustainability.
In less than a decade, Salt Lake聽City will have a new international airport that is already under construction鈥攁聽modern and dynamic hub of activity with rail lines linking communities up and down the聽Wasatch Front.
In a perfect world those public聽rail lines would connect with a mountain transportation system to efficiently deliver skiers,聽hikers, bikers, and recreationalists of all types and abilities into a high alpine natural wonderland聽that offered access to seven distinct mountain resorts, including over 20,000 skiable acres and聽90-plus lifts. With technology that鈥檚 available today, it could all be on one lift ticket. Adjacent聽to resorts supplying commercial skiing, but also accessed by public transportation, you would find聽hundreds of thousands of acres of the best backcountry terrain found anywhere in the world. And we would still be drinking聽clean water.