News Roundup: Utah, Utah, Utah

14 thoughts on “News Roundup: Utah, Utah, Utah

  1. vonrollskyway1's avatar vonrollskyway1 December 9, 2023 / 11:24 am

    Pretty awesome that Busch Gardens Tampa Bay rather spend mass money on a 50 year old Von Roll VR 101 than buy something new. Great job to the maintenance staff and huge thanks to Doppelmayr. Let’s all go Von Rollin at Busch Gardens Florida

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  2. David M's avatar David M December 9, 2023 / 12:40 pm

    It’s puzzling that folks in SLC would sue to stop the gondola which isn’t scheduled to be built until the 2040s, if it all.

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    • Sia's avatar Sia December 9, 2023 / 1:56 pm

      It’s stupid because by the time it’s built in 2040 the lift technology they planned to build might be outdated already. For example their original plan was for a full 3S system, but now they could probably use something like the Tri-Line which would cut costs.

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  3. Helamans Warrior's avatar Helamans Warrior December 9, 2023 / 6:52 pm

    Hope the worst for Wasatch peaks ranch. The last thing we need is a private resort when we have overcrowding at the other Utah resorts.

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    • Mike B's avatar Mike B December 11, 2023 / 1:10 pm

      Struggling to understand this comment. Is your expectation that if WPR is stopped, it will somehow transition to a public resort in a relevant timeframe to address current overcrowding at Utah ski resorts? Surely that’s not a reasonable expectation, so it seems like this is just more about hating the rich.

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      • James's avatar James December 11, 2023 / 2:07 pm

        The problem with wasatch peaks ranch is that the ski and recreation area is built on public land that people have been backcountry skiing for decades. The rezoning makes it illegal to access that public land for anyone without property/membership in WPR. Honestly I hope it’s shut down. IMO It’s ridiculous that the hyperwealthy feel so entitled that can claim an entire mountain that’s more than 75% public land.

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        • Eric Kong's avatar Eric Kong December 11, 2023 / 3:22 pm

          How would zoning affect this? Wasatch Peaks Ranch isn’t on public land…the forest service won’t even approve a new public resort, they certainly wouldn’t approve a private one.

          The forest service land around it hasn’t changed and you would still be allowed to backcountry ski it. If someone was accessing it through the Wasatch Peaks property, that’s always been private land (held in the past by different owners I believe), that would be trespassing regardless of the zoning…

          Maybe the previous landowners specifically allowed it to be used for backcountry skiing/access, but I don’t see how the current zoning dispute would affect this.

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        • Tyler's avatar Tyler December 11, 2023 / 8:59 pm

          Absolutely none of the land on Wasatch Peaks Ranch is on forest land. It is entirely private.

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        • Mike B's avatar Mike B December 11, 2023 / 11:01 pm

          Even if it were on public land, which it isn’t, I guess I’m struggling with a motivation for opposing WPR based on “overcrowding at other Utah resorts”.

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  4. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif December 9, 2023 / 10:29 pm

    The best way to describe the situation with the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola is that it’s being tied up by NIMBYs who want to gatekeep access to the canyon so that they don’t lose their powder stashes. I think that’s an accurate summary.

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    • Ryan Murphy's avatar Ryan Murphy December 11, 2023 / 2:27 pm

      Have you ever skied Alta or Snowbird? They are not secretive places with an abundance of hidden snow around. They both track out within 2 hours, and enough people know the mountains extraordinarily well, so most lines see skiers.

      The current situation is that only people getting to LCC at 6am have access. Just to be clear.

      Trying to portray any opposition to development as old curmudgeonly skiers is really disingenuous. Most of the opposition I see are nonskiers protesting spending that much money on a project that benefits a wealthier hobby while SLC has a lot of transportation needs.

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  5. Donald Reif's avatar Donald Reif December 9, 2023 / 10:38 pm

    In other news, Snowbasin put the chairs on DeMoisy this week and is starting snowmaking in the Strawberry basin. I’d expect that lift to be load tested and opened in the next few weeks.

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  6. awconrad's avatar awconrad December 10, 2023 / 12:09 pm

    It’s great to see some (possible) investment at Red River! I love the old Copper Chair and it serves some great terrain, but the base is underutilized and a new chair would drive more people to go over there and clear up traffic at the other two.
    A High Speed lift would do wonders for the resort, but I don’t think the Copper line is the best for that, and there probably won’t be enough money for that for a while, especially with the recent Platinum upgrade.

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    • skitheeast's avatar skitheeast December 11, 2023 / 8:59 am

      Red River is an amazing gem, but its underutilization means there isn’t enough traffic to justify the cost of a high speed lift. Plus, Platinum is probably the line where it makes most sense. A modern fixed-grip quad would be great for Copper.

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