News Roundup: Exploration

7 thoughts on “News Roundup: Exploration

  1. ShangRei Garrett's avatar ShangRei Garrett July 19, 2024 / 11:07 pm

    Somebody please explain the decisions behind the whole used gondola deal at Eaglecrest. There must be some semi-valid reasoning behind that somewhere, but this whole situation is just absolutely mind-boggling to me.

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    • ryand1407's avatar ryand1407 July 21, 2024 / 6:56 pm

      From a previous comment describing the thinking behind going forward with the project:

      1. The city owns the land and already has a delivered lift. It’s almost the same as a private operation, but it does mean they can fast track their own approval and remain more flexible than if they were dealing with USFS. Any hurdles can pretty much be cleared internally.
      2. A good chunk of the finances were only made available beccause of the promise of summer operations, both from the city and from Goldbelt. Eaglecrest currently misses out on the throngs of summer cruise tourists, while the summer-only tram in downtown Juneau is slammed. This would both relieve the current demand in the Juneau area, and create a lot of other summer opportunities. This was probably the only way to secure funding, even a Skytrac triple to replace ptarmigan would ONLY be funded by the ski area, not city money budgeted for summer tourists or Goldbelt.
      3. Tied to summer crowds, the idea that this is a lift for “30,000 local residents” is flawed. That small a population base wouldn’t provide a large enough ski market to support such an expensive project. 1.4 million people cruise to Juneau every year. 200,000 people ride the tram every summer. Imo, combined with winter use, the numbers are absolutely there to justify its construction.

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  2. George T's avatar George T July 20, 2024 / 6:16 pm

    “Eaglecrest may eliminate features such as restrooms to get its used gondola project off the ground.” Not in my future plans without restrooms.

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  3. Ray's avatar Ray July 24, 2024 / 9:50 am

    That is quite a run for Snowbowl’s Aspen, formerly Agassiz, 62 years on that hill. Any Riblet fans still out there?

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    • Carson's avatar Carson July 24, 2024 / 10:04 pm

      yup. I’m still here. Wish it could stay around longer.

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