By Bob Lloyd
July 7, 2015
Nathan Rafferty was pulling into the Salt Lake airport
last week just hours before boarding a flight to
Washington, D.C.
As president and CEO of Ski Utah and the pro-resort
representative to Mountain Accord, Rafferty was doing his
duty to lobby Utah’s congressional delegation to
support the tenets of the Accord: controlling development
on both the front and back slopes of the Wasatch
Mountains.
That means boundaries for the resorts, and for many of the
ambitious plans that his group pushes, especially One
Wasatch, which proposes to connect the dominant ski
resorts between Park City and the Cottonwood canyons.
The One Wasatch plan is not dead, Rafferty insists.
Despite the Mountain Accord’s shift to focus more on
environmental issues and set clear lines of what acres can
be developed and what should be left open, Rafferty said
there’s no conflict between pushing for the Accord
and pushing for connecting the ski resorts in some
fashion.
“We need to be a team player,” he said from
his car. “It’s up to us to be a team player,
to be at the table and be involved with the
decision-making that’s going on.”
That comes amid the build-up for the Accord’s
critical meeting on Monday, July 13, of its executive
board where it will decide if the plan moves forward. For
Rafferty and Ski Utah, his goals focus on transportation,
even though he agrees with the overall push.
“I think the ski resorts are generally
agreeable,” he said.
“There are still a few details to sort through. In
general, we’re supportive and there are a lot of
great things that could come out of the Accord and so
I’d say we’re optimistic.”
The most important goal for the resorts, Rafferty said,
still is improving transportation, especially getting up
both Cottonwood canyons during bad winter weather.
“We’re interested in any incremental
improvement in transportation,” he said. “If
it were a better bus system, we’d see that as a win.
If it were something significant as a train, we’d
certainly see that as a win in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
We have the opportunity to move in the right direction for
the future of our industry and for people who like to ski.
I think it’s a good thing.”
Despite his group’s overall support for the Accord,
connecting the resorts remains a chief focus. One Wasatch
was introduced two years ago about the same time as
Mountain Accord and addresses the interests of ski
enthusiasts and resorts. Rafferty’s executive board
comprises members of all major ski resorts, plus a host of
business interests. Many board members have strong ties to
Park City.
One Wasatch proposes to connect the ski resorts to
increase the overall variety open to a skier. One pass
would let a skier make several runs at any of the six
resorts: Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude on the Salt
Lake side, Park City Mountain Resort/Canyons and Deer
Valley on the Park City side. This models some of the top
ski areas in the world, especially Europe’s Alpine
region.
One proposal to build a tunnel connecting Park City to the
Cottonwood canyons has been scuttled by the Mountain
Accord initiative. However, other ideas still live,
Rafferty said. Connecting the two Cottonwood canyons
certainly is possible, he said. A train could supplant the
need for lifts.
“So it’s certainly in play. There are just so
many moving parts to the Accord. So I think that’s
always been a focus of the ski area the connectivity and
it will remain to be a focus in the future.”
And there still are studies that will examine the costs
and feasibilities of connecting the resorts. Even though
the study is non-binding and Park City and Summit County
officials insist the examination is for information only,
connectivity still will be part of the document.
“The city has said they’re going to take a
study and try to understand what that would do for Park
City, not having any (part) actionable, just taking it
slow and steady and studying it a little bit more: any
kind of connectivity, and that covers a real vast array of
connectivity, from going over the snow on your skis with
chair lifts and ski runs to a tram.”
Many involved in Mountain Accord have clearly stated the
group opposes ski lifts to connect the resorts. Their
solution is to use buses or trains. No proposal in the
Mountain Accord suggests connecting Cottonwood canyons
resorts with Park City ones.
“The accord looked at the One Wasatch proposal which
was a lift-base proposal and we did not support that as an
idea,” said Andy Beerman, Park City Council member
and the city’s representative to the Accord.
“What the Accord said is we think we can do this
through transit solutions. We can connect our resorts via
rail or bus and that’s what we’re focusing on
at this point. And we’re not recommending aerial
solutions as a transportation solution.”
The One Wasatch proposal traditionally has met stiff
opposition from Save Our Canyons, the environmental group
that also sits on the Accord board. Carl Fisher, the
executive director, traveled to Washington with Rafferty
last week and he says the One Wasatch proposal is too
unpopular.
“People don’t like it, people don’t want
it. One Wasatch is about ski area connectivity with lifts,
and that comes at a significant cost to the many, many
other uses. It will bisect some of the most popular
mountain bike trails in the area. It will fragment
wildlife habitat. It will displace backcountry
skiers.”
Despite the opposition, Rafferty said he has no problem
working within the Accord to plan the ski resorts’
future. That’s a good move for the industry.
“I still subscribe to the fact that doing nothing is
a bad option for us, for we know the population of Utah is
not going remain steady. The popularity of Park City is
not going to remain steady and we have a real good idea
that it’s going to increase. What are we doing to
make it a more livable, a better place for both residents
and our guests in the future?
“So we need to be making some of these big tough
decisions now,” he said, “and sitting on our
hands and doing nothing is not the right decision.”
http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_28466447/one-wasatch-stays-game
