"Utah 2009"?

[iceman]

I just came across a document that said that by 2009 Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton, Deer Valley, Park City and the Canyons would be interconnected by a new series of lifts.

The document said that the plan was officially called "Utah 2009". All I got off the intraweb searching that was some nice pictures of trains.

The whole thing seems pretty far-fetched to me, but does anyone have some knowledge to drop on the topic?

[zion zig zag]

Why do think gdub is coming? And the black helicopters.

[Buzzworthy]

That could be very cool, depending on how they do it.

I kind hope I am out of Utah by then though and up in the PNW.

[iceman]

They're building something up near the top of Guardsman right now, so far it's just a flat area but it looks about the right size for a lift and I've seen a few Deer Valley trucks up there. Could be anything, though.

[ill-advised strategy]

Wonder how ridiculous the one pass would be?

[ak_powder_monkey]

that would be crazy

[Dromond]

So they're trying to make the Portes du Soleil of north america?

[Red Baron]

I've never heard of "Utah 2009" but here's some info on the concept of connecting them, in a more grand way than the interconnect tour does now.


Utah envisions Euro-style complex with 12,000 acres of skiing

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Midway on a tour of six Utah resorts in one day, backcountry guide Mark Menlove bounds across the Highway to Heaven, a 500-yard ski traverse that links Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.

Five hundred yards. That's all that separates four resorts — Solitude, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird — from joining to form one sprawling ski area. Another pair of chair lifts could link these four resorts to Park City and Deer Valley, making for North America's largest skiing complex.

"If it's done the right way, an environmentally friendly way — and I believe it can be — then it's a plus for Utah," said Snowbird general manager Bob Bonar. "We want to see if it has legs."

The resorts, all independently owned, have kicked around the idea for years, some guardedly. It would require some form of revenue sharing, and it goes against the exclusive image cultivated by a few of the resorts, particularly Deer Valley.

In 1990 the Mountainlands Association of Governments studied options from traffic tunnels to cable tramways. The report was shelved as too grandiose, but time has made linking resorts only more practical.

Spurred by the 2002 Winter Olympics, many of the Wasatch resorts added high-speed lifts and enlarged their borders, making interconnecting trails a cinch. Already, neighbors Alta and Snowbird offer a joint pass, along with Brighton and Solitude.

Overbuilt, the Utah resorts are itching to attract more vacationers and chip away at Colorado's lead. Utah logs about 3.3 million skier visits a winter; Colorado leads the nation with 11 million.

An interconnect would bring together 12,000 acres of resort skiing on some of the finest powder snow — more than twice the size of either Vail or Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, making for a Euro-style ski experience and powerful marketing draw. That doesn't count The Canyons, a 3,625-acre resort that could join the club. It's only one canyon away from Park City Mountain Resort.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said he was eager to see Utah resorts link up and showcase "our competitive advantages."

"I think our ski industry is very hungry. They see that we are now in a position where we can begin to steal market share from Colorado," said Huntsman, who is striving to build Utah's economy and tourism. "Colorado's been in a green-light mode for 20 years now. And here for the first time in a while, Utah is poised for excellence in this particular area, where it's through inter-connectedness or bringing out other assets that we have, like proximity to a great airport."

The shrinking distances between Wasatch resorts was plain to see on the tour stitching together six ski areas in six hours. The outing brought together two resort managers, an industry ambassador and a board trustee for Save Our Canyons, a sometimes worthy adversary at Forest Service proceedings.

"It's a very narrow range, not at all comparable to the Italian Alps or Colorado Rockies," said Gale Dick, the 78-year-old patriarch of Save Our Canyons, making the case against resort expansion.

"Every time you put in one of these lifts, it takes away part of the backcountry," Dick said of the high-elevation, moderately sloped terrain prized by backcountry skiers for deep, stable snow. The resorts ring this limited range of the craggy Wasatch that is most suitable for skiing.

Bonar is convinced a resort complex could be laid out "in a way that works for Save Our Canyons," but Dick dismissed as so much talk what some in the industry see as inevitable: "They've been saying that for the last 45 years. They hope to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Ski Utah's interconnect tour, which draws 300-700 skiers a year, starts on the immaculately groomed slopes of Deer Valley, known for pampering guests with ski porters and gourmet food. The resort shares a boundary with Park City Mountain Resort on a shoulder of its 9,570-foot summit. On a chair ride to the top, Deer Valley general manager Bob Wheaton said an hour or two of bulldozer work could merge trails of both resorts.

"I don't know I'd go as far as say, 'inevitable,'" he said. "But possible? Definitely."

Deer Valley already limits skiers to about 6,500 a day because of restaurant, not slope capacity, and it often hits the limit, especially during March, Wheaton said. But even if Deer Valley opts out, other, more eager resorts could go along.

From the top of Park City Mountain Resort, Menlove leads the group through a short stretch of ponderosa forest for an open slope and 1.5-mile run to Solitude. It's the longest distance between these Wasatch resorts.

"From a business standpoint, there is an advantage," Solitude general manager Mike Goar said on a summit lift to the Highway to Heaven and the connection to Alta. "It's complicated — who builds which lift and how you share revenues. Europe is a model."

After a jaunt across the Highway to Heaven and a picnic lunch, Menlove leads skiers on a short run to legendary Alta, a place evoking the 1930s where skiers make pilgrimages, not visits. A guard shack separates Alta and Snowbird, Utah's most challenging resort, where the group takes a quick run.

Then it's back to Alta and a final, sweaty backcountry run to Brighton, a homestyle ski area that caters to locals.

Menlove, who has been guiding these $150 Ski Utah tours for four years, says customers are more likely to get lost in the crowds of a resort than in the backcountry. As if to prove the point, a second guide bringing up the rear got briefly separated at Snowbird, skiing to the wrong lift.

[schuss]

I've never heard of "Utah 2009" but here's some info on the concept of connecting them, in a more grand way than the interconnect tour does now.


Utah envisions Euro-style complex with 12,000 acres of skiing

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Midway on a tour of six Utah resorts in one day, backcountry guide Mark Menlove .

Sorry, I stopped reading and busted out laughing right there.

[LaramieSkiBum]

Menlove, who has been guiding these $150 Ski Utah tours for four years, says customers are more likely to get lost in the crowds of a resort than in the backcountry. As if to prove the point, a second guide bringing up the rear got briefly separated at Snowbird, skiing to the wrong lift.

must have got distracted by a snow bunny

[SkiingBear]

Utah logs about 3.3 million skier visits a winter; Colorado leads the nation with 11 million.

Ahhhh, my favorite fact. I know a tourism increase in Utah would be great for local business, but I love the shorter lift lines this brings.

[yentna]

Ahhhh, my favorite fact. I know a tourism increase in Utah would be great for local business, but I love the shorter lift lines this brings.

A bazillion $ ticket to ride all the resort would keep the lines short too.

[boarderline]

I've never heard of "Utah 2009" but here's some info on the concept of connecting them, in a more grand way than the interconnect tour does now.


Utah envisions Euro-style complex with 12,000 acres of skiing

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Midway on a tour of six Utah resorts in one day, backcountry guide Mark Menlove

Sorry, I stopped reading and busted out laughing right there.

Hehe, there's a Toyota/Dodge dealership in Bountiful, UT called Menlove as well. The first time I passed it on the way up to Snowbasin I busted up laughing. Some pr0n operator out there was disappointed that this URL was already taken by the dealership (SFW): http://www.menlove.com/.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

I'm kinda surprised that the Park City resorts haven't already started selling a combined ticket given their proximity and target tourist skiier/rider demographic. As Red Baron's posted article said, a few lifts here and there could easily make the area into a three-ring circus of Deer Valley, Park City, and the Canyons. Even with Deer Valley's snowboarding ban, the allure of having a combined 8500+ acres of skiable terrain to choose from has got to be attractive to the skiing public, not to mention the extra revenue a combined ticket could generate. Has worked for Alta/Snowbird and Brighton/Solitude, why not PC?

[Steezus Christ]

When I saw the master plan for Deer Valley it had no mention of joining up with PC but they could be keeping it hush hush. I know 2 more lifts are slated for the Empire Canyon area. One skiers right of the chutes up near the top of Gaurdsmans and one up near the top of Judge Bowl. They also plan on putting a bunch of homes on top of Gaurdsman complete with a golf course. That really sucks. I also wonder why they don't put gates at the top of Empire to join PC and DV for super pass holders and employees.

[release]

And Solitude would be right in the middle of it all...

[72Twenty]

Hehe, there's a Toyota/Dodge dealership in Bountiful, UT called Menlove as well. The first time I passed it on the way up to Snowbasin I busted up laughing. Some pr0n operator out there was disappointed that this URL was already taken by the dealership (SFW): http://www.menlove.com/.

Sorry for the sub-hijack, but there's a better (worse) one...

Gay Pontiac GMC & Subaru Inc
Dickinson TX 77539
(281) 337-2521

Their website didn't work.

Sorry, back to "Utah 2069".......

[Ski Monkey]

There has been some renewed talk with-in the city lately of linking up P.C. and Deer Valley as well as a new ganjala from Main st, up to park city mtn, then over to the empire area of d.v. Not sure if Deer Valley will ever got off their high horse and allow any of it though.

The other thing is that there will be a new development behind Deer Valley going in in a couple years in Bonanza Flats(behind Brighton as well). Last I heard that would be served by a couple chair lifts. If that were to happen and the lifts were laid out in the right configuration, d.v. and brighton would be a cat walk away.

I hadn't heard of Utah 2009 in a formal paper, but the concept has long been talked about.

[powstash]

Utah envisions Euro-style complex with 12,000 acres of skiing

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Midway on a tour of six Utah resorts in one day, backcountry guide Mark Menlove

The irony here is that this Mark Menlove is the director of the Winter Wildlands Alliance, an dot org that's dedicated to preserving backcountry skiing and travel as non-motorized. Not too sure he's stoked about the idea or the article.

[powderwhore]

Snowbird is building a tunnel.


It sure will be nice when Guardsmans is all built up with multi million dollar homes.

[Ski Monkey]

Snowbird is building a tunnel.


It sure will be nice when Guardsmans is all built up with multi million dollar homes.

Yeah, the bonanza flats area is just too desolate and empty....should stick some homes and other things there.

[Red Baron]

I've heard there's a plan to pave the unpaved parts of Guardsman's, and turn it into a year-round road. The two big problems with that plan right now are the snow removal part, and the fact that the road crosses a bunch of DV runs...

[ill-advised strategy]

Sorry, I stopped reading and busted out laughing right there.

God no kidding...Menlove and Bonar agree this would be stiff competition for european resorts.

[Ski Monkey]

I've heard there's a plan to pave the unpaved parts of Guardsman's, and turn it into a year-round road. The two big problems with that plan right now are the snow removal part, and the fact that the road crosses a bunch of DV runs...

Rest assured Baron of Redness, the last model I saw shows them redoing guardsman with-in the dv borders to accommodate the new development going in at the top of Deer Valley. They've actually already started and completed part of the realignment. Those developers think of everything,no?

[ill-advised strategy]

I've heard there's a plan to pave the unpaved parts of Guardsman's, and turn it into a year-round road. The two big problems with that plan right now are the snow removal part, and the fact that the road crosses a bunch of DV runs...

Sack up DV: Mandatory Road Gap.

[MOHSHSIHd]

sounds like the worst idea ever....