Looks like this is gaining momentum. The goal ultimately is to connect the Park City resorts with the Cottonwoods ultimately providing access to all seven resorts via tram. The initial stage (Canyons over the ridge to Solitude appears it may be a go soon).
http://liftutah.org/blogs/press-media
For two years, downhill skiers have been in a froth over a proposed gondola that would connect Utah's Canyons Resort to nearby Solitude Mountain, linking up 6,250 acres of terrain.Though the project has been slowed by concerns about environmental impacts, odds are that it will eventually get federal approval. Meanwhile, other Utah resort managers have been quietly discussing additional lifts and boundary openings that would bridge seven mountains throughout the Wasatch Range, creating a European-style network offering single-pass access to 17,000 acres. Here's a look at how and when this ambitious project could all come together. 1. SNOWBIRD <-> ALTA Since 2001, the AltaBird ticket ($99) has allowed skiers to swipe passes at boundary turnstiles. 2. ALTA <-> SOLITUDE PROPOSAL: A lift from Alta's base up to a cat-ski area known as Twin Lakes Pass, and another short lift from Twin Lakes Pass to the top of Solitude's Summit chairlift. POLITICS: Alta's lift would be built in Grizzly Gulch, an area currently used for the resort's cat-skiing operation. Management needs to decide if closing that makes fiscal sense. ETA: 2017 BONUS: Access to a 45-degree bowl full of open glades, cliffs, gullies, and ridgelines. 3. SOLITUDE <-> CANYONS PROPOSAL: A gondola from Canyons to Solitude. POLITICS: Backcountry skiers are upset that the gondola will cut through prime off-piste lines. Environmentalists are concerned that Canyons will develop land adjacent to the new lift, polluting the watershed. Since this is federal land, moving forward requires congressional approval; a bill made it through the House of Representatives and was expected to come up for a Senate vote in late 2012. ETA: The gondola could be built in time for the 2013-14 season. 4. CANYONS <-> PARK CITY PROPOSAL: A lift from Canyons to Park City. POLITICS: Talisker, a Canadian company, owns Canyons and the land Park City operates on. But Talisker and Park City have been in a dispute over the terms of the lease. They expect to resolve it early this winter. ETA: The lift could be built within two years of an agreement. BONUS: Access to an open bowl and aspen glades. 5. PARK CITY <-> DEER VALLEY PROPOSAL: Access points along the boundary between the two resorts. POLITICS: Deer Valley and Park City execs are studying the logistics of a dual ticket. ETA: 2013-14 season. 6. PARK CITY <-> BRIGHTON PROPOSAL: Two lifts starting at Guardsman Pass, a seasonal backcountry road. One would carry skiers to Park City, the other to Brighton. POLITICS: This is all private land, so approval hinges on Park City resolving a dispute with Talisker Land Holdings, its landlord. Environmentalists may try to halt construction over concerns that it will pollute the watershed. ETA: The lifts could be built within two years of an agreement between Talisker and Park City. BONUS: Trails down to the lifts would include everything from easy groomers to glades. 7. BRIGHTON <-> SOLITUDE The resorts were linked in 1984. The SolBright Pass ($82) allows back-and-forth access through several gates. ENDLESS TURNS The numbers on a hypothetical ski-tour loop beginning and ending at Snowbird: $105: Price of a lift ticket 15: Number of chairlift and gondola rides (includes existing lifts) 5: Hours of travel time Link to Article: http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/north-america/united-states/utah/The-Most-Ambitious-Skiing-Project-in-the-United-States.html?page=all Utah renews debate over Euro-style resort connections in Wasatch Range, some already in placeBy Associated Press, Published: November 19
SALT LAKE CITY — This could be the next great leap forward for Utah skiing: Hopping from one resort in the Wasatch Range to another, with seven resorts already clustered so closely together some neighbors are separated by only a rope line.
It would make for a Euro-style experience in in the mountains that loom over Salt Lake City. By combining 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) of terrain, the Utah resorts could offer North America’s largest skiing complex — three times the size of Vail and twice as big as Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia.
Canyons Resort has given the concept new attention with a proposed first step: a $10 million gondola traveling two miles (3.2 kilometers) over the 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) Wasatch ridge and dropping into Solitude Mountain Resort for customers of both resorts.
Many skiers are delighted at the prospect of open travel along some of the best skiing terrain in the West, with the reliability of dry Utah snow.
“It would give Utah the marketing edge it needs,” says Jon Weisberg, a retired Bristol-Myers Squibb executive from New York who moved in 2000 to Utah for the skiing and redrock canyons. “Stringing these jewels together will make it even better.”
It’s not clear Canyons will succeed, but the Park City resort has opened a debate that lay dormant for decades. The discussion could bring in other resorts, and it’s already spurring studies of transportation and route options involving rail, cable cars or dedicated bus lanes.
“The whole idea of connecting resort has taken on renewed discussion and debate. We’re happy to be a part of it,” said Mike Goar, managing director of Canyons. “It’s consistent with the bigger picture of connecting resorts.”
Going over opposition from the U.S. Forest Service, Canyons asked Congress earlier this year to sell a corridor of land for the gondola, raising an avalanche of protest from backcountry skiers, wilderness advocates and municipal water officials.
“We need to curb development and keep the pristine beauty of the Wasatch mountains that draws people to this place,” said Carl Fisher, executive director of Save Our Canyons, a preservation group that says it’s open to lower-impact options for resort connections.
Solitude recently stated that it hopes to see construction of the inter-resort gondola begin in summer, but aides to Utah’s Republican Congressman Rob Bishop don’t expect any action until the new Congress is seated in January.
