New Bullion Basin lift, upgrade to High Campbell..

from the TNT today: www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/07/149295...pproval-for-new.html

New Bullion Basin lift, upgrade to High Campbell lift approved at Crystal Mountain

Posted By Craig Hill on January 7, 2011 at 1:53 pm

New terrain and an upgraded High Campbell chairlift are on the way at Crystal Mountain after the Forest Service approved the projects Friday.

The approval of the environmental document, the final step in the National Environmental Policy Act process, also paves the way for a new wastewater treatment plant at the ski area.

The upgrades are part of Crystal’s 2004 master development plan. The ski area has not established a timeframe for installing the new lifts, said Crystal spokeswoman Tiana Enger.

The new Bullion Basin lift will add about 250 acres of new intermediate terrain to the ski area that at 2,300 acres is already the largest in the state.

The new High Campbell lift will replace a 31-year-old lift with two-seat chairs that Enger describes as “well past its prime.” The new lift will likely have three-seat chairs, will move slightly faster and will be capable of operating in higher winds.

The High Campbell lift only accesses expert terrain.

The ski area has eliminated its plans to build a skier bridge over Crystal Mountain Boulevard.

“We are excited that this is done,” said Specialist Sean Wetterberg, of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. “This will improve the skiing experience at Crystal Mountain.”

Not even sure what to say, except that maybe Scotsman's son will now have more room to practice his tele turns.

A little more info from Crystal's site here:

www.skicrystal.com/News/1152/Forest-Serv...es-Ammendment-to-MDP

Not sure what skier bridge they're talking about but improvements to the waste water treatment facilities would be a welcome improvement. Of course, considering that they can't even fix a drinking fountain...

I wonder how the new Bullion lift - which will be on the lower slopes - will affect the access to the upper Bullion Basin for backcountry skiing?

The old plan was to use the Millicent Chair from Brighton which was replaced by a high speed chair as the chair up to Bullion.

Many early Crystal skiers tell me that the skiing up there was not particularly good and that is why the former chair was removed.

Here is a link to a map of the Bullion lift -- it looks like the new lift will top out in the same location as the old bullion lift -- the amendment to the master development plan was to shorten the bottom end. They had planned on having the loading station at the bottom of "lot B" -- now it will be across the road in "lot C"

a123.g.akamai.net/7/123/11558/abc123/for...20_FSPLT1_017991.pdf

I suspect the purpose of the lift has more to do with improving the prospects for real estate development on the hillside above lots D and E than it is about adding intermediate ski terrain.