A Gondola to the top of Alpental?

About 10 years ago, when Booth Creek bought the Pass, there was some talk about putting a lift out to knoll 1. Well, apparently, Booth Creek has begun their master plan for the pass because they submitted an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the forest service. Anyway, according to the plans they submitted, the two major "improvements" at Alpental are a gondola up to the top of Denny Mtn and a chairlift out to knoll 1. For those of you who don't know about the federal bureaucracy, after submission of an EIS it's the public's turn to comment on the plans. I think that, like it or hate it, considering how much we all use and love the BC around Alpental, it is really in our best interests to submit comments to assist the federal bureaucratic decisionmaking process. <br><br>My initial reaction to this proposal is that it'll make already-crowded alpental more crowded while shrinking the BC and making the best parts more easily accessible... However, you can decide for youselves, as the EIS can be found at www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/projects/summit-at-...almie/download.shtml and it has about 50 megabytes of proposals in easily downloadable PDF format. Especially interesting are the proposed trailmap for Alpental (in chapter 1) and the drawings of the "new" alpental (in chapter 4 I think) Check it out... at the very least, it's really interesting.

FWIW, a few years ago Dan Brewster was talking to a group of us about this Alpental gondola and when questioned he admitted it was highly unlikely it would become reality. If so, he said it would be the last thing they would do... The gondola they plan (if it did happen) is a very low capacity lift, nothing like what you see at Whistler. He said it would be used if they completed a mtn top resturant and it would haul folks up in the summer.... Remember when Ski Lifts Inc was considering a gondola from Alpental to Summit West to connect the areas w/o the need of a shuttle bus? I don't know how far any of that planning actually went, but it was suppose to run from the top of the Armstrong Express to West across the freeway...<br><br>The MDP is interesting reading, but I doubt much of what they hope for will every happen beyond chair replacement of existing lifts and one or 2 more fire pits....

It will take a minimum of 10 years before you see any construction at all. Take a look at the Crystal Mt. plan. They started plans in 1995. In 2005, things started to happen. Too many groups and individuals will protest this progress. Hence , the delay in a much needed upgrade. <br><br>Washington is full of backcountry skiing. I laugh when some one makes a statement about " loosing backcountry acres".

It will take a minimum of 10 years before you see any construction at all. Take a look at the Crystal Mt. plan. They started plans in 1995. In 2005, things started to happen. Too many groups and individuals will protest this progress. Hence , the delay in a much needed upgrade. <br><br>Washington is full of backcountry skiing. I laugh when some one makes a statement about " loosing backcountry acres".

<br><br>These plans are not new, they have been submitted since 1998.. These MDP only have slight changes to them and no changes at Alpental I believe. The majority of changes from the 1998 submission are at Hyak and Central . If your going by a 10-year plan for submission to execution then we are in year 7 of this one. <br>

Also, I'm not sure if any of you caught this in the paper this morning but: seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews...0_snoqualmie28m.html

An EIS this big is really costly, like $500k-$1m costly, so if Booth Creek is dropping that kind of change, I'd say they're pretty serious. As for whether it's a good idea, that is why I posted the EIS to this site in the first place, to talk about it.

As users of the back country in that area, we have an interest in seeing it used and developed responsibly. Personally, I think that adding a gondola to the top of Denny Mtn is bizarre, but acceptable, but a chair to Knoll 1 could be really bad. The terrain it opens is really small. And then there is the fact that it would empty into trash can, and there isn't really a logical way around cutting some sort of cat track back towards the base, potentially ruining the Elevator Shaft area. The other big drawback is that it might attract more skiers to an often overcrowded Alpental without adding enough new terrain (or parking) to accomodate them all.

On a different note, Alpental was spectacular today, especially once the sun came out.

While I think anyone investing money in low-elevation Cascade ski areas should have their head examined, I don't think new lifts at Alpental would necessarily be bad for BC skiers. Knoll 1 isnt far enough though, it's just going to add more skiers to essentially the same terrain, which IS bad. It's probably sacriledge on this site but I'd rather see them go the whole nine yards and put a lift in past Piss Pass (maybe one big one from Source Lake to P-Pass or Pineapple Bowl). Yeah, it would spoil a great sidecountry powder run, but it would open up a whole lot more to those willing to ride a few lifts to start a tour. Once the season is rolling, a lot of this terrain is tracked up anyway and the whole drainage is surrounded by Wilderness so it isnt like the ski area development is uncontained. Yeah, it would put lifts close to the Tooth and Chair, but I'm willing to sacrifice those for a better Alpental ... we have no shortage of alpine rock in Washington, but I think our alpine ski areas are pretty small given the mountains we have to work with. Of course, none of this will ever happen...<br><br>I'm actually surprised there is no mention of a lift to Mt Catherine in the master plan. Did I miss it?