A Gondola to the top of Alpental?

Not that they're particularly noteworthy in this instance to begin with, but I, nonetheless, tend to heavily discount comments made by those hiding behind totally anonymous handles.<br>I might even suspect a clever troll but, in this case I find it unlikely the adjective could possibly apply.<br>The best news, though, is it's continuing to snow in the Cascades... even at Alpental! That makes me a real happy camper.. er, no, I mean skier

Most destination resorts do very little to enthuse the locals. That goes for most areas of the world.<br><br>There are enough local skiers to rub shoulders with let alone skiers from the rest of the world. And I love how Vail this year is bragging about having the highest lift prices in the country. Get out that hot pink jump suit and shred the corderoy! (Yes I know that Vail has some great terrain!) I don't know much about the area, but I bet the locals in the know hit great terrain for half the cost at other locales far less crowded.<br><br>It will be interesting to see what happens to the B.C. bottom line on the Olympics. Maybe they will actually recover the cost of redoing the road up to Whistler. <br><br>

I think I see  someone hiding under the Fremont bridge.

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Bandit, I really dont see where you're getting the impression that there are a lot of "naysayers" here. From what I've read most people seem positive on this project. Booth Creek is likely already open to comments and suggestions from the public on this, simply to avoid making costly mistakes of their own. Just look at the mess of old and abandoned lifts and trails at Summit. Those mistakes cost money. <br><br>There is a vast resource of knowledge contained in the local skiing community, lift-served and otherwise, and a great number of people that want to see Alpental and the Summit succeed. Forging ahead and building something without public comment, if it were even possible, would hardly be in their best interest.<br><br>Back on topic... I think Summit should actually expand this plan a bit further and try to get a lift in farther up the basin (beyond Knoll 1). This may be really difficult if it lies outside the current permit area, but the Wilderness boudary hugs the ridgeline so theoretically it may be possible. I would also wholeheartedly support the improvements proposed to better connect Central with Hyak.<br><br>

Call me what you want. I live in Fife and work at The Emerald Queen Casino. <br><br>I am a realist and think pragmatically. I have gained and lost friends for my convictions. But , I stick to my guns when I know I am right. <br><br>I will be skiing @ Crystal Wed , Thurs and Fridays. See ya on the slopes.

Based on a true story <br>One reason why we need the public review process: <br><br>Once upon a time a ski area was purchased.  The new owners were really excited because the area had so much potential...located close to a big city, variety of terrain.  Being "savy, smart business people" the new ski area owners decided to make some changes improve the quality of the skiing experience. (Appendix-A-Alternatives-Considered, section 1.2.5, paragraph 1, sentence 1 of the Summit At Snoqualmie MDP-DEIS)  One of these changes was to make a new "cat-track" higher on the hill.  Conceptually it was a good idea; it would increase the length of the ski runs accessed by it and open the traverse to all skiing levels.   The only real down side was that a few trees were going to be cut down in the process.  Well, the savvy and smart business people got the plan started...they went over to the neighboring ski area and took the night skiing lights and added them to there newly capitalized terrain, sucking the life from one area and trying to add it to another. Winter came and the snow started falling, eventually there was enough snow for groomer to make the new cat-track and everyone was getting really excited...even the snowboarders as they no longer needed to do a the long toe/heel traverse...it was going to be great. One day the cat-track was done and everyone headed straight for it...and immediately stopped??  It was flat? How could that be? Didn't they plan? Humm?  The snowboarders took off their snowboards and walked; the young kids were pushed and pulled by their parents and ski instructors. People weren't so happy any more... But what about the longer runs???  Well that didn't work so well either, the newly opened area was FULL of young evergreens so not only was it a pain to get to the runs you could no longer ski them! Then the snow stated falling, avalanches were starting to become an issue...Because of the new cat-track was further up the hill, beyond the protection of young evergreens, it was ruined with every significant snowfall...taking longer to open runs as the cat-track had to be redone AFTER the avalanche control work was performed, considerably reducing the ski able area of this small mountain.   In the end it was a failure and the savvy and smart business people "removed this proposal from the MDP" after, according to their DEIS, they reviewed the "existing conditions, including topography and vegetation cover."<br><br>The End <br><br>ps it appears to me that these people waste their own time.