Snowbird gets approval to expand into American Fork Canyon

[accadacca]

Thoughts on this one?

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AMERICAN FORK CANYON — The Utah County Board of Adjustment voted to approve permits allowing Snowbird Ski Resort to expand into American Fork Canyon.

It means new chairlifts, zip lines, even a gondola.


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“It’s definitely a big chapter in snowbird's history," said Brian brown, Snowbird spokesperson.

Brown said the resort will be expanding another 500 acres into Mineral Basin and Mary Ellen Gulch on the American Fork Canyon side of the mountain.

“The terrain back there would make for an amazing addition to the skiable acres we already have,” Brown said.

But there are many people who think it's going to ruin the canyon.

“I've been going up there for over 30 years," said photographer Willie Holdman. “I don't want to go up there and have alpine slides, zip lines, and mountain coasters. This is a place where you actually go to enjoy Mother Nature."

Holdman is a professional photographer who has taken plenty of pictures of the places Snowbird is expanding into.

“I photograph pure, pristine places," he said.

He's also part of a group fighting to keep snowbird out.

“There comes a time where you got to think, where's the balance there? It's great to have jobs and help the economy a lot, but at what sacrifice?" Holdman said.

Another big concern is water quality.

"That was our number one goal, was to protect our water source for a quarter of the county," said Brad Frost, who sits on the American Fork City Council.

Frost helped negotiate getting snowbird to monitor water quality for the next two years before any construction starts and to measure against readings after work begins.

“Our goal all along was to stay very open and very transparent, and that's going to continue as long as we operate in Mary Ellen Gulch,” Brown said.

Holdman just feels no matter what Snowbird does to try and keep the canyon pristine, something will be lost.

“And when you lose that, how far will you have to drive to enjoy that stuff now?" Holdman said.

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[Scott P]

I used to ski a lot and have skied at Snowbird many times. In my opinion though, I think Snowbird is developed enough. They have already expanded much territory in recent years and to me it seems like enough. Personally, I wouldn't like to see them expand more into American Fork Canyon, even though I don't see it as much since I moved from the area.

[DiscGo]

:(

[dougr]

To me this is emblematic of a national debate we need. Do we want an ever increasing population, with the economic growth that comes from it. Or do we want slow or no growth. And if we want population growth, through the mass immigration we have now, there will be endless pressure to develop pristine areas.

This is a drop in the bucket situation, but it's repeated over and over nationwide.

[reverse_dyno]

I have been surprised at how many people are against the Snowbird expansion. Normally it is only the environmentalists that are against such things, but in this case the 4x4er's, snowmobilers and mountain bikers are all against this. If all those groups could worker together, I think we could slow down the destruction of our playgrounds. Separately we do not have much chance.