Given the potential impacts to the mountain biking community, this week I want to encourage you, regardless of where you live, to email Utah representatives to oppose the proposed gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
In recent years, the canyon has seen increasing numbers of visitors, leading to sometimes severe traffic congestion throughout the canyon. Because the high volume of visitors is detrimental to the air quality, mountain ecosystems, and ease of access to popular ski resorts and trailheads, officials and special-interest groups have been exploring various solutions to decrease the impact. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) recently announced that its preferred solution to the problem is to build a gondola that will transport people from the mouth of the canyon to ski resorts near the top without decreasing visitor and vehicle numbers.
We Are Opposed to The Gondola For A Number of Reasons
The plan does not implement cost-effective and environmentally-friendly options such as enhanced busses, tolling, reservations, and enforcement of traction laws. These measures have been very successful in Millcreek Canyon, which serves roughly the same population as Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The proposed gondola comes at a huge cost (at least $550,000), but will not decrease the detrimental environmental impacts of high traffic since, in fact, it will likely result in increased numbers of visitors at a higher cost to the environment. According to UDOT’s Environmental Impact Statement, if the gondola is implemented, the number of vehicles visiting resorts will remain the same while skier visits will increase by 20%. The EIS states, “The [gondola] would provide an economic benefit to the ski resorts by allowing more users to access the resorts.”
The gondola will not provide access to trailheads, and will not be of added benefit to backcountry users such as mountain bikers, hikers, and backcountry skiers.
Little Cottonwood Canyon is a true treasure of our local environment that attracts outdoor enthusiasts from around the world to enjoy its beauty. Constructing more than 20 towers reaching 200 feet tall and stretching eight miles through the heart of LCC would destroy the canyon’s natural beauty.
Wasatch Backcountry Alliance has made it easy to contact your representatives with this form, which will take less than a minute to compete. You can either submit the email as-is, or you can customize it to reflect your specific concerns. In addition, copy and paste the email to send to UDOT. We appreciate the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance for facilitating this effort to oppose the gondola. They gave us express consent to use their verbiage. To discuss this matter further, you can contact Wasatch Backcountry Alliance at info@wasatchbackcountryalliance.org
Thank you for your help in protecting our local mountains and trails.