Tunnels for skiers?

Someday, in the distant future, skiers coming to Utah may be able to drive from Alta to Brighton in minutes instead of an hour, or head straight from Snowbird to Park City over a scenic route instead of a busy freeway.

These ideas and more are certain to be among the main talking points of a Nov. 3 meeting called by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to discuss transportation issues related to Utah's growing ski industry.

Other topics will no doubt be those reviewed back in 1990 during site evaluations for the 2002 Olympics.

They include:

• Paving Guardsman Pass Road between Park City and Big Cottonwood Canyon.

• Digging tunnels from Brighton to Alta, linking Big and Little Cottonwood canyons; from Brighton to Snake Creek, linking Heber and the two canyons; from Salt Lake Valley to Snowbird; from Solitude to Iron Mountain in Park City; and from Salt Lake Valley to Snowbird to Solitude to Iron Mountain.

• Installing cableways from Brighton to Park City and from Snowbird to Park City.

• And installing a monorail or cog rail in the tunnels.

The proposed links were included in a study done to review transportation issues during the Olympics. Those same winter transportation issues could face Utah in the future.

Over the past four ski seasons, Utah's skier visits have increased from 3 million to 4 million.

Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, said consensus is that "the state of Utah (is wise) to be looking down the road. What we don't want is to find ourselves in the same position resorts in other states currently face with respect to transportation problems."

Colorado, for example, which hosts close to 12 million skiers a year, has one major access route — I-70 — to a dozen of its major ski resorts.

There was some confusion on Monday with respect to the upcoming meeting. Telemark News released a story and an agenda on "UT Governor's Office Secret Talking Points."

"The problem is," said Mike Mower, Huntsman's spokesman, "I have not seen an agenda, and this one did not come from our office. We've been asked to facilitate a discussion with people interested in (transportation) concepts, and we agreed in order to learn more."

The agenda suggested an AltaBright Tunnel that would tie Big and Little Cottonwood canyons together between Alta and Brighton. And a CottonPark Interconnect that would involve a tunnel or turning Guardsman Pass into a year-round road between Brighton and Park City. The two plans would connect Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, Solitude, Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley and The Canyons.

Lisa Smith, director of Save Our Canyons, said her group would have some concerns over work in the canyons.