Solitude hoping to expand into Silver Fork Canyon

SALT LAKE CITY — Solitude Mountain Resort has taken the first steps to expand its recreational ski area northward into the beautiful, pristine Silver Fork Canyon area.

While a boon for the Big Cottonwood Canyon resort, the plan to gobble up additional public land is drawing criticism from backcountry enthusiasts and environmental preservationists alike.

"Silver Fork is an incredible drainage," said Save Our Canyons executive director Carl Fisher. "It's important to our water quality, and it's important to a bunch of different dispersed activities. Those opportunities, as ski resorts seek to expand, really alienate a lot of the users."

The north-facing Silver Fork Canyon drains directly into Big Cottonwood Creek and is one of the few remaining open areas available to backcountry enthusiasts, Fisher said. The land also is used for hiking, rock climbing, bird-watching and wildflower festivals, he said.

Utah Mountain Adventures uses the land for avalanche education classes.

The expansion "would be a huge loss," said Tyson Bradley, the company's director and chief guide. "That area would no longer be useful for teaching backcountry skills."

In October, Solitude submitted an expansion proposal to the National Forest Service, which controls the Silver Fork area. The resort wants to add 741 acres to its existing 1,418 acres, according to the 10-page letter Solitude sent to the Forest Service. About 527 acres of the expansion would be on public land, the letter says, but the nonprofit group Save Our Canyons believes additional public property is at stake.

The Solitude proposal will go through a two-part screening process before the Forest Service accepts it. If accepted, a more intense process would include studying the environmental impact and gathering public opinion — a process that could take years, said Forest Service spokeswoman Lorraine Januzelli.

The resort, which already uses some public land, would have to pay for use of the Silver Fork parcel according to a predetermined fee schedule.

"It's a very, very careful balancing act," Januzelli said. "We're going to make the best decision for the future."

Solitude general manager Dave DeSeelhorst said while there are no specific plans for construction, expansion in the area likely would include several new ski lifts. Under Forest Service rules, new lifts would be allowed, but permanent structures such as homes would not be permitted.

If the resort expands, no uphill traffic would be allowed in Silver Fork during the winter, but access during the summer would remain open to the public, according to Januzelli.