Sawtooth National Forest officials have extended the period for public comment on Sun Valley Co.'s proposal to extend its ski area operating permit and expand its skiing facilities on Bald Mountain.
Carol Brown, assistant forest planner, said Tuesday that the Sawtooth National Forest will accept public comments on the Sun Valley Co. plan for at least 30 more days. The comment period was originally scheduled to close on Monday, April 18, but will be lengthened in part to allow forest managers ample time to announce in the Federal Register their intent to study the plan.
An exact date for closing the comment period will likely be determined in the next one or two weeks, Brown said.
The Sun Valley Co. proposal — submitted as an update to the existing Bald Mountain Master Development Plan — calls for several ambitious projects, including installing two new bottom-to-top gondolas, expanding the ski-area boundaries and adding considerable amounts of new snowmaking equipment.
The plan was formally presented on Feb. 15 to the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, the managers of Bald Mountain's public lands. The presentation officially kicked off a 60-day public comment period set to be followed by an environmental-impact study of the proposed changes.
Sun Valley Co.'s ski-area use permit for Bald Mountain is set to expire in December 2007. The resort operator is now seeking to extend the permit for 40 years and to gain approval for a 10-year update of the mountain's development plan.
"We're hoping that folks do let us know what they think the issues are," said Joe Miczulski, Forest Service project coordinator.
One of the most significant projects proposed in the plan calls for developing new beginner ski terrain in the Turkey Bowl area. The area, which is located immediately southeast of Seattle Ridge, now lies just outside the permitted ski area boundary.
Canada-based Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners, which developed the master plan update for Sun Valley Co., has identified a 126-acre "pod" near Turkey Bowl it believes could accommodate up to 560 skiers per day. The area, called Pod M, is considered by Ecosign and Sun Valley Co. to be the best location for adding novice skiing to Bald Mountain.
"This pod was the only (area) on the entire mountain that was assigned a primary skill class in either (novice) or (low intermediate), which makes it extremely valuable to help provide a more balanced ski area and relieve the crowding on the River Run trail," the proposed plan update states.
Ecosign representatives have said Sun Valley Co. needs to bolster its beginner terrain on Bald Mountain, which except for terrain at Seattle Ridge is limited to only a handful of slopes and cat tracks. Only 15 percent of the North American skier market rates as advanced, they have said, while 70 percent qualifies as intermediate and another 15 percent rates as novice.
Wally Huffman, Sun Valley Co. general manager, said during the Feb. 15 presentation that Sun Valley envisions beginner skiers traveling to the Seattle Ridge and Turkey Bowl areas without having to negotiate any advanced terrain. A proposed new gondola would take them to the top of Roundhouse Slope, he said, where they could then access the Gun Tower Lane cat track to get to Seattle Ridge.
The gondola could also be used to download beginner skiers who did not want to ski all the way to the base of Bald Mountain at the end of the day, Huffman said.
The proposed development of the upper Turkey Bowl area calls for installing a new detachable-quad chair lift that would service approximately 500 vertical feet of gently sloped terrain off the top of Seattle Ridge. The lift would rise from an elevation of 8,220 feet and would land approximately 300 feet south of the existing Seattle Ridge lift terminal.
Sun Valley Co. has proposed to develop two novice trails on the southeast-facing area, both of which would stretch for nearly 3,000 linear feet. The work is scheduled to be done in the second phase of the improvements proposed in the 10-year master plan update.
The last update of the plan — which was approved by the Forest Service in 1989 — is considered to be mostly built out. Currently, Bald Mountain is developed with 14 ski lifts, 65 ski runs and five restaurants.
Because the Turkey Bowl area is located outside Sun Valley's permitted use area, the ski area boundary would have to be adjusted southward to include any new terrain there.
A final decision on whether to approve the proposed 40-year permit extension and the master plan update will likely be by summer 2007.
Public comment
The U.S. Forest Service will accept public comments on the proposed update to the Bald Mountain Master Plan until at least mid-May. The plan can be viewed at the Sawtooth National Forest Ketchum Ranger District office, at 206 Sun Valley Road. For information on how and where to submit comments, call Forest Service project coordinator Joe Miczulski at 622-5371.
One aspect of Sun Valley Co.'s plan for Bald Mountain calls for offering skiing on the south side of Seattle Ridge. The proposal would require special permission from the U.S. Forest Service to widen the boundary of the ski area. Express graphic by Gavin McNeil
