The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Public shows unanimous support at hearing
Irwin Backcountry Guides (IBG) will likely have the Gunnison County Planning Commission’s stamp of approval on the commercial snowcat skiing operation it has proposed near the Irwin townsite.
A public hearing on Friday, November 6 marked the end of the county’s minor impact permit process, and after a short discussion and several comments in favor of the proposal from the public, the Planning Commission asked planning department staff to draw up the papers for approval.
“We’re going through the timeline,” IBG manager Alan Bernholtz said. “We haven’t hit any major obstructions because our plan is pretty simple and really has a low impact.”
The minor impact permit will run on the heels of a U.S. Forest Service special use permit that would give IBG 2,000 annual skier days total, with as many as 24 skiers traveling into the Irwin backcountry every day. However, the operation has capacity for only 12 skiers, Bernholtz said.
But that permit hangs in waiting as a 45-day public comment period draws to a close. If approved, the special use permit would allow the company to operate on 1,000 acres of National Forest land encompassing areas between Barkmarker Basin and Robinson Basin between December 1 and April 30.
Bernholtz told the Planning Commission the operation would also have to cross some private land other than the property owned by Scarp Ridge LLC, IBG’s parent company.
Some of that private land belongs to Wes Bailey, a long-time Crested Butte resident who said at the hearing, “I’ve given my permission to these gentlemen to cross my property on their snowcat and agreed to lease it to their organization. I think it’s a well thought out plan and it should be a good operation to allow up there. They’ve got my full support.”
Wintertime Crested Butte resident Jerome Boulay told the commissioners about the success of Canadian snowcat skiing operations, and encouraged them to allow the same opportunities in Gunnison County.
“I’m in great support of a snowcat skiing operation,” he said. “It will be very beneficial for Crested Butte and the whole area.”
Nick Lypps has mining claims in the area, some of which are under IBG’s permit area. With a smile, he said the operation shouldn’t have any problems with the “weeping dynamite” that is stored in a corner of the Ruby Chief Mine.
“I’ve been told by several people that the dynamite is stable and that I should just leave it alone,” he said, while endorsing the proposed operation.
Speaking for the owners of nearby private property in Floresta, Ted Colvin said a letter in support for the operation had been sent to the Forest Service, adding that the property owners were impressed by the amount of detail IBG provided in its proposal to the County.
Bernholtz said he wasn’t surprised by the show of public support.
He said, “I wasn’t sure what to expect. But, I get stopped in every block walking down the street by people telling me how great it will be. So it wasn’t surprising.”
Along with support from property owners in the Irwin area, the Planning Commission also reviewed a letter from Public Works Director Marlene Crosby that said the county had no major concerns with the application for a minor impact permit.
If IBG’s permit is granted, the Gunnison Board of County Commissioners will have a chance to vote on whether or not to waive the minor impact permit process for similar operations in the future.
With area residents unanimously showing support for the operation’s plans for the Irwin backcountry and satisfaction among the planning commissioners, commission chairman Ian Billick gave the county’s planning staff direction to draft a decision document with a recommendation to approve the application.
