The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Snodgrass back under consideration
Talks have resumed between Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) and the U.S. Forest Service regarding the resort’s expansion on Crested Butte and Snodgrass mountains. On March 31, CBMR met with the Forest Service to outline several potential development scenarios, including three that would bring skiing to Snodgrass, a once contentious issue that still plays itself out in bumper stickers and letters to the editor. Both CBMR and the Forest Service are determined to ensure that any new development plan goes much more smoothly than the last.
“We don’t want to get into a situation similar to before, where we spend a lot of time and energy and money following [the wrong direction],” CBMR chief of operations Ken Stone said. “This was a general discussion of top-line concepts that we can explore together.”
Last September, CBMR and the Forest Service agreed that a traditional ski resort would not be allowed on Snodgrass, and that it was time to consider alternatives to the resort’s proposal to add three lifts and 276 acres of skiing to the mountain. The agreement represented a striking shift in strategy and attitude after a May 2010 decision by forest chief Tom Tidwell upheld forest supervisor Charlie Richmond’s last minute rejection of the resort’s proposal. The March 31 meeting marked the beginning of a renewed effort at partnership and communication.
“We talked about how one of the issues dealt with on Snodgrass was the completion of a site specific plan to develop on Snodgrass and a master development plan [at the same time],” said U.S. Forest Service District Ranger John Murphy. “We are not going to do that again.”
According to Murphy, after the Snodgrass decision, forest supervisor Richmond asked CBMR to explore alternative expansion opportunities on the main mountain. He also suggested that the Snodgrass door may not be closed entirely—it was simply that specific proposal that had been denied. This most recent discussion was the first opportunity for the Forest Service to consider CBMR’s alternative suggestions, which include potential expansion on the Brush Creek side of Crested Butte Mountain and on Snodgrass.
“In terms of Snodgrass, CBMR presented three different alternatives for potential expansion,” Murphy said. “One includes some lift-served skiing—there are two proposed lifts in that—and another one was a kind of a snowcat operation on the mountain, and the third was a backcountry type of expansion. We haven’t responded yet, but we’re working on that.”
Murphy was careful to explain that these ideas are being considered as part of an internal review process that will smooth the way for future development of the plan. It does not require NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act review); it is instead a chance for the Forest Service to determine whether they can agree to the ideas conceptually, or identify any red flags before a formal development plan or a site-specific proposal is submitted.
In essence, he said, it’s a chance for the Forest Service and CBMR to say, “Let’s work together. Let’s work with the community. Let’s work on the master development plan and then work on site-specific projects. Then hopefully nothing will be found unacceptable at the eleventh hour.”
In a briefing to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, April 12, Murphy suggested that it is unlikely that any scenario with lift service would be given the go-ahead, and the Forest Service sees some concerns with gaining access to the backcountry. The middle Snodgrass alternative—the snowcat operation—seemed to be the most acceptable at this point. But Murphy will brief the forest supervisor this week or next, and from there, the Forest Service will develop a formal response to CBMR so they can begin working on a master development plan.
“We can’t stay the same size we are and still be successful—we’re going to have to expand,” Stone said. CBMR is currently the smallest destination ski resort in Colorado at just 1,100 acres—about half the size of the next smallest resort, which is Telluride, according to Stone.
No matter how the Forest Service responds, one thing is clear. There is a lot of work to be done, and a long process remains.
“In terms of the other proposed areas on the main mountain, it’s going to take a lot of work, during field season, to get out and [evaluate],” Murphy said. And the master development plan and any subsequent site-specific proposals will follow the NEPA process. In the meantime, the Forest Service has encouraged the ski resort to involve the public in the early stages of the development process. And according to Stone, any plans the resort develops will be made available for public input.
