Things are afoot in Summit County

Peak 8 to get more powder?

Resort proposes extensive fencing to protect snow

BY BOB BERWYN
summit daily news July 20, 2006

SUMMIT COUNTY — Several early season “wind events” at Breckenridge last winter have led resort officials to propose the installation of about 1,200 feet of wind fence along the top of Peak 8, to protect and enhance the snow cover in the terrain served by the new Imperial Express chair, said Breckenridge spokeswoman Niki DeFord. The final placement and length of the new fence hasn’t been determined yet, but the White River National Forest recently listed the project in its quarterly update of public-land projects slated for environmental review. The idea is to optimize the skiing experience on the Peak 8 terrain, Forest Service officials said.“We’re doing some internal scoping,” said Joe Foreman, winter sports expert for the Dillon District, explaining that the evaluation for the controversial Peak 8 lift did not include a look at snow fencing.
If everything “looks benign,” he said, the Forest Service would follow an approval process that doesn’t include public comment or extensive environmental review.In other projects, when snow fencing is proposed above treeline, the Forest Service has looked at a variety of issues, including how the added accumulation of snow might affect the high-alpine tundra and the hydrology of the area. A fence might also provide a perch for raptors in an area where there was none before, with potential impacts to small mammal populations.Foreman said the snow fence wasn’t considered during the Peak 8 analysis because the resort and the agency were focused on finalizing plans for the list itself in a process that some critics said was rushed to begin with. The Peak 8 lift was not included in the ski area’s master plan.“You know, I’d say it just didn’t come up. In my opinion, it probably should have,” Foreman said. “I believe our thinking was to use early season snow compaction to maintain the snow cover,” he added. “There’s always the option of using something smaller or something more temporary than what they’re proposing.”Foreman said that visual impacts to high ridgeline could be among the most important considerations as the agency ponders the fence plan.

Projects in Keystone

At Keystone, meanwhile, an evaluation of a proposed new snowmaking reservoir and pipeline have been put on hold by the Forest Service. Foreman said there are no particular issues holding up the study, but that the project just didn’t appear to be as high a priority as it was a few years ago.“It was a high-issue item on their charts,” he said. “I would say it’s just a NEPA doing its job. Some other alternatives have come up and we haven’t settled on what we’re going to analyze,” he said.Several years ago, Keystone proposed construction of a large mountaintop reservoir to provide a reliable water supply for snowmaking. Subsequently, the resort shifted gears and began talking up a pipeline from the Roberts Tunnel to bring clean water from Dillon Reservoir to the resort. That concept was touted as a way to address the issue of the heavy metal pollution in the resort’s snowmaking water from the Snake River.Environmental studies are also due for a snowcat skiing proposal at Keystone, as well as for the Montezuma Bowl expansion at Arapahoe Basin. The latter could be finalized within the next few weeks. Keystone is also looking at adding seven mountain bike trails, according to the White River notice. Several of those are connectors for existing trails, but one new downhill trail is also slated, Foreman said.

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