Yesterday would have been my mother’s 88th birthday, so I thought today is a good day for a blog posting
January 24, 2017
Yesterday would have been my mother’s 88th birthday, so I thought today is a good day for a blog posting.
Progress continues with the Forest Service (FS) on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis of our proposed projects. However, it is slowed down by our request to resurrect Lake Flora (at the top of Glory Hole) to reservoir water for Salt Lake City and our snowmaking. The FS wants us to do further review of reservoiring options this summer. With that being the case, we asked the FS to separate out our proposed Supreme/Cecret lifts replacement for possible Categorical Exclusion so we might have a chance to build that lift this summer. That decision should be made sometime in February.
The other process that is moving along is that of choosing the position structures and folks to replace my position. Our Board has picked long-time Alta employee Mike Maughan to be our next General Manager (GM). We are now working with Mike to help him select a well-rounded, capable Operations Manager (OM) to help him. I will work with Mike and whoever is named OM through May.
Our climate and weather patterns are variable. Currently, Brighton, Snowbasin and Powder Mountain are all reporting a higher total depth than Alta and Snowbird, which is something you don’t see very often.
Our ski area, and particularly the Alta Environmental Center, continue to work with the University of Utah (U of U) reviewing the successes of the Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program (ENVST) we have been working with since 2015. The U of U continues to be a great partner for us.
Our near average snowfall this winter has sported a higher than average water content. Our snow removal and snow shoveling crews are starting to wonder where they are going to put the other half of our seasonal snowfall!
- Onno
