Ian Wood
Barring a successful appeal, Park City Mountain will have two new lifts next season. Town Lift reports that the replacements to the Eagle, Eaglet, and Silverlode chairs were approved by the Park City planning staff on April 23rd. The mountain had to commit to a few concessions on their end, including the implementation of paid parking in the Park City Mountain Village for next winter, having the new Eagle Chair be thirty feet away from the Snow Flower property line, and building a privacy fence for Snow Flower due to noise concerns.
The Eagle and Eaglet chairlift will be replaced by a detachable six-pack chairlift, while Silverlode will be replaced by a detachable eight-pack chairlift, a first for the Vail Resorts chain. Click here to learn more about how this will affect Park City next season.
Unfortunately, the drawback of these replacements appears to be the demise of the Three Kings Lift and its surrounding terrain park network. Ecosign, a ski resort planning consultant, said the following about the likely plans for the Three Kings area.
“We could imagine a situation where the existing Three Kings lift would basically go unused during the bulk of the day, due to the attractiveness of the new Eagle lift. If this does happen, then we can imagine that the lift company would choose not to operate that lift (as it would be running empty)”
Eric Moxham, a worker for Friends of Summit County for Responsible Development, predicts this outcome for Three Kings in the coming years:
“This likely would be a precursor to the resort moving or entirely removing the Three Kings Park, which is clearly an important part of the resort’s and community’s fabric and identity as a premier training and competition venue for freestyle skiing and snowboard athletes.”
According to the Park Record, an appeal was filed yesterday by multiple parties. The appeal is based on their belief that Park City’s new paid parking plan is insufficient for the town’s traffic problems, with there currently being no plan to service offsite parking areas for those who will be dispersed by Vail Resort’s new strategy. The appeal is expected to be heard by the Park City Planning Commission in the next 45 days.
Image Credits: Ecosign Resort Planners, Park City Mountain
