.
OK Given For Silverton
Mtn. Heli-Skiing
Some of the awesome
terrain visible from Silverton's single lift.....
Recently approved 40-year BLM lease
includes surprising provision authorizing guided helicopter skiing,
a heli-pad at the base area and a snowcat sized road to the top
of the mountain...
Report & photos by Mitch
Weber |
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October 6, 2005-- Telemarktips.com has learned that the Bureau of
Land Management's Record of Decision (ROD) and Approved Resource
Management Plan Amendment (RMP) for the Silverton Mountain Ski
Area (aka Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center, or
SOLRC) includes a modification to what is known as "Alternative
C", the third option proposed for Silverton in its RMS,
and the one chosen by the BLM.
The RMP says, "Alternative C, Integrated
Guided and Unguided Operation, as modified to incorporate limited
helicopter use, has been selected as the agency’s preferred
alternative. This alternative would not result in any notable
environmental impacts beyond those associated with the Proposed
Action and Alternative B."
In "Alternative B" the approval
for heli-skiing at Silverton is justified with the following
rationale: "This would allow wider skier distribution, more
extensive skier compaction in the permit area, and more rapid
and wide ranging stability testing and avalanche control activities.
Any helicopter assisted operations would involve helicopters
contracted on an as-needed basis, providing their own fueling
and mechanical support, and flying from a temporary heliport
at the overflow parking area."
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In a phone interview yesterday afternoon,
Silverton Mountain owner Aaron Brill explained that guided heli-skiing
as an option is not a major focus of his and co-founder (and
now wife) Jen Ader Brill's plans for Silverton Mountain. In fact,
Brill told us he has little interest in providing heli-skiing
services at Silverton. "A while back the state of Colorado
turned the road leading up to our ski area over to San Juan County.
The county became responsible for keeping the road plowed, and
for avalanche control," said Brill.
"As a result, county officials eventually
contracted with us to provide them with avalanche control services.
We then looked into obtaining a howitzer to carry out control
work along the road, but found the cost of munitions to be very
high, significantly more expensive even than throwing explosive
charges from a helicopter," Brill continued.
"San Juan County wanted the provision
for guided heli-skiing included in the RMP as a way to to make
heli-based avalanche control work economically feasible,"
Aaron explained. When asked about the |
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The Silverton base
lodge... |
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timing of the request, Brill said,
"it's something that was talked about all along, but the
first time I saw the actual heli proposal in writing, as a modification
of Alternative C, was last week when the decision was signed
and the document released for public viewing." Interestingly,
the Biological Assessment section of the RMP states that "additional
consultation was initiated July 9, 2005, for the use of helicopters
for both avalanche mitigation activities and guided skiing; and
for widening the alternative lift trail from 6 to 15 feet."
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Which brings up another interesting development,
namely snowcat access to the top of the Silverton lift and the
mountain-top ridge. "We were told that we had to provide
for better access to the top of the lift in case of an emergency,"
said Brill.
"The original plan called for a 6
foot wide snowmobile trail. We came back and explained that with
the kind of snowfall we get, the only way to maintain access
to the top of the mountain would be to have a road wide enough
to allow for snowcat compaction. So that's how we ended up with
the requirement that we build a 15 foot wide road from bottom
to top. Actually I wish we had known back in 2001 that we were
going to have to do this, that's when we put in the lift,"
said Brill.
"We spent a lot of money on a heavy
lifting helicopter to install the towers, in an effort to avoid
the environmental consequences of building such a road, now we
have to do it anyway." |
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A sweet route back down
to the valley floor |
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When asked about his future plans
for Silverton Mountain now that the BLM has approved unguided
skiing for the area, Aaron told us that he still wants to phase
this option in over time, a position consistent with what he
said to us when we visited Silverton in 2004, "while our
earlier plan to offer 25 or $35 lift tickets no longer seems
realistic, I still want to find a way to accommodate customers
looking for a lower cost unguided option," Brill told us
yesterday, "but at this time I'm not ready to make a definite
commitment in this regard. We'll have to take a long look at
a number of factors and see how it all plays out."
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Back on the topic of heli-skiing at Silverton,
Brill mentioned that so far the provision in the RMP had not
been an issue, "it looks like you've got another scoop,
no one else has asked me about it yet," said Aaron.
Indeed. A few calls made to the chamber
of commerce, the town hall and other contacts in Silverton, revealed
that no one there seems to know about it either, yet another
surprise.
We inquired about the procedure should
he and Jen decide to add a guided heli option.
"The BLM is going to leave any final
decision in this regard up to San Juan County. An authorized
officer will have to look at our plan and after a period of public
comment, decide whether to say yes or no and if yes, determine
what the limits might be. Frankly, successful heli ops have a
lot more terrain to work with than our 1,600 acres, so realistically
its just not something we have much interest in pursuing." |
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Hollie Headrick about
to drop into Silverton's trees |
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Lastly, we discussed further with Aaron
his future plans for Silverton Mountain, and how they had been
affected by the years-long delay in obtaining semi-permanent
permission to access the BLM land. We mentioned that it seemed
as though the BLM's delay had almost been a blessing in disguise,
allowing he and Jen to identify a strong market they did not
previously know even existed.
"That's exactly right," said
Aaron. "Our market has evolved, as has skiing itself in
recent years."
Summing up, Brill continued, "one
thing is for certain, we cannot give up what we have gained to
this point, and we simply can't go back to being a startup. Whatever
new directions Silverton Mountain Ski Area takes in the future
will have to compliment, not replace what we are doing now, which
is, every year, giving thousands of skiers and snowboarders what
most of them tell us is the best skiing and riding experience
of their lives."
www.silvertonmountain.com
SOLRC Record of Decision and Approved
Resource Management Plan (pdf) |