“To be or not to be, that is the question.” In the opening line of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the author was trying to bestow on the audience….blah blah blah, who cares, we got first world problems up in here! After driving by about 12 “Stop SkiLink” signs in yards I didn’t think twice about the issue, but when my buddy Randy told me people came here and asked us what our stance was on it I decided to dig a little deeper.
There are two main websites dedicated to the SkiLink issue. One is for the SkiLink and one is against it. I decided the best way to handle this issue is come up with a few questions we may all have and then to populate the answers from the respective websites. Then while y’all come up with your own decisions I will drink a glass of High West and try to get through the second sentence of Hamlet.
What is the SkiLink?
For: SkiLink is the proposed gondola that would connect Canyons and Solitude Mountain Resorts in only 11 minutes and significantly enhance the amazing skiing and snowboarding experience the resorts offer. The gondola would be the first of its kind in the United States and give Utah a competitive advantage.
For: SkiLink will establish Utah as the best and most diverse ski destination in the country.
SkiLink offers a unique tourism advantage with the largest ski terrain in the United States under one ticket. SkiLink would inject $51 million into the local economy, $3 million in tax revenues and create a ripple effect that will add more than 500 new jobs.SkiLink won’t impact Salt Lake’s watershed according to an Environmental Impact Analysis. SkiLink eliminates up to one million miles driven per year, as well as around one million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. SkiLink connects the Wasatch Front and the Wasatch Back, connecting people to nature while treading lightly on the land. SkiLink lowers traffic in Big Cottonwood Canyon initially by as much as 18,000 car trips per year, or up to 10% for peak hour/peak direction on peak days.
Costs/Losses?
Against: Modern transportation systems must quickly move the highest number of people possible at the lowest possible cost while minimizing impacts on sensitive natural elements. SkiLink fails. There are many transportation solutions that are much more feasible (and palatable) than selling some of the Wasatch’s prime land to foreign interests. We must consider all proposals and select those that: (i) provide true public transportation; (ii) have the greatest likelihood of long term success; and (iii) and that minimize impacts on the Wasatch-–the place from which our drinking water flows and to which we flee to escape the stresses of urban life.
Obtaining a permit to use USFS land for ski resorts involves a number of steps, including public comment/hearing periods. Talisker assumed this process would be much too difficult, so they instead convinced Rep. Bishop, Rep. Chaffetz, and Senators Hatch and Lee to support a bill which will sell a 30 acre strip of land, which land was not otherwise for sale, to Talisker, a Canadian real estate development company with a spotty environmental track record.
Utah’s economy depends on travel and tourism. In fact, in 2009, 19.4MM visitors brought more than $6B into Utah, supporting over 110k jobs, and bringing in $625MM in taxes. Poor air quality, degraded resources, uncontrolled growth, etc. threaten tourism. And a threat to Utah’s tourism industry is a threat to one of Utah’s greatest economic machines. For that reason alone, we should do our best to preserve the mountains that surround Salt Lake City and make it such a great place to live.
So it’s really up to you. Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing? Leave a comment below if you want and if you want to learn more about either side of the issue click here for for, and here for against.
