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Show Viewpoints The A-17 Park Record. Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, September 21-24, 2019 editorial Paid parking at Solitude sure to grab attention of Park City resorts W guest editorial Mountain Trails Foundation beats new path at 9,000 feet LORA SMITH Mountain Trails Foundation resource manager The 2019 trail maintenance and building season may have gotten off to a late start with a blustery May and snow not melting up high until well into July. But, with funding fully secured for an exciting new trail project, the Mountain Trails Foundation crew was anxious to get boots in the dirt at 9,000 feet elevation. The 9000’ Trail, temporarily named and indicating its rough elevation, is a much-needed connector trail that will traverse the mountain between 8,900 feet and 9,500 feet elevation from Empire Pass to Scott’s Pass. The new trail, meant to disperse trail use, is roughly parallel to the classic Mid Mountain Trail, which sits at about 8,000 feet elevation. When complete, the five or so miles covered by the 9000’ Trail will connect several existing trails, including Fat Lip, Black Forest, Keystone, Dead Tree and Shadow Lake. The 9000’ Trail connects a web of trails, now accessible without having to lay foot or wheel on the over-used Mid Mountain trail. Assessing the detrimental impacts that outdoor enthusiasts are having in upper Guardsman, especially in the Bonanza Flat area, Park City Municipal prioritized funding to help mitigate human impacts. Heinrich Deters, Park City Municipal’s trails and open space manager, says, “The 9000’ Trail is part of the Bonanza Flat planning. It creates additional trail options The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER ...........................Andy Bernhard Editor ........................................Bubba Brown Staff Writers.......................... 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Chelsea Babbitt and connections in the area and disperses users to different trails and trailheads.” Deters further explains, “The City is excited about the 9000’ project as it will provide the opportunity of regional connections through Bonanza Flat, which include the WOW Trail and Wasatch Crest Trail.” In an effort to direct trail-users to sanctioned, sustainable trails, the city strategically installed three new trailheads, each with designated parking and vault toilets, on Guardsman Road. New trail connections in the area, the 9000’ Trail among them, are part of the conservation/recreation master plan for the Guardsman area, designed to protect the environment and enhance recreational access in the area. The master plan is a collaborative effort between Park City Municipal, Mountain Trails Foundation and Utah Open Lands, the land trust responsible for Bonanza Flat. Funding for the $158,000 projected cost of 9000’ Trail comes through grants obtained by the Mountain Trails Foundation from the Utah Governor’s Office of Outdoor Recreation ($79,000) and Utah State Parks Recreational Trails Program ($59,000). Park City Municipal also committed $20,000 to the project. As a nonprofit organization with a positive, long-standing reputation among stakeholders and landowners, Mountain Trails Foundation is in the unique position of being able to collaborate across property lines and fundraise for projects like this. The result is that the entire community benefits from a free, public, world-class trail system. Deer Valley Resorts, Park City Mountain/Vail Resorts and Park City Municipal all provided Landowner Approval for the 9000’ Trail. The city and Mountain Trails thank the landowners for their vision. Charlie Sturgis, Mountain Trails Foundation executive director, says, “Big-picture vision and long-time cooperation between landowners, resorts and the city have created a free, 400-mile trail system that is at the heart of Park City’s culture and economy.” Phase one of the two-phase project has been completed and about two miles of trail are now accessible, starting from the Empire Pass trailhead. Rick Fournier, who heads the trail crew, speaks to the challenge of trail building in high-alpine terrain. “Phase one was fairly straight forward from a build standpoint, other than dealing with lingering snow at Empire Pass. Phase two will be more challenging and interesting, as it works its way through the talus fields and rock bands under Jupiter Peak before climbing up to Pioneer Ridge, crossing Dead Tree and descending into Scott’s Bowl.” Fournier is cautiously optimistic that the 9000’ Trail can be completed by October 2020. For future updates and information about a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October 2020, visit the Mountain Trails website (www.MountainTrails.org). For the record hen Solitude Mountain Resort on Tuesday announced plans to implement paid parking this winter, it certainly caught the attention of skiers and snowboarders all over northern Utah. While the move will more directly impact the other three Cottonwood resorts than Park City’s ski areas, it’s a good bet the announcement also perked the ears of officials at Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort. The prospect of paid parking eventually becoming a fixture of the Park City skiing experience has been fodder for gossip for years. Though neither resort has publicly said whether charging for parking is in their future plans, that chatter has only grown louder in the wake of both resorts indicating that they have plans to pursue developments on the parking lots at their respective base areas and build parking garages to replace the lost spaces. Though it’s unlikely Deer Valley — whose owner, Alterra Mountain Company, also owns Solitude — and PCMR would make decisions about introducing paid parking based on the results of Solitude’s rollout, both resorts will certainly be able to learn lessons from the experiment. So will the Park City community. Solitude has said the move is designed to ease congestion in the heavily trafficked Big Cottonwood Canyon, as well as improve air quality in Salt Lake County, both noble goals. Park City and Summit County officials, meanwhile, have long searched for solutions to the gridlock that plagues S.R. 248 and S.R. 224 and is exacerbated on powder days as skiers and snowboarders flock to and from the resorts. Many Parkites, of course, would blanch at the notion of paying for what has always been free. Solitude has taken its share of online criticism to that effect. But critics should also note the resort says it will not profit from the change because it plans to take the revenue it collects from parking and provide incentives to guests who use public transit. If Park City’s resorts ultimately begin charging for parking one day, they would do well to also follow Solitude’s lead by doing it in a way that is intended to benefit the public rather than bolster their bottom lines. One important step would be working with the city, county and other stakeholders to ensure it’s convenient for folks heading to the slopes to ditch their cars and use the transit system. There are plenty of skiers and snowboarders who hope that day never comes. But a successful rollout of paid parking at Solitude that accomplishes the resort’s goals of reducing traffic and smog may make it closer than ever. letters to the editor Logical consistency Editor: The value of Park City Municipal’s renewable energy and carbon reduction programs is purely symbolic. Materially it won’t make a sand grain’s worth of difference to global carbon emissions, but in the climate change context it is, first, the moral thing to do, and second, might influence many other communities to do the same. That’s why Gregg Simond’s Sept. 16 op-ed misses the point. He is right that in a soil conservation context, livestock grazing can be beneficial but that is not the context at issue. In a climate change context, livestock produced for food is a major carbon problem. It is also true that the carbon emissions from McPolin livestock don’t make a sand grain’s worth of difference in global carbon accounting — but just like the city’s energy goals, they have symbolic value. So if PCMC is going to be logically consistent in its battle against climate change, it has to oppose livestock grazing on city open space. Logical consistency, many would note, is not required in local government. Moreso, it is my understanding that agreements establishing McPolin Farm open space allow earlier owners to continue livestock grazing. However, agreements can always be renegotiated. Tom Horton Prospector Hunger can take a hike Editor: Thank you to the many, many individuals who came out to support our Hike for Hunger last Saturday. It was the perfect day to enjoy hiking and biking, and join together as a community to help fight hunger. Hunger is often hidden around here in Park City, yet it is an all-too-common reality for far too many people here in Park City, Summit County and this entire region. So efforts like our Hike For Hunger hopefully raise greater awareness about this need right in our own community and what we are seeking to do about it through our food pantries and advocacy. On behalf of our entire staff at CCPC, we wanted to say THANK YOU! Rob Harter Christian Center of Park City executive director Nann understands Editor: Nann Worel is my number one choice in this City Council election. Nann has served us for six years as a Planning Commissioner and four years as a Councilmember. I love her creative approach to funding open space, trails and affordable housing. I also adore her support for increased transit/remote parking options. Nann understands our difficulties with growth and she has an amazing capacity to help us change in a healthy way. As a former public official for 12 years, I understand, as she does, that if we don’t grow intelligently, we’ll be damned by greed and sprawl. She understand both the legal requirements and the community necessity for change and growth. Above all, Nann understands that we must continue to be the caring, supportive community we inherited from many decades of mining history by welcoming all newcomers to enjoy this amazing mountain community for all its opportunities and complexities. Your ballots will be mailed in October, but if you need to register to vote, or need more information, please contact the Summit County clerk: summitcounty.org/281/Voter-Registration-Elections. Please register and please vote. Sally Elliott Prospector Vote for a vocal local Editor: Please vote for Ed Parigian for Park City Council. I have known Ed Parigian since 2012. I have been impressed with his civic involvement from the start. For the past 13 years, Ed has been acting on, supporting, representing and advancing local community goals and ideas by speaking out at City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and providing a local voice. He is our Vocal Local. Ed is a leader. He provides solutions. He jumped right into being involved in our town by starting the recycling program in City Park when we had none. He spent two years leading the campaign to preserve our beloved library field in a permanent conservancy, which protects it as open space forever. And he advocates for local causes at every turn. It seems Ed has always been rushing around to fulfill his many volunteer efforts .. .Mega-Genius, Egyptian Theatre, Eccles Theatre, DJ for many years at KPCW, and town meetings, among others over the years. He will bring enthusiasm and creative ideas to support our local residents and enable our community’s priorities. Sharon Christiansen Park City Photos by Jeff Dempsey Asked outside Park City Library Should Deer Valley and PCMR follow Solitude’s lead and charge for parking? Brian George Park City “Of course not. I think paid parking takes away from the mountain, from the experience. It already costs so much to go skiing. This feels like jabbing you for a little more money.” Donna Healy Sandy “Charge for parking? My gosh, this town costs so much already. I think it would discourage people from visiting (Deer Valley) for other reasons. Not everyone goes there to ski. We like to go for breakfast sometimes.” Jessica Wiltsee Park City “Absolutely. It would promote public transportation use and it would help reduce congestion and other traffic issues. Besides, there are lots of options other than parking at the resort.” Michelle Martins Coalville “Personally, no, I don’t want to pay for parking. But they should do it. Maybe it will get more people to ride the bus. And the people who can afford to go skiing in Park City can afford to pay a little extra to park.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and Instagram.com/parkrecord |