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Show Interconnect far from complete, says U.S. Forest Service ranger by C stopher Smart Although the U.S. Forest Service has recognized the concept of Interconnect, a system of ski lifts that would enable skiers to travel between Wasatch Mountain resorts, it told the Park City Council Jan. 17 it has "backed off" on promotion of the system. Currently travel from the Park City Ski Area to Solitude, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird is possible with the aid of ski lifts. However missing links in the system make travel in the opposite direction impossible, unless, un-less, of course, the skier walks up the mountain. Utah's Interconnect system was big news last ski season when ski magazines and the New York Times carried articles on it. But according to District Ranger Richard P. Kline, the hoopla is premature., - , Kline,1 whose1 area of responsibility includes! the Wasatch-Cache rNa-! tional Forest where parts of the Interconnect system are planned, believes the system is a number of years from completion. "We've told various groups not to get too excited at this time about Interconnect." Kline spoke to the council regarding the Wasatch-Cache draft environmental imparl slatt'inoiit on the proposed forest Land Management Manage-ment Plan. The plan takes into consideration such uses as ski resorts, the Interconnect, and helicopter skiing. Interconnect has been promoted as a completed system when, in fact, it is not, Kline said. "We (the Forest Service) have been as guilty as anyone in the last three or four years of talking about Interconnect as something more than it is." Currently all that exists of Interconnect is a permit issued by the Forest Service1 to Ski Utah Inc. to ' lead' tours between " resorts in the Wasatch Mountains, said Kline. "It (the Interconnect system) may happen in the next few years. But it will take a lot of incentive by individual ski areas." Kline explained ex-plained that while much of Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude are on Forest Service land, many areas between the resorts are privately owned. For that reason the Forest Service should lead the effort to develop Interconnect, he said. Most notable among private lands where Interconnect lifts are proposed pro-posed is the area between Brighton and Park City. Kline was quick to put to rest fears of the city council that Park City would become the parking lot for skiers who wished to ski at Solitude or Snowbird via the Interconnect. It isn't practical to ski those areas from Park City, he said, because it takes , much of the day to travel on skis to ' Big and Little Cottonwood. Canyons, from Park City. " y |