Gondola at Alpental?

[JayB]

Article in Powder Mag

 

"EW IMPROVED ALPENTAL? Big changes are coming to Washington's perennial Little Area that Rocks

By Kristopher Kaiyala

 

It snowed 14 inches last night (on top of 16 from the day before) and the race is on from both sides of the Cascades to get first tracks at Alpental. You roll into the newly paved Lot 4-no more slushy potholes!-and score the final parking spot. All around you skiers and snowboarders dress quickly and eye you with nervous energy as you remove your skis from the roof rack and sprint past them onto the snow.

 

Scott Rickenberger airing this out a bit. Alpental backcountry, WA

 

 

Decisions, decisions. You survey the busy flow of humans heading toward the Armstrong Express (Chair 1). You're too late-the backup is at least 20 chairs deep. Undaunted, you skate downhill toward the base of the Pulse Gondola, only a few seconds away adjacent to the brand-new Visitor Service lodge. Your midweek pass is no good today, so you quickly purchase a ticket at the fancy kiosk and entertain ordering a cup of steaming black coffee for the ride up, and that's when you notice the sign board: Wind Hold. The gondola's on stand-by. Must be howling on top of Denny Mountain.

 

You eye Armstrong Express again and can't stomach the wait, so you pursue the only logical option left: hop on Sessel (Chair 3). The new bullwheel is spinning quietly and no one's in line yet. You scamper onto one of the cushy new quad seats and in six minutes you're darting down the short access run to the Internationale detachable quad. You're third in line. The liftie nods knowingly beneath his snow-covered hood. You beat the crowd and the weather. Since the Internationale quad unloads on the steep, snow-filled slope just below the summit ridge, the wind isn't an issue. Ding! You've got freshies.

 

To those who know Alpental well, the above scenario is pure fantasy. Or is it? Big changes are coming to Washington's perennial Little Area that Rocks, and it seems few people know about them. Even long-time locals may be surprised to discover just how different their revered and rugged mountain may look and operate in coming seasons.

 

NEW IMPROVED ALPENTAL? Big changes are coming to Washington's perennial Little Area that Rocks

 

In Dec. 2005, the Forest Service issued a lengthy Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for proposed upgrades to The Summit at Snoqualmie, the sprawling resort on Interstate 90 to which Alpental belongs. The DEIS was created in response to The Summit at Snoqualmie's master development plan, which the resort first drafted in 1998 and submitted to the Forest Service with slight modifications in 2001.

 

Within the numerous DEIS documents, the Forest Service examines in great detail The Summit's expansion proposal (labeled Alternative 2 in the DEIS). The agency also offers four alternatives to the proposal, ranging from No Action (Alternative 1) to the Forest Service's at-present Preferred Alternative (Alternative 5) to two middle-ground alternatives (3, 4) that would grant some upgrades but not others.

 

As per normal operations, the Forest Service is required to solicit feedback from the public. The comment period for The Summit at Snoqualmie DEIS ends Feb. 6, 2006. (Comments must be sent in writing to: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/projects/summit-at-snoqualmie/index.shtml.) Once each comment is reviewed and/or addressed-an arduous process which can take a year or more-the Forest Service will issue its Final Environmental Impact Statement and a Record of Decision. Barring any appeals, The Summit can then move forward with the upgrades that the Forest Service deems reasonable and necessary.

 

Many of the upgrades The Summit has proposed are minor, or involve the beginner or intermediate slopes at Summit East, Central, and West. However it is Alpental that stands to receive the most intense changes.

 

 

- advertisement -

 

 

If the scenario envisioned in this article's opening paragraphs sounds far-fetched, consider this: everything mentioned-the Pulse Gondola; the new Internationale fixed quad; a repositioned, lengthened, and broadened Sessel (Chair 3); the new Visitor Service lodge at the base; paved roads and parking lots-plus other goodies like a repositioned St. Bernard (Chair 4); a new Magic Carpet to replace the rope tow; night skiing on Internationale and parts of Snake Dance; and a four-season mountaintop restaurant attached to the gondola station near the top of Chair 2-are all part of The Summit's proposal AND the Forest Service's presently preferred alternative.

 

Of course, preferences are bound to fluctuate following the public comment period. But the fact that the Forest Service is already in line with significant upgrades at Alpental-a ski area beloved by many for its bare-bones facilities and no-frills attitude-means it's nearly a given that radical changes, for better or for worse, are well on their way."

[marylou]

The link no worky.

 

I'd love to read the DEIS with my own eyes, if you find that anywhere, please put the link up.

[Peter_Puget]

Marylou -

 

The link contains an ".)" at the end which needs to be removed.

[marylou]

Tres bien, merci.