Tahoe gondola plan is panned
Sierra Watch says the lift would slice through a protected wilderness area.
Sierra Watch says the lift would cut through a federally preserved wilderness area.
A conservation group has vowed to stop a gondola lift planned to connect two Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts, saying that it would cut through a federally preserved wilderness.
Sierra Watch, a nonprofit group based in Nevada City, Calif., said a gondola lift connecting the Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts would slice through the federally protected Granite Chief Wilderness Area. It is a charge disputed by the manager of the ski resorts.
“That kind of development would be a nonstarter for us,” said Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch.
The gondola was announced last week by the manager of the two ski resorts, Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, which said it reached an agreement with the owner of the private property between the resorts.
The gondola would run about two miles between the bases of the two resorts, enabling skiers to zip between them without using ground transportation.
Although Squaw Valley Ski Holdings has yet to submit construction plans, Sierra Watch has developed a map showing how the gondola line would cut through the eastern corner of the wilderness area.
Andrew Wirth, president and chief executive of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, disputes Sierra Watch’s claim that the gondola would cut through wilderness, saying the project would remain on private property and be so far away that hikers in the Granite Chief Wilderness area wouldn’t even see it.
Designated wilderness areas in the U.S. are set aside by an act of Congress as land that must remain pristine, free from the mechanical impacts of humans. Even bicycles are not permitted.
Mooers said his group has promised to stop the gondola, even if it only runs next to the wilderness area.
Forest service officials say the land proposed for the construction of the gondola is private property that is within the boundaries of the wilderness area.
If the gondola towers are built on private property but the gondola were to hang over wilderness land, the project may violate the restrictions that Congress has imposed for wilderness areas, said Joanne Roubique, district ranger for the Tahoe National Forest.
But she said that, based on the preliminary maps she has seen of the project, the gondola should not affect the wilderness area.
“It’s hard to know,” Roubique said. “We don’t have the proposal yet.”