Alta To Add Six-pack Chairlift To Replace Sunnyside Triple And Albion Double Lift.

Alta is to add a six-pack detachable chairlift will replace the Sunnyside Triple and the Albion double lift.

The Albion lift is a fixed-grip, center-pole chairlift that was installed in 1976. It is rarely operated and is maintained only to provide back-up capacity out of the Albion base area in the event that Sunnyside lift breaks down. However, Alta plans to replace Sunnyside lift with a new, six-pack detachable lift during the summer of 2022, a project approved in the Forest Service’s 2017 decision on Alta’s master development plan revision.

The new lift would serve the functions of both the existing Sunnyside and Albion lifts, making Albion lift unnecessary. Coupled with its age and condition, this makes removal of the Albion lift appropriate at this time.

The chairs, lift equipment, haul rope, and towers would be removed when there is snow on the ground or via helicopter to avoid impact to vegetation and soil, likely in spring 2022.

Exposed lift tower footings would be removed with snow on the ground in Spring of 2023, again to minimize resource impact. Tower footings that were poured and pinned to rock would be removed to the original rock surface.

The remainder of the footings would be broken up and removed to a depth of at least 2 feet then covered with topsoil, allowing them to return to their natural state. Top and bottom terminals would be removed and the sites recontoured and revegetated to a natural state, removing all evidence of the lift. Footings would be removed or covered to at least a 2-foot depth to facilitate vegetation growth.

Total surface disturbance at tower and terminal sites would be about 0.17 acre. No new access routes would be constructed, and the work would be completed by Alta personnel in 2022 and 2023, according to current plans. The Alta Environmental Center would oversee revegetation of the terminal and tower sites.

Resource Surveys Completed:

A full suite of environmental surveys has been conducted for this project. Survey dates and results for each discipline are listed below.

• Vegetation: Surveys detected no sensitive plant species. S

• Wildlife: Cirrus personnel conducted surveys for sensitive wildlife species on July 20, 2021. Surveys indicated the presence of potential boreal toad breeding habitat adjacent to, but not within, the project disturbance area. No other habitat for sensitive wildlife species was present.

• Wetlands: Cirrus personnel conducted surveys for wetlands on August 12, 2021. Surveys indicated wetland areas adjacent to several tower footings, and delineations of these adjacent wetland boundaries were completed. See wetland report for details (Cirrus 2021b).

•Cultural Resources: Personnel from Cannon Heritage Consultants surveyed this project area for cultural resources on July 21, 2021. Surveys indicated no cultural resources present.