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| FOSM Reponse to Letter of CBMR Director of Planning (CB News, 1/15/10) |
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| FOUR SEPARATE CONFLICTING SETS OF SNODGRASS TERRAIN DATA |
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| CBMR appears unsure of what the Ability Level Terrain
Distribution would have been on Snodgrass Mountain. During 2009,
they presented at least four separate,
conflicting sets of Snodgrass terrain data, as noted in the table
below. CBMR's 1/15/10 letter in the CB News repeated the acreages
shown in their 12/18 09 CB News advertisement, but both of these
conflict with CBMR's Snodgrass Light presenations, the official
Master Development Plan (MDP), and the
Snodgras Expansion Proposal Letter they submitted to the USFS in
2009. MDP Table 6-5 provides the official terrain data. |
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CONFLICTING TERRAIN DATA |
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2009 Snodgrass Light Presentation* |
12/18/09 CBN Ad & 1/15/10
letter |
2009 Snodgrass Expansion Proposal Letter - Attachement 1** |
2009 MDP Table 6-5*** |
| Beginner/Novice |
54 |
55 |
31.7 |
54.9 |
| Low Inter + Intermediate |
123 (total) |
116 (total) |
28.4 + 117.5 =
145.9 (total) |
5.3 + 98.0 =
103.3 (total) |
| Advanced |
74 |
50 |
43.3 |
49.7 |
| Expert |
25 |
56 |
55.5 |
68.7 |
| Total |
276 |
277 |
276.3 |
276.6 |
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*CBMR's 2009 "Snodgrass Light" and "MDP" presentations
and "snodgrassfacts.com FAQ" each include this data.
**Mathematical error in the "Total" line is CBMR's.
***Totals derived by adding individual ski runs |
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Many Terrain Expansions, but Minimal Increase
in Skier Visits:
Why Would 276 Acres on Snodgrass be Different? |
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| The amount of skiable acreage available on Snodgrass versus CB
Mountain is a side issue. The real issue is that terrain expansions
have failed to appreciably increase Skier Visits. As FOSM has repeatedly
stressed, the Colorado ski industry has implemented 13,000+ acres
of terrain expansions, including 4,000+ Interemediate acres, since
1995/96. Yet Skier Growth has been only 0.31% per year. In spite
of the fact that every Colorado resort has expanded, virtually all
of that slow-visits growth occurred at three Front Range/I70 corridor
resorts--A-Basin, Beaver Creek, and Breckenridge--that offer heavily
discounted season passes. There is no reason to believe that a hard-to-get-to,
276-acre expansion on Snodgrass would attract more skiers when 13,000
additional Colorado acres have failed to meaningfully increase visits. |
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| Snodgrass Would Have Provided Little Intermediate
Terrain |
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Furthermore, the proposed Snodgrass expansion would
not have provided an "overabundance" of Intermediate terrain,
as CBMR claims. Table 6-5 of the MDP (pp 110-113) lists Slope Length,
Slope Are, Average Grade, Maximum Grade, and Ability Level for every
run on CB Mountain and every run proposed on Snodgrass. A little
time with Table 6-5 and a calculator shows that there would
have been only 98 Intermediate acres on Snodgrass. Most
of the Intermeidate runs would have been both shorter and steeper
than Intermediate runs on CB Mountain.
The length of the average Snodgrass
Intermediate run (1967 ft) would have been as short as those in the
Prospect and Gold Link lift pods (1997 ft and 1966 ft). Since CBMR said they "don't expect this short section of [Prospect] Intermediate to be utilized by many skiers", it is unclear why they claim that runs of the same length on Snodgrass, more than 45 minutes from the Base Area, would attract more skiers.
Snodgrass' five
longest Intermediate runs would have been about as short as Bushwhacker under the Teocalli Lift. Four of those five "long" Intermediates would have been as steep, having the same 45% slope angle and "Double Blue" Rating as Upper Keystone on CB Mountain. CBMR has said that typical intermediate skiers feel "pure terror" on steep Upper Keyston. If all Snodgrass' steep, 45% Intermediates are deducted from the 98 acre total, there would have been only 37 "average" Intermediate acres on Snodgrass.
CBMR has repeatedly claimed that the terrain on Snodgrass would transform
their ski product and attract more skiers. Their own MDP establishes
that the terrain
on Snodgrass would have just been a smaller, shorter, steeper version
of the terrain on Crested Butte Mountain that they repeatedly proclaim to be inadequate. |
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| CBMR Has Colorado's 5th Fastest Skier Visit Growth
Rate! |
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| CBMR's letter included a lengthy list of improvements
CBMR has made to the CB Mountain since 2004. CBMR is to be applauded
for implementing those upgrades which earned them Colorado's 5th fastest skier visit growth rate since 2004, beating Aspen, Copper, Durango, Keystone, Steamboat, Vail and Winter Park. |
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| CBMR Has USFS Approval to Implement Upgrades on CB
Mountain |
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| CBMR Has approval from the USFS to implement additional,
badly-needed upgrades to CB Mountain including: additional intermediate
terrain and gladed intermediate trees; 4 upgraded chair-lifts and
one new lift; additional restroom and restaurant facilities (both
of which are currently deficient on CB Mountain); and elimination
of long-standing, dangerous bottlenecks. |
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