How would it work in Utah?

While there seems to be very few possibilities of linking neighboring mountain resorts in North America, except for the existing Whistler-Blackcomb twin-mountain setup, Utah offers the ideal situation to replicate what has been created in multiple European locations. In fact, a linking the closest seven resorts of the Wasatch Front would vault Utah into the world's top six interconnects! The areas are Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyon on the North side of the Wasatch.Brighton and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon as well as Alta and Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon. For the moment, Deer Valley seems the least motivated to link up with other resorts (ski only policy, limited restaurant space, capped number of skiers on peak days and often a Ski Magazine readers survey's number one). Alta and Snowbird (Altabird) as well as Brighton and Solitude (Solbright) are already interconnected.There's more to it than just joining lifts however; if properly thought out, a linkage via lifts of all sorts could also significantly reduce vehicular traffic up and down our canyons and make up for a more pristine environment while limiting the overall "carbon footprint" due to skiing and snowboarding activities.

"Thinking big could also mean thinking clean..."

“Connecting the dots” in the Wasatch would present the ideal opportunity to:

• Create the most attractive and unique winter mountain experience in North America for both locals and visitors

• Maintain a healthy local economy by keeping a steady stream of visitors through the high, low and shoulder seasons

• Enhance the overall access to our mountain resorts and minimizing gridlock

• Further reduce any environmental impact snow sports might have on our mountain ecosystem

If we're still able to "think big" and "think clean, " and if the right funding vehicles are found, a "mountain train" could be envisioned to wrap-up the package; it would be running from the Salt Lake City airport, to downtown Salt Lake and then to a major "park & ride" location near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon:

Click to enlarge image

From that point, the train would become largely underground and offer a stop in Snowbird, cross from Little to Big Cottonwood Canyon into Solitude, cross again into the mountain and terminate in Park City.