Solitude hoping to expand into Silver Fork Canyon

SALT LAKE CITY (Deseret News) — Solitude Mountain Resort has taken the first steps to expand its recreational ski area northward into the beautiful, pristine Silver Fork Canyon area.

While a boon for the Big Cottonwood Canyon resort, the plan to gobble up additional public land is drawing criticism from backcountry enthusiasts and environmental preservationists alike.

"Silver Fork is an incredible drainage," said Save Our Canyons executive director Carl Fisher. "It's important to our water quality, and it's important to a bunch of different dispersed activities. Those opportunities, as ski resorts seek to expand, really alienate a lot of the users."

The north-facing Silver Fork Canyon drains directly into Big Cottonwood Creek and is one of the few remaining open areas available to backcountry enthusiasts, Fisher said. The land also is used for hiking, rock climbing, bird-watching and wildflower festivals, he said.

Utah Mountain Adventures uses the land for avalanche education classes.

The expansion "would be a huge loss," said Tyson Bradley, the company's director and chief guide. "That area would no longer be useful for teaching backcountry skills."

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