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'Master Plan' includes Peak 6 terrain, new restaurants, trails, lifts and snowmaking.
The following recaps an article in the Summit Daily News by Bob Berwin, January 11, 2007.
Ski area executives touted their vision of a conceptual plan for build-out of the country's second busiest ski area, outlining a slew of upgrades and improvements to existing lifts and trails, as well as additional snowmaking and a new terrain pod on Peak 6.
Some of the items discussed were from previously approved (Forest Service) Master Plans, and some were new items.
"These are all the potential things we want to do, but it doesn't mean we'll do all of them," Roger McCarthy, co-president of Vail Resorts, said.
Among items discussed were improved egress from the ski area at Peak 9 with regrading of the Silverthorne trail, moving ski school operations up the mountain at Peak 9 to reduce congestion at the base, replacing some of the older lifts, a new lift and new trails for the Red River area, adding new ski school activity terrain, replacing Chair 6 with a higher capacity chair, moving the bottom of the Independence Chair downhill to tie in with the new base area development, a new mid-mountain restaurant on Peak 7, and more snowmaking on Peak 7.
Regarding Peak 6, which is inside the ski area's boundary, but which has never been developed, the plans call for one to two new lifts for Peak 6. In full, about 400 acres af intermediate and advanced terrain would be added.
Other projects could include replacement of the Colorado Superchair as well as a new Peak 8 base area lift that would slant over toward the Pioneer trail on Peak 7. Also discussed was a new teaching area above the Peak 8 vehicle shop, to be accessed with a cabriolet-style lift, mid-mountain food and beverage service in the vicinity of the old Chair 2 and renovations to the Vista House to replace some of the open-air decks with covered space.
Finally, a new access road to the bottom of the new lift at Peak 6 is needed, and reconstruction of existing roads to help reduce erosion on the mountain.
"This is a road map for the next six to eight years," said vice-president of operations, Rick Sramek. "It's important to note that this is not an approval process, it's conceptual." Site-specific review an approval for the various pieces would be part of a U. S. Forest Service process.
Roger McCarthy noted that the implementation of some of the projects are real-estate related, meaning that in order to afford the upgrades, adequate real estate sales had to occur.
