Ski resorts using more ‘green’ power

Utah, which set a record for the third straight year with slightly more than 4 million skier days, has added several high-speed lifts.

The Canyons near Park City will grow to 3,700 acres with the addition of 200 acres of mostly intermediate to expert terrain that will be served by the DreamCatcher high-speed quad. The resort also is replacing the four-seat Tombstone Express high-speed with a six-pack that will increase uphill capacity 52 percent and reduce congestion.

Snowbird is opening a ski tunnel, the first of its kind in North America. The tunnel’s conveyor lift, at the top of the new high-speed Peruvian Express, will transport snowriders from Peruvian Gulch into Mineral Basin.

Deer Valley is replacing the Sterling triple-chair on Bald Mountain with a high-speed quad. Fourteen new snowguns will allow Park City to open more terrain in the early season. Powder Mountain is replacing its Hidden Lake double chair with a high-speed quad.

Jackson Hole, in Wyoming, retired its legendary tram in October after 40 years. A $25 million tram will be built to replace it, opening in 2008. In the meantime, a temporary two-seater chair will ferry snowriders to the mountain top from one of the existing lifts.

In California, Northstar at Tahoe is adding a six-pack. Alpine Meadows has a new 600-foot long superpipe and a terrain park with more than 25 hits, rails, and quarterpipes.

Big Sky in Montana added 212 acres of open bowl ski terrain accessed from the Lone Peak Tram in an area called Dakota Territories. In Idaho, Sun Valley’s Dollar Mountain will be covered from top to bottom with 44 snow guns.

IF YOU GO ... To find a ski area To find a ski area near you, visit goski.com and click on “US Resorts.” There are listings for resorts both large and small in 37 states; as always, call before you go. Source: The Associated Press

Ski Santa Fe has the first new chair in New Mexico in several years, a triple that opens up six new trails from the top of Deception Peak.

Mount Bachelor near Bend, Ore., is replacing its most-used lift, the Pine Marten, with a high-speed quad.

Stowe in Vermont will connect Mount Mansfield and its steep terrain with Spruce Peak’s gentler slopes with a Poma lift ride capable of handling 3,400 people per hour. Also in Vermont, a high-speed quad will serve Mount Snow’s new terrain park. Belleayre Mountain in New York’s Catskills has a new high-speed, too.

Back in Colorado, Crested Butte is replacing its East River lift with a high-speed quad. And Steamboat is replacing its Sunshine triple chair with a high speed.

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