Snowbird is seeking U.S. Forest Service approval to expand into another canyon off its back side -- Mary Ellen Gulch, adjacent to Mineral Basin.
Providing access: A new tram would run from Hidden Peak to the West Twin of American Fork Twin Peaks.
"That will be a pretty dramatic ride," Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort President Bob Bonar said of vistas from the tram, which would rise from 11,000 feet to the West Twin's 11,489-foot summit.
Bonar submitted a proposed master plan amendment last month to the Forest Service's Salt Lake Ranger District.
District Ranger Cathy Kahlow said her staff is evaluating the proposal and will decide by late summer or early fall whether to accept it. If accepted, she noted, expansion portions will require a full-blown environmental impact statement and changes to the Wasatch-Cache-Uinta National Forest plan. The Salt Lake Tribune
