Eldora Expansion

[fastfred]

Hi

I moved to colorado on (fill in the date) now that I am here absolutly nothing can change, everything has to be like it was the day I got here. Any change is bad for my mojo and heck don't forget about the environment that gets thrashed by thousands of people every weekend trying to enjoy the outdoors. Sign my petition to keep everyone off the land I use personally every day and consider my sacred ground. You can't use it.

Have you ever been to eldroa townsite on a weekend? Complete shit show of parking and over use and gaper stupidity. Give up the crying and the petitions, let eldroa expand and grow. In my opinion they should have grown even more than their currrent expansion plan.

[hatchgreenchile]

I laughed about the "absolutely pristine" land in section C.

[Wildman]

Yep. let me be more clear. The views expressed above are not my own. I completely agree that Eldora/Hessie/4th of July is a shitshow for sure. I tend to avoid this zone on summer weekends. Definitely not pristine. To be clear. My post above was to get my buddies petition some visibility. His views on the proposed expansion are apparently shared by many of the residents of the town of Eldora. I typically don't like to get involved in politics bc generally speaking $ talks. Kind of like pissing into the wind. But i felt compelled to share so that front range folks could here both sides of the story.

I think the main point of his argument, is, if you already have Corona lift and Indian peaks lift, why would you put in a lift that destroys a watershed and doesn't even take you to new terrain?

[Danno]

I want to oppose the expansion mostly just because Eldora is run by a bunch of baboons.

[fastfred]

[QUOTE=Wildman;4454897]Yep. let me be more clear. The views expressed above are not my own. I completely agree that Eldora/Hessie/4th of July is a shitshow for sure. I tend to avoid this zone on summer weekends. Definitely not pristine. To be clear. My post above was to get my buddies petition some visibility. His views on the proposed expansion are apparently shared by many of the residents of the town of Eldora. I typically don't like to get involved in politics bc generally speaking $ talks. Kind of like pissing into the wind. But i felt compelled to share so that front range folks could here both sides of the story.

{/QUOTE]

thats fine but I'm just sick of hearing people whine about things, everyone has their little slice of colorado and then they take the opinion that they've got theirs and no one else can have anything

eldora's a nice little town, but give it up, it's in boulder county, whats the population of boulder county? it ain't small, all these people fear growth, there are plenty of small isolated towns in counties with small populations, if thats what the people of eldora crave then they need to pack up and move to one of those towns

[Canada1]

[QUOTE=fastfred;4454963]

Yep. let me be more clear. The views expressed above are not my own. I completely agree that Eldora/Hessie/4th of July is a shitshow for sure. I tend to avoid this zone on summer weekends. Definitely not pristine. To be clear. My post above was to get my buddies petition some visibility. His views on the proposed expansion are apparently shared by many of the residents of the town of Eldora. I typically don't like to get involved in politics bc generally speaking $ talks. Kind of like pissing into the wind. But i felt compelled to share so that front range folks could here both sides of the story.

{/QUOTE]

thats fine but I'm just sick of hearing people whine about things, everyone has their little slice of colorado and then they take the opinion that they've got theirs and no one else can have anything

eldora's a nice little town, but give it up, it's in boulder county, whats the population of boulder county? it ain't small, all these people fear growth, there are plenty of small isolated towns in counties with small populations, if thats what the people of eldora crave then they need to pack up and move to one of those towns

Eldora is the only place I have ever seen wooden teeth. Buddy came out of the 7-11 and said "That chick at the counter has wooden teeth!"
We all had to go in and buy stuff just so we could see that shit in real life! NIMBY's are what the west now is. Jackson, Park City and Boulder are pretty near the top of the list on the displaced Cali's leading the NIMBY charge. The whole idea of a lift effecting the water shed there is hilarious. If you've ever spent any time in that range, wind loading is what it is all about.

[Kinnikinnick]

why would you put in a lift that destroys a watershed and doesn't even take you to new terrain?

I personally don't know that the lift will really be an improvement or necessary, but "destroy a watershed?"

[norgeskier]

Seems like all they want is for the lift not come right down to the trailhead and the stream. Seems to make sense to me. Forests are important too.

[Danno]

Seems like all they want is for the lift not come right down to the trailhead and the stream. Seems to make sense to me. Forests are important too.

there's also the bridge issue. The plan includes a bridge that will allow access to the lift. Won't be a public bridge.

[Canada1]

Yeah, and there aren't any bridges across that water shed!! I think this has as much impact on the water quality as the dead guy in the shed.

[norgeskier]

From the EIS:

"In an attempt to maintain key lodgepole pine stands at the resort, EMR has been applying carbaryl to approximately 4,200 trees within their operational boundary (approximately 1,300 on NFS lands and 2,900 on private lands owned or leased by the resort), annually since 2008. Carbaryl kills or deters attacking beetles on individual trees. Spraying throughout the SUP area was approved by the District Ranger in a 2007 Decision Memo for Direct Control Efforts for the Mountain Pine Beetle at Eldora Mountain Resort. The Decision Memo approved treatment areas on the front-side of the mountain, along the ridgeline to the west and in critical areas that serve as screens or windbreaks particularly those surrounding the top terminals of chairlifts. Specifically, stands surrounding the top of Challenge and Cannonball chairlifts, the patrol headquarters (PHQ), and the top terminal of Indian Peaks chairlift have been sprayed. Spraying has been approximately 95 percent effective in these stands. It's not clear how the expansion area would be affected."

Carbaryl is not good for humans. If they spray the new terrain they are essentially spraying closer to the creek. That's not good for the water quality.

[mud]

I got to chuckle over the comprised water quality of middle Boulder Creek. This creek flows through Nederland pass three condemned garages that are a hair away from being classified as superfund sites and into Barker Reservoir and Boulder's drinking water where most folks take their dogs for a walk and a piss and shit.

Also there is very little old growth up by Hessie, most of those trees are less than 75 years old, that area was cleared cut by miners 100 years ago.

I understand where he is coming from, I don't like mindless development and wish Eldora just upgraded its current resources. I'm a environmentalist and hate corporate bulldozing but not as much as having someone on my side outright lie about what the development would impact. Fuck that guy, I bet he's a snowshoer.

[Danno]

Fuck that guy, I bet he's a snowshoer.

That's great.

[blazes_boylan]

all this expansion seems to accomplish is add more skiers to Eldora's already scary over-crowded slopes. it's a place where even tree runs are crowded on good days. seems like a lot of new lifts and uphill capacity with not much new terrain will create an even more crowded experience. I'm typically all for uphill access, but can see why Eldora doesn't allow it.

[norgeskier]

I understand where he is coming from, I don't like mindless development and wish Eldora just upgraded its current resources. I'm a environmentalist and hate corporate bulldozing but not as much as having someone on my side outright lie about what the development would impact. Fuck that guy, I bet he's a snowshoer.

The guy who made the website is a skier thru and thru. I know him. He's podiumed at Elk Mtn. Traverse the last two years, skis more than probably anybody I know and used to coach skiing for CU and the Ned team. You may not agree with his position, but he loves the sport and walks the walk more than most. He's skis the resort, the backcountry, nordic and I think even ski jumped as a kid. He's done a lot to give back to the sport in the local area. Definitely not a showshoer.

[hatchgreenchile]

Fighting over a little bit of acreage is hilarious.
If protection is the goal, think bigger. Like Thompson Divide or White River Wild big.
Who gives a fuck if you save 100 acres next to a ski resort.

[norgeskier]

Fighting over a little bit of acreage is hilarious.
If protection is the goal, think bigger. Like Thompson Divide or White River Wild big.
Who gives a fuck if you save 100 acres next to a ski resort.

Both are important I think. Thompson Divide and White River require extensive travel. With Hessie, most of us in Boulder County can get their easily with a gallon of gas. We can slap on our skins and go for an awesome ski in a nice area. Look - it's 42° right now at 9,000 feet here. It's raining. I've never seen weather like this before, and if you believe any of the climate change stuff, we're in part to blame. The more we can do to mitigate travel, the better.

This seems like a simple issue to me. Are six extra turns on intermediate trails worth bringing ski runs right down the creek? That little buffer is useful for everybody's sanity in my opinion. That's really what we're talking about here - 200 yards and about six turns on machine packed groomers. Not worth I say.

[WTF is dat]

Fellow BC skiers, hikers, fly fisherman, human beings...God know i love a midweek 20 inch upslope at Eldora...but aspects of the proposed expansion are completely unnecessary. A friend of mine who lives in Eldora town is starting a campaign to fight this expansion. Why? In his words:
"Let's simplify the issue at hand. It's really not that complex. Some discussion would be great. These points are based on corresponding letters:
A. This is located very close to the Hessie Trailhead - essentially on top of it. It's also home to one of the best fishing holes in the county. Why would you compromise that - not to mention our water supply - by extending the Eldora boundary right down to the creek?
B. This is a hot button. This is where the bridge would go. The area to the south of the creek is extremely dense, north facing trees with old growth forests, moss and great fishing. The very existence of the bridge is what brings Eldora town so deeply into this. Why not move the boundary up the hill a bit? Is it really worth the six extra turns? This too will have a significant impact on the stream.
C. Why has this area even been given to Eldora? It's absolutely pristine and unnecessary for even what Eldora proposes.
D. The Porcupine Park Nordic Trail is a wonderful, classic skiing only trail. It's going to be severely compromised by having a alpine trail (and skiers) intersect it in two places. Is it worth it?
I have no problems with any other parts of the expansion. What do you think? If you want to do something, check out this website with more information maps etc.. here...http://noeldoraexpansion.org/

If you feel compelled, sign the petition:
change.org petition.

To anyone who currently enjoys recreating in the IPW, or has ever visited Hessie or 4th of July Trailheads surely you understand that the beauty of this valley, old growth forest, streams, animals, and mountains is undeniable. I hope this information will resonate with you. Eldora is run by a bunch of assclowns, so lets stand up for our local community and for our environment...

To be clear: No Eldora Expansion is not opposed to all parts of the expansion plan. Not even close. We're all skiers and want the resort to succeed, but not at the cost of sacrificing some amazing wild places. Here are the four things we're opposed to with the plan.

The lands on the south side of Middle Boulder Creek between the community of Eldora and Hessie remain as high quality habitat and a wildlife movement corridor, a scenic backdrop to a major gateway into the Indian Peaks, and a buffer between the noise of the ski area, backcountry travelers, and the town of Eldora.

Bringing ski runs, a lift and snowmaking down to the bottom of the valley will erode the experience for the thousands of winter and summer recreationists who use the Fourth of July Road and Hessie area to access the Indian Peaks. In winter, snowshoers, cross-country skiers and walkers would hear the roar of snow-making. At their closest, the lift and runs will be approximately 150 feet from the Fourth of July Road. The new lift that is proposed will not replace the lift above it and will not get skiers directly to the top of the Corona Bowl. The new lift would add only a few hundred vertical feet of terrain below the current lift bases. In summer, hikers would be faced with the scarred hillsides of deforested ski runs. These disturbances are not qualities that are compatible with a major scenic gateway into the Indian Peaks Wilderness.

Through the creation of ski runs, the proposed expansion would heavily fragment a steep north-facing hillside that currently is densely forested with no roads and virtually no trails. It is used as a landscape linkage by wildlife, being positioned between the existing ski area and a major entrance for people into the Indian Peaks Wilderness. This area is adjacent to Middle Boulder Creek, which supports a healthy riparian ecosystem complete with extensive beaver pond wetlands. Wetlands, springs and rivulets are found on the hillside. Moose reside there. Boreal owls, three-toed woodpeckers and American martens are present. Black bears forage on the berry producing shrubs along the creek and under the dense forest, while mink have been seen along the creek. As lynx expand their range in Colorado, there is suitable habitat for migration as well as finding their favorite food, snowshoe hare.

OMG a Boulder NIMBY bitching about development. I am shocked I tell you, shocked ! NIMBYS in boulder??? NEVER.

I agree with fastfred. The people who are opposed to the Eldora expansion just want to protect that land to serve their own purposes and interests.

Funniest part about this to me is that Eldora already agreed to nix the expansion below corona and only expand below Indian peaks. So, Eldora has already conceded in a way, and yet these NIMBYs are still bitching.

That resort should have been expanded a long time ago. The gladed expansion below corona looked like it would have been good, but eldora had to nix that because of the Nimbys.

Anything to make the runs longer and avoid the extreme winds up high would be good for eldora, but stupid ass NIMBYs won't support a local boulder county ski area. End of discussion.

And to the person saying Eldora is crowded.... Wtf??? I assume you have never skied summit county

[concretejungle]

I want to oppose the expansion mostly just because Eldora is run by a bunch of baboons.

This. Those fucking idiots should have their expansion plan denied because they can't even figure out how to not fuck up the current setup. I'm assuming it's still run by a bunch of ass clowns that can't get out of their own way . That place should be printing money.

Look - it's 42° right now at 9,000 feet here. It's raining. I've never seen weather like this before, and if you believe any of the climate change stuff, we're in part to blame.

Did you just move to CO? It does that quite often.

[norgeskier]

Did you just move to CO? It does that quite often.

Nope. Born in Nederland in 1990. Lived here all my life. Not in mid-March it does't.

[blazes_boylan]

And to the person saying Eldora is crowded.... Wtf??? I assume you have never skied summit county

summit certainly can be crowded, but Eldo already packs a lot of people into a small amount of acreage on busy days and the ratio of uphill capacity to acreage they will have with the new high speed 6 packs is far beyond anything in Summ Co

[WTF is dat]

summit certainly can be crowded, but Eldo already packs a lot of people into a small amount of acreage on busy days and the ratio of uphill capacity to acreage they will have with the new high speed 6 packs is far beyond anything in Summ Co

Those six packs are never going to get built they will be lucky if they are able to scrounge up enough to build a high speed quad up challenge

[Shredgar]

Not worth I say.

Agree.

Used to live in Eldora town, have friends that live in Eldora town, used to work at Eldora Mt. Resort.

This is a bad deal & all you ignorant yapping tourists should STFU.

[whipski]

Money talks and bullshit walks. Golden Rule: "He that has the gold rules."