G-G-Gondola…I Can Barely Say It

Disclaimer: We’re going to talk about the Base To Base Gondola here, and not all of that talk will be positive. No matter what is said here, none of that is a reflection on those people that work to make Alpine Meadows a great place to be day in and day out. The fact that all of you work so hard to make this place so great is exactly what we are afraid of losing. Thanks for everything that you all do, from COO Ron Cohen, right on down to those part time seasonal workers that just make things work.

It doesn’t matter what we say or do now, the Base To Base Gondola (aka the California Express) linking Alpine Meadows and that yet to be named valley to the north is coming. Parts are already arriving, money sits somewhere in a vault to pay for it, and construction is slated to begin on May 1 (or sooner).

Some details about the gondola were copied and pasted from the Alterra press release this week by various ski blogs and news agencies. We hope to dig just a bit deeper with this post, and no, that does not mean that I’ll be joining the massive construction team this summer.

You have to understand, they are not building this monstrosity for us – meaning those of us that have been skiing Alpine Meadows for most of our lives. Sure, there’s a few of you out there that like to sneak over to the dark side and enjoy some Granite Chief laps. But Alterra is not investing an estimated $60 million on this project just so Jerry can bring the wife and kids over to Alpine Meadows for a run or two. Did we mention that the cost of the project has doubled since it was first proposed about 5 years ago? Yikes!

The Base To Base Gondola will make “Mystery Valley” Alpine Meadows the third largest resort in North America. Had KSL focused on the gondola project first, instead of the village expansion, they might have beat Vail Resorts to the punch. But, instead, Vail Resorts connected Park City and The Canyons to create the largest resort in the US first. If you’ve skied at either PCMR or The Canyons, you know they are also as different as Alpine Meadows and our neighbor to the north. That gondola was a similar waste of money…and the Peak To Peak at Whistler-Backcomb, same.

The marketing department continues to sell the idea that this is a long held vision for the people that built Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. At one point, that may have actually been true. But once Intrawest built the first village at Squaw Valley in the early 2000’s that changed everything. Many of us have chosen to ski at Alpine Meadows exclusively because it offers the same terrain without the glitz, glamour and inconvenience of the village experience.

Those of us that spend every day at either Alpine or Squaw, or even most weekends know the real problem. Both mountains are already operating at capacity for just about every weekend and holiday of the core season. Adding in the gondola, which accesses no new terrain, will not solve that problem. Nor will a very minimal traffic reduction on Highway 89.

The gondola is being built to sell condos, plain and simple. Who doesn’t want to own a condo in a faux alpine village in North America’s third largest resort? The funny thing is, with the current lack of real estate inventory in the Tahoe area, Alterra could probably build a whole bunch of simple condos, without adding a waterpark or a gondola, and still sell all of them in the first year. They would likely sell for twice the price that was in their original prospectus.

Fun Facts

• Alterra is hoping to complete this project during this summer/fall season and open it sometime early next season.
• The project includes 4 different major construction sites for the base stations and mid stations. At least 3 out of 4 of those sites will involve much more work that just installing a station.
• There’s a large number of towers that will need to be set over the course of 2.2 miles. Many of those towers are in areas where there are no roads.
• The amount of construction related truck traffic and helicopter traffic in the neighborhood of Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows will be significant this summer.
• LiftBlog.com has the gondola listed as two separate lifts. The section from the village to the KT22 ridge would be one lift, which may operate on its own on high wind days. The section from Alpine to the KT would be the other lift, which has no reason to operate if this section is too windy. Obviously the gondola cars would transfer from one cable to the other at the KT mid-station.
• We’ve been asking questions and the best assumption is that the Alpine mid-station operates similar to the TLC mid-station, with two separate cables connected by a stacked bull wheel.

The Good Things

A lot of people fought the gondola for a variety of reasons. But one of the most important things was protecting the Granite Chief Wilderness, and the viewshed within the Alpine Meadows community. When the initial proposal was introduced, and it was just hideous, appropriate outrage from the community forced KSL/Alterra to explore additional alternatives. Ultimately, “Alternative 4” was approved by Placer County and the United States Forest Service. What does that mean?

• The route of the gondola was moved about as far away from the boundary of the Granite Chief Wilderness as possible.
• The gondola will be only minimally visible from the wilderness area
• The gondola will only be minimally visible from Alpine Meadows road
• Yellow legged frog habitat and other wetlands were protected
• The gondola route will no longer be directly over the Alpine Meadows Sun Deck. It will still go across the parking area and directly in front of the lodge.

The Bad Things

Moving the gondola to the “Alternative 4” location moved the Alpine Meadows mid-station (on the White Wolf property) from the top of an avalanche path to the bottom of an avalanche path. Avalanche mitigation will be a very big deal. It’s been well documented how Troy Caldwell has built everything with a lot of concrete at White Wolf to withstand potential avalanches. The same will be true for the mid-station. That is just one of many factors that have upped the cost of the project.

There’s going to be some significant alteration of the base area at Alpine Meadows. The base station on the Alpine Meadows side will be located just above the current ski school meeting area. The entire area in front of the Sun Deck will be filled to bring it just about level with the Roundhouse platform and the TLC platform. The idea is that you can walk off the deck and directly to the gondola, Roundhouse or TLC. Summit will still be an uphill jaunt.

That will close off the breezeway and it’s unclear exactly what the plan is there. The solution that makes the most sense would be to return the steps up through the middle of the deck, the way they used to be. I certainly hope they are not hoping to funnel everyone through the lodge. I also hope they are not expecting people to go around the lookers left side of the lodge where the small carpet currently sits.

It’s also going to be a little bit more inconvenient to go around the gondola to get to TLC, Meadow or the Big Carpet.

The biggest problem with the gondola, as it relates to Alpine Meadows, is the ability to outstrip the capacity of the mountain. We have said it many times, the parking capacity at Alpine Meadows is a good match for the current mountain capacity. On the really busy days, Alpine Meadows serves around 5,000 skiers and riders, along with some peripheral non-riders. The gondola has the capacity to bring an additional 1,400 people every hour. That could lead to some very quick overcrowding on our side of the mountain. Sure, there’s going to be some people going the other way too…but we know what will really happen.

The gondola also facilitates the expansion of the village at Nameless Village, which is also a bad thing. If it encourages the building of water parks and rollercoasters…well I hope people are still willing to keep speaking up for Tahoe, and what is left of the natural beauty. I am also concerned that eventually, Alterra will make some land swap deals with the USFS that will privatize some of the land at Alpine Meadows, allowing for additional development on this side of the gondola.

How will people use the gondola? We’ve got some ideas:

• A one way ride on the gondola will be 16 minutes. If you can swing a roundtrip, the 8 passenger cabin is perfect for that family picnic lunch. You’ll be protected from the weather and have some nice scenic views along the way. Nobody will be hovering over your table asking if you’re leaving soon. If you have to get off in Squaw Valley, use the opportunity to use the restroom and pick up a cookie at Wild Flour for dessert on the return trip.
• The gondola cabin will also provide a beautiful protected and scenic environment for that next Zoom call. Since nobody works in an office anymore, take a gondola ride and make it your temporary office. You won’t even need to use a fake Zoom background!
• Squirrel Murphy…if you know what I mean.
• I’ve already heard dozens of people refer to it as the “Ganjola”. Whether or not there will be a “hotbox” enforcement team or not has not been announced. Then again, that’s not really my thing…
• Alterra will be missing the boat if they don’t recognize the VRBO potential for each of those empty gondola cabins after the lifts close for the day. Or maybe just make it creative employee housing after hours, there’s always a shortage.

There’s got to be better uses for $60 million

There’s some obvious needs that might improve the skiing and riding experience at SVAM for everyone. At Alpine Meadows, replacing the Scott Chair and Lakeview Chair come to mind. Over the hill, Red Dog and Granite Chief are just two chairs that are really ready for replacement.

In looking at the overall improvements Alterra scheduled for 2021, two new six packs were eliminated at Mammoth after promising them in 2020. This list goes on and on.

What Alterra really needs is a third resort in the Northern Sierra to accommodate the large numbers of day-trip capable Ikon pass holders, which outstrip the capacity of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. Instead we’re going to get a gondola that we don’t really need.

That said, I don’t own either mountain. I’m not a partner or investor in Alterra either. It’s just not my choice. Always expect change. I had better start planning the menu for my first picnic ride.