REDSTONE, Colo.—The owners of the Redstone Inn are drawing up preliminary plans for snowcat skiing in Coal Basin, with hopes to operate by the 2008-09 ski season.
Any offering would still have to go through an environmental analysis and accept public input before it could happen.
Coal Basin, with an area larger than the Vail ski area, was slated to be its own ski area in earlier master plans of the U.S. Forest Service, but that was removed in the latest plan.
“Due to input from folks in Redstone, we put in an allowance for limited motorized use, with the thought that it might facilitate powder cat skiing,” Forest Service spokesman Jim Stark said.
Debbie Strom, general manager and partner of the Redstone Inn, said she has been working on the idea for more than a decade.
“We’re in a unique situation, having different revenue stream at the Redstone Inn, so we don’t need it to be a huge moneymaker,” said Strom. “For us, it would put us on the winter sports map, which could be vital for Redstone and our economic viability. We can’t be any busier in the summer, but we couldn’t be any quieter in the winter.”
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Information from: The Aspen Times,
