ASPEN —Foes of Aspen Skiing Co.’s plan to complete an egress route off Burnt Mountain to Snowmass ski area have influenced the U.S. Forest to consider an alternative that would do more to preserve the area’s backcountry feel.
The Burnt Mountain Environmental Assessment was unveiled Tuesday after months of work by a contractor for the White River National Forest. The assessment looked at Skico’s plan to complete an egress route from Burnt Mountain to the Long Shot trail within Snowmass.
The study assessed three options — including doing nothing and leaving the existing conditions alone.
Alternative 2, which is the proposed action, would allow Skico to create an egress that would average 35 feet wide for about 3,200 linear feet.
Alternative 3, which was created after reviewing public comments on Skico’s proposal, would scale down sections of the egress.
The Forest Service will take comments on the study until Sept. 6 and then issue a decision.
The eastern and western sections of that egress trail were completed prior to the 2012-13 ski season. The middle section — about 1,300 linear feet — had to be studied more thoroughly, the Forest Service determined, because it was once part of an inventoried roadless area.
