The growing popularity of strapping skins on skis and climbing uphill could soon come at a price at some ski areas.
The U.S. Forest Service is working on new rules that clarify that ski areas that lease public lands for their operations can charge people for uphill travel, The Aspen Times reported Tuesday.
The directive “encourages” ski area operators to provide access to some slopes without a charge so that there isn’t a “de facto entrance fee.”
The proposed language would authorize a fee “for facilities and services the holders provide, such as lifts, parking lots, and slopes and trails that have been cleared, graded, groomed or covered with manmade snow.”
The Forest Service is accepting comments on its proposal until Monday.
Rich Burkley, vice president of mountain operations at Aspen Skiing Co.,
said the company at this point isn’t interested in charging a fee for uphill travel at its four ski areas. “We have hopefully been accommodating,” he said.
