No Gondola

UPDATE: On December 11, 2023, Save Our Canyons filed a lawsuit against UDOT challenging the decision to build a gondola in LCC, represented by our outstanding counsel at the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC, and with local representation ably provided by Joel Ban. Read our full lawsuit here. DONATE TO SUPPORT THE PROTECTION OF LCC TODAY. 

Although we are foremost a public advocacy organization, we felt we had to litigate the gondola decision because:

• It ignores the desire of the vast majority of citizens NOT to spend enormous sums of tax dollars to construct a blight on one of the most stunning landscapes in our beautiful state.
• It dismisses your passionate desire—expressed in nearly 50,000 comments—to preserve the beauty and environment of our mountain landscapes that is essential both to life and quality of life.
• It is a colossal subsidy to two resorts that represent a miniscule portion of the Utah economy and that cater to a relatively small, relatively wealthy set of clients.
• It is a corrupt gift to a few politically connected businessmen who met secretly with UDOT and ultimately succeeded in causing it to reverse its decision NOT to consider an identical gondola.
• It plays no part in the comprehensive and integrated transportation system needed for the canyons and entire Wasatch Front, but is a tourist attraction toy sprung from the minds of compliant and careless politicians with naïve, soft-focus images of Zermatt and Chamonix dancing in their heads. 

There has never been an issue that has pierced more deeply into the heart of our mission than this horrific gondola, so there is no choice for us— we MUST stand up against it. 

This lawsuit is an extremely heavy financial lift for us and, from the beginning, we knew we would need your support to help us see this fight through.

So, at this critical time, Save Our Canyons is asking you to donate in support of the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch, and to help us continue to work for pragmatic transportation solutions for the Wasatch that serve all users, all seasons of the year, for generations to come.

Information

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) issued the Record of Decision (ROD) in July identifying Gondola B with Phased Implementation as the selected alternative for Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). UDOT will move forward in phases, starting with enhanced bus service and ending with the world’s longest gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Full implementation of Gondola B depends on available funding. 

The gondola is estimated to cost 1.4 billion dollars of taxpayer money. UDOT is asking Utah taxpayers to foot the bill for a gondola that serves two private businesses and their patrons (those who can afford to and choose to ride). 

Stretching over 8 miles long, the gondola would begin at the base of LCC and include only two stops: Snowbird Ski Resort and Alta Ski Area. The gondola would consist of 20 towers and 2 angle stations, ranging from 130 to 262 feet tall. 

Save Our Canyons strongly opposes the gondola because it won’t solve traffic congestion, but instead threatens our critical watershed and limits canyon access for non-resort users. 

We support lower-cost solutions that utilize our existing infrastructure, such as year-round enhanced bus service with stops at multiple locations and more frequent service at peak times, carpool incentives (ex. occupancy-based tolling), enforcement of the traction law, and mandatory parking reservations at ski resorts.

While we’re disappointed UDOT is moving forward with the gondola after widespread opposition from local communities and public officials, we still have time to act. 

• The estimated cost for the phased gondola project is over $1.4 billion (including the cost of the gondola, snow sheds, temporary enhanced bus service, etc.). Originally, UDOT estimated the cost to be $550 million. 
• UDOT hasn’t shared the cost to ride the gondola. According to estimates by the treasurer and former mayor of the Town of Alta, a ticket could cost anywhere from $90 to $200 per person.
• The gondola wouldn’t operate during active artillery avalanche mitigation.
• The vast majority of the (record-breaking number of) comments submitted to UDOT were in opposition to the gondola. Students for the Wasatch tallied the comments submitted to UDOT between fall 2021 and 2022 and found 91% of people opposed the gondola. Other estimates put the number a bit lower at 61%. 
• Local governments also oppose the gondola, including Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson and the Salt Lake County Council, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the Salt Lake City Council, Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski, and Town of Alta Mayor Roger Bourke.

The issues we face in the Wasatch are far more complicated than simply adding a new mode of transportation. The gondola proposal:

• Doesn’t solve the congestion issue
  • The gondola will push cars farther back into Granite, Sandy and Cottonwood Heights as people line up for limited spots at the gondola’s parking facility. Those lucky enough to nab a parking spot will ride the gondola, and everyone else will line back up for a spot or drive up the canyon. 
• Limits canyon access to non-resort patrons
  • UDOT is asking Utah taxpayers to foot the bill for a gondola that serves two private businesses and their patrons (those who can afford to and choose to ride). Everyone else will be left to sit in the traffic below. The gondola, by design, is an exclusive experience.
  • Non-ski resort visitors who wish to access other areas of the canyon to climb, backcountry ski, bird watch, angle, snowshoe (the list goes on) are left without a reliable transportation option other than their own vehicles. 
  • Access to transit and to our public lands should be equitable. Providing access to public lands must be affordable and efficient. A gondola does not promote justice, impartiality, and fairness for the majority of our communities. Further, damages to the environment and our watershed will not be paid for by the beneficiaries of these projects, they will be paid for by those who didn’t wish to be impacted in the first place.
• Endangers our critical watershed
  • UDOT claims the gondola is the “environmental solution,” but in reality the project will leave an unimaginable ecological footprint. The construction of 22 towers over 200+ high will permanently disrupt trailheads, recreation areas, climbing routes, and the breathtaking views we love. Construction debris will jeopardize our critical watershed that supplies more than 60% of the Salt Lake Valley’s water, in the midst of an already historic drought. The Wasatch Mountains have a finite capacity, yet they’re being forced to support an endlessly growing population as we attempt to maximize resort patronage.