Heavenly's Proposal for Year Round, Non-Skiing Activities Under Review by Forest Service

Heavenly Mountain Resort's proposal to expand to year round, non-skiing activities is now under review by the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Heavenly's plan is to create a summer experience for guests with the addition of zipline and skycycle canopy tours, a mountain bike park, a ropes course, water activities, hiking trails,mountain excursion tours and nature interpretation.

As Lahontan, TRPA and USFS prepare environmental analyzes of the proposal, comments from the public are being invited through December 20, 2013. There will also be two public meetings that will provide the opportunity to learn more about the project on December 4 and December 18.

Heavenly is also proposing to create a snow cat emergency evacuation route for the gondola line. Adventure Peak would continue to serve as the primary access portal and hub for most of the proposed activities. However, the proposal would extend activities beyond Adventure Peak to provide natural resource-based recreation in the East Peak Lake Basin to the east and the Sky Meadows Basin to the west. A combination of ski lifts, hiking trails, zip lines or similar conveyances and summer roads would link all three activity centers. The proposal is consistent with Heavenly’s Master Development Plan and the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011.

Comments on the scope of the EIS must be received by December 20, 2013. The Forest Service expects to release a draft EIS for public comment in August 2014 and a final EIS in January 2015. To view the notice of intent, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/HeavenlyEpicProject.

Two public meetings will provide the opportunity to learn more about the proposal. The proposal will come before TRPA’s Advisory Planning Commission on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, at 9:30 am in the TRPA Board Rooms, 128 Market Street, Stateline, Nev. On Wednesday, December 18, a public scoping workshop will take place from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. at the Forest Supervisor’s Office, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.