Heavenly’s Master Plan Approved by TRPA
On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Governing Board unanimously approved Heavenly Mountain Resort’s 2006 Master Plan Amendment, charting the course for Heavenly as a premiere mountain destination for the next 10 years, and putting Heavenly at the forefront of environmental stewardship within the snowsports industry.
“We went through the process and came away with a great plan that improves the resort in an environmentally-sensitive way,” said Blaise Carrig, Heavenly’s chief operating officer. “This plan solidifies our position as the premiere snowsports destination at Lake Tahoe. We’re extremely excited about the next 10 years. The TRPA and Forest Service staffs are to be complimented for their dedication and outstanding work on the Master Plan.”
- Replacement of the existing North Bowl and Olympic fixed-grip chair lifts with high-speed, detachable lift technology
- A 1,000-seat on-mountain restaurant with incredible views of Lake Tahoe, named, “Powderbowl Lodge”
- 152 acres of new ski trails
- Re-grading Skyline Trail (the infamous traverse from California to Nevada)
- A skier bridge that will allow skiers and riders to ski from the Gondola top station to Tamarack Express
- Multi-use hiking/cross-country skiing/snowshoeing trails in the area between the Gondola top station and the Observation Deck
- A zip line adventure ride for summer use
The Master Plan Amendment also includes significant environmental enhancements. The plan calls for the replacement of the North Bowl and Olympic chair lifts in a way that will avoid a nearby stand of large trees. The new chairs will access North Bowl Woods, which will provide a unique skiing experience within a grove of beautiful, giant red fir trees. It also calls for the removal of Sky Deck from a wetland area associated with Heavenly Valley Creek and the restoration of the meadow in which the deck currently sits. The plan also contains the most comprehensive environmental mitigation and monitoring program in the Tahoe Basin.
“With this Master Plan, Heavenly has become a leader among ski resorts in terms of environmental stewardship,” said Rochelle Nason, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. “The resort worked closely with conservationists to assure their plan will result in greater protection for Lake Tahoe’s water quality, and their decision to spare the North Bowl trees is tremendous. Heavenly is a terrific destination for skiers and riders who want to help ‘Keep Tahoe Blue’.”
“The Sierra Club is delighted that Heavenly Mountain Resort has joined the ranks of the most environmentally-friendly ski resorts,” said Tahoe-Area Sierra Club president Michael Donahoe, echoing the League’s comments. “Many of our local members are long-time Heavenly skiers and boarders and are excited about continuing that tradition.”
The results of Heavenly’s past environmental programs are positive: watershed condition and water quality in each of the watersheds draining Heavenly have been improved through a systematic restoration and re-vegetation program. At the Boulder and California Main Lodge base areas, state-of-the-art water quality Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been installed to further reduce pollutants. Nearly 30 acres of disturbed stream environment zones have been restored. Since 2003, Heavenly has been attaining its Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) targets for suspended sediment in Heavenly Valley Creek. This is the first use of the TMDL in the Tahoe Basin, and is seen as the future for watershed management at Lake Tahoe.
The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/EIR/EIR) was endorsed unanimously by the Governing Board as a sound technical and scientific document which found that no significant environmental effects would result from the implementation of the proposed projects or alternatives. The EIS/EIS/EIR is a joint document, developed in conjunction with and meeting the requirements of the USDA Forest Service, TRPA and El Dorado County, California.
“The document and the whole process were created in an atmosphere of collaboration,” said Andrew Strain, Heavenly’s vice president of planning and governmental affairs. “The final plan included input from multiple government agencies, environmental groups and the public, as well as over three years of scientific research, monitoring and modeling. The Master Plan is the result of an open, thorough and transparent process.”
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
It is nice to see a balanced blending of environmental stewardship and positive improvements to a world-class ski and snowboard mountain resort.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
The future looks bright. “Heavenly’s Master Plan” creates the ideal mountain expierience for everyone. See ya next year!
May 8th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I think it is wonderful that the North Bowl and Olympic areas are finally going to be upgraded. Is there a place where one can find a schedule for the implementation of the plan and find out where the new restaurant will be built? Congratulations on getting the approvals.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Heavenly has some of the best tree sking/riding in North America and even the whole planet. So be sure to check out the skiing and riding in the North Bowl area of Heavenly on a good powder day and you will see why environmentalists, tree skiers/riders, and Heavenly came together to save the North Bowl woods. Heavenly and Vail must be recognized as a leader on a national level by all environmental groups like Sierra Club, Sierra Alliance and others for their compromise in building a lift around these old/big trees, and their commitment to build better lodges using LEED standards. I look forward to all the master plan improvements to come. Thank you to everyone involved.
May 13th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Thank God for the bridge! What a pain it is to walk up to Tamarak! the future looks promising! I cant wait to come back and see the changes! I love heavenly and thought it was PERFECT now. I can only imagine how amazing it will become with these changes :]
May 17th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Some wonderful improvments are in the works for both winter and summer! Darn, you stole my zip line idea! Can’t wait for the bridge at the Gondola as well as the new high speed detachable lifts! More runs – how cool it that! And, oooooh, a new restaurant on the mountain…….life is heavenly!
May 17th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Congrats! look forward to the changes. When do you think the changes will be done?.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Keep it up! I’ll be getting my renewing my season pass. I can’t wait for the high speed chair to replace powder bowl chair. I’ve got my fingers crossed for lot’s of snow next year.
May 22nd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Heavenly already is a premiere ski resort with world class skiing and views in the Lake Tahoe Basin, spanning two states-California and Nevada.
By asserting environmentally sound approaches to improving the mountain, it’s good to see a large corporation keeping it real!
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:28 am
How about regrading the trail that goes to the right from the top of Stagecoach chair? That is a tough corner to negotiate when the wind is blowing. I have seen boarders going backwards there. I’ll be renewing my season pass for the 4th consecutive year. Please continue to keep the price the best deal of any resort at Tahoe.
May 27th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
It all sounds fantastic with one exception. I’m nervous about the trails in skiways glades and powderbowl woods. There are already natural trails there, if you are a good enough tree skier to see them. That’s the way it should stay. Heavenly’s tree skiing is the best in the world. Please don’t ruin some of the best areas with man made trails, or they’ll start to look like Vail’s back bowls and be all tracked up by 10am from beginning skiers who can’t stay in a fall line. It’s bad enough that there are signs posted telling people where to go into the trees. If a person doesn’t know they mountain well enough to know where to go in and come out, skiing trees is not particularly safe and shouldn’t be encouraged with a sign.
May 28th, 2007 at 8:09 am
I commend Vail for graciously accepting the community’s disapproval of the first decision on the North Bowl situation, and moving on to the better solution. I look forward to next season. (But more snow this time, OK?)
May 30th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I plan to retire in 4 and one half years and spend the first winter off at heavenly. Let’s get the bridge and the new detached quads done by then. best skiing on earth!
June 1st, 2007 at 12:42 pm
In response to David Petersen:
Tree skiing is one of the unique aspects about Heavenly that sets us apart from just about every other destination resort in the country. We share your feelings about Powderbowl, Skiways and Northbowl and have every intention of protecting those unique aspects of the resort so locals and visitors from all over the world can enjoy that special experience. The trails we’re adding in that area are more like gladed runs … not groomed boulevards. I think you’ll find them to be pretty acceptable in terms of preserving the nature of the gladed areas, yet making parts of the mountain more accessible to snowsports enthusiasts, like yourself, who love Heavenly … and love Heavenly’s unique tree skiing … but might need a little more room before they’re ready to move into the tighter trees. The trails we’re talking about cover less than 30 acres of terrain … leaving 96% of “secret stashes” in that area untouched.
~Heavenly Management
June 4th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
I welcome regrading the Skyline Trail to minimize walking rathere than adding more runs. It is a struggle to the CA/NV line on Skiline Trail, especially the riders. Improving these walking points would be a nice enhancement to the heavenly experience at Heavenly. Are there any plans to improve rest the walking spots like the beginning of the Roundabout, Front Road, Crossover, Dam Road, Return Home, Milkyway Bowl Runout, and Von Schimidt’s?
June 19th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Great news about the improvements. The California trail work doesn’t really affect my group much, as we generally come back to CA in different ways that don’t require any polling on a traverse. I am also a little worried about overcrowding of the, until now, relatively little used tree areas with the addition of high speed lift access and cut trails. This is, however, purely a selfish opinion!
Three questions:
1. What are the details of the removal of the Sky Deck? Without a deck, where will you eat the food purchased at the Sky Meadows concession?
2. Where is the Powderbowl Lodge going to be built?
3. Any plans in the future to renovate/reopen the small deck at the top of Sky Chair? Talk about a killer view!
Keep up the great work, and my wife and I have already renewed our passes for the 15th or 16th year! (I lose track…)
Gary
June 19th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
In response to Gary Blevins:
Thanks for renewing your passes and welcome back to Heavenly for the fifteenth or sixteenth season! We’re definitely excited about all the new improvements identified in our new approved master plan. All of the improvements … including the Olympic Express lift being built this summer and the Powderbowl Lodge on-mountain restaurant scheduled to begin construction next summer, are designed to create a better ski/ride experience for all Heavenly skiers and snowboarders.
To answer your questions:
1) Sky Deck will come out completely (including the kitchen and barbeques) once the new Powderbowl Lodge is complete and open to the public. We are removing Sky Deck for a variety of reasons … the most critical reason being to improve the environment and control water quality. Sky Deck sits in a stream environment zone. That area needs to be taken back to its near-natural state. The new Powderbowl Lodge will provide a far superior experience on the upper California side of the mountain with spectacular views of Lake Tahoe and state-of-the-art facilities.
2) Powderbowl Lodge will sit just above the top station of the existing Powderbowl Express lift where one of our smaller terrain parks was located this past winter.
3) We have no plans to expand the ski patrol facility at the top of Sky Express or add food service facilities at that location. It’s a nice view for sure, but logistically difficult to service and has limited utilities.
Thanks for fifteen for sixteen years of support! We certainly appreciate it.
~Heavenly Management
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:10 am
Thanks for the answers! I look forward to the enhanced facilities at Powderbowl…sounds like a winner.
As for the deck at Sky Chair…Heck…I would just be happy for a chair up there to admire the view and rest a little! Guess I’ll have to join Ski Patrol!