An avalanche and interlodge order — forcing people to go indoors — in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Friday stoked a debate on whether a gondola in the canyon would have eased the situation.
Some industry leaders think a gondola could’ve gotten everyone home sooner, even if it likely couldn’t run during interlodge.| March 25, 2023, 8:58 p.m.The Snowbird Center was packed with skiers and snowboarders slumped on couches and sprawled out on the floor during an unusual midday interlodge order Friday afternoon, issued after an avalanche slid across State Highway 210 near one of the entrances to the ski resort.
“But it’s still a very slow and very dangerous drive down the road,” Fields said. “And at 9:53 last night, when I looked out my window to Cliff Lodge at the traffic, there was still vehicles bumper to bumper on the highway.” Chris Adams, board president with Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, disagrees. Since the gondola wouldn’t run during the interlodge order, it would’ve been closed until 6:45 p.m., when the order was lifted. “And then there would have been a huge line for the gondola,” Adams said, “so it still take hours to get down [the] canyon, same as driving. So I don’t think it would have made a difference.” A sign prohibiting interlodge travel due to avalanche danger is photographed on Friday, March 24, 2023.
UDOT spokesperson John Gleason said that on a day like Friday, “the gondola would offer more reliable uphill and downhill travel times due to the separate alignment. Having an alignment independent of the road means that passenger travel times are not affected by slow drivers, congestion and vehicle crashes when conditions are poor.”
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