New Developments On and Around Malan's Basin Property

Chris Peterson continues to keep us guessing.

By Dan Schroeder

I've just posted an update on the Sierra Club web site (Update on Cleared Routes, June 2010 ) regarding recent activities on and around the Malan's Basin property.

1. There's a relatively new chainsawed ski route that hasn't been reported here before. It descends gradually from the base of Malan's Falls along the north-facing slope, then rounds the corner and continues descending the west-facing slope between Waterfall Canyon and Strong's Canyon. Part of this route was cut last year and the rest was cut a couple of months ago. To get to it from Malan's Basin, however, you would have to descend the very steep gulch that lies just south of the waterfall.

2. Chris Peterson has purchased the 7-acre parcel of land immediately east of the 29th Street trailhead parking area. This parcel was previously owned by the Malan/Rasmussen family (under the name Malan Religious Foundation), and is zoned for multi-family residential development. Ironically, Peterson has created an entity called "Saving Our Foothill Property LLC" which is the recorded owner of this property.

3. The Malan Religious Foundation still owns an additional 40 acres somewhat farther south, spanning the mouth of Waterfall Canyon. However, Peterson paid the property taxes on this land (just under $4000) last December, and the county plat maps now show that Saving Our Foothill Property has "claims" against these parcels.

Readers are invited, of course, to speculate on the meaning of all this.

Breaking; Snow Basin Withdraws Its Back-Country Permit Expansion Application

Snow Basin decides west face and other out-of-bounds descents aren't worth the public hassle

By Dan Schroeder

Breaking news from the Forest Service: Snow Basin has withdrawn its proposal to lead guided backcountry trips down all sides of Mt. Ogden.

This news would seem to confirm the view that this proposal was never a big deal to Snow Basin -- something they wanted to merely try out.

With all the public outcry (some perhaps justified, some not), they've apparently decided it isn't worth the hassle--at least for the time being.

Editor's Addendum: Special thanks also to Ogden District Ranger Chip Sibbernson for dialing up your blogmeister, and independently confirming Dan's above report within minutes of the submission of Dan's above article, and prior to its publication. Anyone who now believes that our local Forest Service Office isn't in the lumpencitizens' corner isn't paying proper attention to what we perceive to be the true facts. That's our current take, at least.

Update 1/6/09 7:00 a.m. MT: The Standard-Examiner chimes in this morning on this latest development, with this morning's information-rich Charlie Trentelman story:

• Snowbasin backs off backcountry guides

Snow Basin manager Denzel Rowland says "things were misconstrued," a predictable consequence, we think, for an application which was craftily intended to be processed and approved outside the public spotlight, devoid of ANY reliable public information.

The Salt lake Tribune has an instructive writeup too:

• Snowbasin withdraws backcountry-permit request

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

The Snow Basin Permit Expansion Application:Trentelman Fattens Out the Facts

An abbreviated application process, a useful map and Forest Service contact information

Charles Trentelman provides more information on Snow Basin Resort's Forest Service use permit expansion application in this morning's Standard-Examiner front page story . Trentelman fleshes out several new fact elements, such as the abbreviated approval process which was adopted by the local Ogden Ranger District:

Normally, any request to use public land managed by the Forest Service must go through an application and approval process under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The process can last years and includes public hearings.
Snowbasin made the request a month ago, Vallejos said. Because of the limited nature of the request, he said the Ogden Ranger District did what he called a “Small NEPA, where specialists from the Forest Service sit around the table and we present the projects, and in the small NEPA none of the specialists had any issues at all.”
The process is legal, he said.

Although Trentelman reports that Forest Service officials did contact contact Save Our Canyons and the Sierra Club regarding the Snow Basin application, it's unclear whether objections or other formal responses were invited. Moreover no facts are reported to imply that federal officials made any effort to provide notice to the general public at all. Notably, Trentelman quotes Sierra Club Conservation Chair Dan Schoeder, who expressed surprise "that there would be no formal process." From appearances, the application approval process was designed to come in entirely under under the public radar screen, just as David Witherspoon has suggested.

This morning's story also presents a useful map, showing Snow Basin's planned routes, in relation to the resort and Ogden City. While we would have liked to have seen a proper topographical map, displaying the contour lines for each of the planned descents... we'll take what we can get (click to enlarge image):

We'll also note in closing that Snow Basin and Forest Service officials all reportedly continue to deny that the Snow Basin permit expansion application has anything to do with Earl Holding's son-in-law or his land.

We spoke this morning with the Ogden Ranger District office. Although the key players are all off on vacation, we've been assured that public comments and/or objections will be accepted beyond the stated January 5 cutoff date, and through the upcoming week, for which purpose we provide the contact info below:

RICK VALLEJOS
Recreation Staff Officer
Ogden Ranger District
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Phone: (801)
Office - 625-5112
Fax - 625-5914
Email: rvallejos@fs.fed.us

Well....?

Snow Basin Resort Applies to Expand Its Forest Service Use Permit

Taylors, Beus and Burch Canyon descent routes are mentioned

Over the course of the past month or so we've devoted substantial electronic ink here at Weber County Forum to the frenzied tree and brush clearing activity recently occurring on Chris Peterson's Malan's Basin/Strongs' Canyon property. Thanks to the efforts of one alert WCF reader, we'll revive the discussion again. We received some interesting new information late yesterday evening, possibly related to the Malan's/Strong's clearcutting story. Here's the new info, courtesy of the Telemark Talk Forum Bulletin Board:

• Utards: Snowbasin permit expansion. Comment by Jan 5.

More savvy electronic chatter on this latest development is also available, via The Teton Gravity Research BB, under the same title header:

• Utards: Snowbasin permit expansion. Comment by Jan 5.

While it's probably a mite early to conclude that the two stories are actually connected, references to routes through Taylors, Beus and Burch Canyons would suggest, at this stage of the game at least, that the near-simultaneous Snow Basin permit application and the Peterson clearcutting may be more than slightly coincidental.

Taken in conjunction, these stories would also add further weight to Dan Schroeder's theory, that Peterson's clearcutting activity may be related to an effort to develop skiable Snow Basin to Ogden descent routes, of course.

We therefore invite our gentle readers to consider this new information, and to speculate on the true meaning of all this.

"Ogdenerds - ball's in your court."

Update 1/1/09 6:45 a.m. MT: For more useful information on this topic, be sure to check out Kristen Moulton's Wednesday evening Salt Lake Tribune writeup:

• Snowbasin asks to take skiers into public backcountry

Suddenly, this conjunction of stories seems to be growing real legs. Imagine that.

The Malan's/Strong's Clearcutting: What Chris Peterson Is Really Up To?

An informed tentative explanation, based on new photos and other newly considered and revised information

By Dan Schroeder

For the last three weeks, Weber County Forum readers have been puzzling over Chris Peterson's recent clearcutting activities on the Malan's Basin property. Yesterday I took another hike up to Malan's Basin to finish mapping the cleared routes, and the picture became much more complete. A revised map and some new photos are posted on the Sierra Club web site.

To get to the point, here's my tentative explanation: Chris Peterson is trying to convince people that you can ski from Malan's Basin all the way down to the city.

As the map shows, there's another newly cleared route on the north side of Malan's Basin that I was unaware of before. That route descends 500 feet over a little more than a mile, starting at the valley bottom near the eastern end of Peterson's property and ending on the ridge overlooking Taylor Canyon, a little east of Malan's Peak.

In fact, this route does precisely what Chris Peterson told me you "could" do, back on July 20, 2006, when he met with the Ogden Trails Network Committee. Specifically, when I asked him to elaborate on his claim that you could ski all the way down off the mountain, he used his finger to trace a line on a map following essentially this route. He described how the route would provide a gentle descent to link the upper basin to Taylor Canyon. His crew had already done some minor clearing on the very steep slope that descends into Taylor Canyon from there. That slope is suitable only for expert skiers (and snowboarders). Presumably this would be an "end of the day" route, with skiers continuing down the Taylor Canyon trail to the top of 27th Street.

Peterson also told me you "could" ski down via Strong's Canyon, although he was vague about the exact alignment. The newly cleared route through Strong's Canyon is probably about as viable as any. Although its exact terminus isn't quite clear, it appears that a skier descending this route could end up near the formerly proposed location for the mountain gondola terminal, near the north end of the WSU foothill property.

Of course, there are major problems with both of these routes.

The first problem is the side slope, which exceeds 50% almost everywhere and approaches 100% in several spots. Skiing for a mile or two along such a side slope would be pretty unpleasant, so we can assume that the plan is to eventually go in with heavy equipment to cut, fill, and flatten a "trail". How wide would the trail be? A few feet would be enough to ski on, but Peterson stated in 2006 that the width of his "trails" would be about 15 feet--wide enough for the routes to double as snowcat trails and maintenance roads. The expense of constructing over three miles of such roads, which would require retaining walls in many locations, would be enormous. The ecological damage would be enormous as well.

The second problem is aspect. The northern route lies almost entirely on a south-facing slope, as does a long segment of the southern route in Strong's Canyon. In a typical winter, these slopes never hold snow for long. Flattening the routes and packing the snow would undoubtedly help, but there would be no time of year when the routes are dependably snow covered. Investing in snowmaking equipment for lengthy routes on south-facing slopes would be virtually out of the question. And when there's fresh snow of any depth, the gently sloping routes would be rough going until after they've been groomed.

The third problem is land ownership. To complete the Strong's Canyon route would require constructing a road through a National Forest roadless area. Whether the Forest Service would ever approve such a project is anyone's guess--but there would be considerable opposition. The northern route would also continue onto National Forest land at the bottom of Taylor Canyon. Even if no alteration to the existing trail in the canyon is proposed, the Forest Service could very well take issue with use of that trail by significant numbers of downhill skiers.

The fourth problem is clientele. These kinds of routes are not your typical downhill skiing, so it isn't clear who would pay for the experience of descending them. The number of expert skiers who can handle the descent into Taylor Canyon is limited. The Strong's Canyon route would be usable by average skiers, and has a greater chance of being served by a lift, but would involve a gentle descent of over two miles on a narrow trail that many skiers would consider confining and monotonous: perhaps worth a try for the novelty, but not more than once.

So the practical feasibility of both of these routes is questionable at best. And that brings me back to my carefully worded hypothesis: I'm not claiming that Peterson will ever finish constructing either of these routes. What seems clear is only that he is trying to convince people that the routes are feasible. And who are these people? I can only speculate. They could include prospective investors, or a prospective buyer for the property, or government officials, or the general public. Perhaps we'll learn more in the coming months.

In any case, I think it would be incorrect to view these new clearings as a departure from the plans that Peterson announced in 2006. A major system of "trails" that are really roads was part of his plan all along. In his public presentations he was always careful to state that while he would not permit private automobiles in his planned resort, some of his ski "trails" would be usable as roads during the summer. Mayor Godfrey was less clear, saying that he and Peterson were "working on" making the resort roadless, "even for construction", but making no outright promises. (The Standard-Examiner never understood these subtleties. The boilerplate text that appeared in numerous articles during 2006-07 simply described the proposed resort as "roadless".)

Many Ogden residents supported the Peterson proposal in 2006 with the understanding that the resort would be roadless and otherwise environmentally benign. Now that Peterson's concepts have become more vivid, it's time to reassess the environmental footprint of the project and whether it deserves our community's support.

More From the Standard-Examiner In Re the Malan's/Strong's Clearcutting Mystery

Boss Godfrey chimes in... and "plays dumb"

“I suspect it’s old work,” [Mayor] Godfrey said Wednesday, adding he’s puzzled why local Sierra Club members are just now noticing the clearing that may be related to the construction of a ski run.
Godfrey, who admitted he doesn’t know for sure when the clearing was done, said he hasn’t talked recently with Peterson about his plans for the Malan’s Basin property, touted as the possible location for a year-round resort.

Standard-Examiner
When, why questions go unanswered after clearing
December 18, 2008

Jock Glidden, a Sierra Club member who hiked to Malan’s Basin on Dec. 6, said he’s stunned by Godfrey’s statement the clearing may be two years old.
“It’s a very fresh cutting,” Glidden said. “It’s beyond belief that the mayor doesn’t know anything about it. He’s playing dumb.”

Standard-Examiner
When, why questions go unanswered after clearing
December 18, 2008

Freshly returned from his one week European Street Car Study Junket, Boss Godfrey allows not even a single day to elapse before firing up more controversy in connection with the Peterson clearcutting story,which has had Emerald City lumpencitizens all abuzz these past several weeks. We link Ace Reporter Schwebke's morning story below:

•When, why questions go unanswered after clearing

The Standard-Examiner editorial board also gets into the act this morning, with a pointed editorial, urging the reclusive and publicly mistrusted Mr. Peterson to conduct himself in the manner of a good neighbor, with improved openness and candor:

•Malan's Basin questions

We're delighted to see the Std-Ex get involved in the investigation and discussion of this story. This, we believe, is just what a local home town newspaper should do.

Although we've devoted plenty of electronic ink to the discussion of the Malan's Basin/Strong's Canyon clearcutting mystery over the past few weeks, this abundance of previous discussion doesn't mean our conversation should come to a halt. In that connection we again invite our readers to chime in with their own comments, in light of the new material which the Std-Ex provides this morning.

Have at it, O gentle ones.

Ace Reporter Schwebke Reports on the Malan's Basin/Strongs Canyon Clearcuts

The reclusive property owner "clams up"

You asked for it... you got it. After much reader discussion on Weber County Forum over the past couple of weeks, the Standard-Examiner has finally latched onto the Chris Peterson Clearcuts story.

In this morning's Standard-Examiner report, Ace Reporter Schwebke demonstrates that he's made a noble yeoman's attempt to find out what's transpiring on Chris Peterson's mountainside Malan's Basin property, which borders Emerald City to the east. Mr. Schwebke reports that he's contacted every individual and government agency who could conceivably have an interest in the frenzied vegetation-obliterative activity which as been recently occurring in the Malan's Basin/Strong's Canyon area. Despite his efforts, Mr. Schwebke was able to dredge up very little information beyond that which our gentle readers were able to ferret out and deduce during two weeks of robust reader discussion. Nevertheless he earns an "A" for the effort, we think. Unfortunate readers who do not have a hard-copy edition of this morning's Std-Ex readily on hand can read this morning's Scott Schwebke story here:

• Trees, brush cleared near Malan’s Basin

Mr. Schwebke would have made greater headway with this story, of course, if Mr. Peterson had been more forthcoming in his telephone interview with the diligent Std-Ex reporter. Yes, Mr. Schwebke was successful in reaching Mr. Peterson; and this is what the very tight-lipped Son-in-Law of a Billionaire said:

Peterson, in a brief phone conversation with the Standard-Examiner, declined to disclose the purpose of the clearing and wouldn’t say if the aim is to make way for a road leading to a Malan’s Basin resort.
“I don’t have any comment on that,” he said.

While we suppose its possible that Mr. Peterson may regard Mr. Schwebke and the lumpencitizens of Emerald City as merely "nosy neighbors," we nevertheless can't resist observing the vast difference between Mr. Peterson's stingy present public utterances, and those heady proclamations of the year 2005, when he and Blessed Boss Godfrey were running their non-stop Emerald City Gondola/Malan's Basin Ski Resort Public Dog & Pony Show.

Mr. Peterson's feeling a mite underappreciated these days, we suppose; and we guess its understandable that he's now "clammed up."

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Frantic Mountainside Activity Redux

Somebody, please! Help us make some sense of Mr. Peterson's mountainside clear cutting frenzy

Earlier this week, gentle reader Disgusted submitted an article which provoked considerable speculation and discussion amongst our Weber County Forum readership, concerning frenzied helicopter and tree/brush removal activity occurring on Chris Peterson's "Rinky-dink Ski Resort" property, in, around and above Ogden's Strong's Canyon. We link the full article (with comments) here, for those readers in need of a quick review:

• Helicopters Landing Around the Mt. Ogden Course: Wake up City Council

In the interim, the article has fallen down the front page, and the reader conversation has inevitably tapered off somewhat.

A few minutes ago however, Dan Schroeder sent us some additional material on the subject, so we're posting a new article on this same topic, in hope of reviving the discussion. Be sure to check out the map, photos and commentary Dan S. has added to the Ogden Sierra Club website:

• Clearcutting in Strong's Canyon

Having examined Dan's maps and photos, we still remain puzzled about the nature and purpose of the ongoing activity frantically occurring in the foothills above the WSU Campus and Mt. Ogden Park. In some respects it looks like Mr. Peterson is building a torturous 4-wheel drive vehicle competition road. In other shots it resembles a ridiculously narrow ski run. Taken collectively it appears to be none of the above.

Frustrated in our effort to interpret this latest evidence... we turn to you, our ever-savvy readers, to ferret out the true meaning of all this.

And one further question: Where is Ace Reporter Schwebke at a time like this, when the lumpenfolke of Emerald City stand in need of his vast investigative journalistic skills? Surely he must have Mr. Peterson on his speed-dial list.

Consider this an update to the previous article. Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones. We love solving a good mystery. Doesn't everyone?

Helicopters Landing Around the Mt. Ogden Course: Wake up City Council

Time to put a few hard queries to the Godfrey administration

By Disgusted

Helicopters are still flying into Malan's Basin; but now they are landing. It looks like on the golf course or Ogden City property just east of the golf course.

They couldn't be doing that without city knowledge. Wake up city council. Start questioning the administration as to what is going on.

There's a council meeting tonight. Contact your council members and demand some honest answers:

• Council Contact Information

Comments, anyone?

Helicopters Flying in Malan's Basin

Is the missing-in-action Chris Peterson climbing back into the public spotlight?

Our gentle readers are subtly telling us there's something really odd going on in Malan's Basin.

Gentle reader"'Disgusted" provides this:

To Dan S:
Off topic for a second.
A lot of helicopter activity up on the mountain this last week. Maybe its work being done on the communication towers at Mt.Ogden or maybe there are more tree clearings going on in Malan Basin. Dont know.
Have you been up to Malans in a while?

Then we get this reply from Dan S.:

Disgusted,
I just heard a report from an independent and very reliable source. Yes, there's been a crew clearing trees on the Malan's Basin property. From what I heard, they've cut a 30-foot-wide path that traverses from Malan's Basin into upper Strong's Canyon. I hope to learn more soon.

Okay people. Can someone tell us exactly what's up with all this?