OPINION: Maintain potential for Girdwood skiing expansion

I’d like to thank the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission for maintaining the Upper Glacier Valley in Girdwood for potential future development. This upper valley represents a great opportunity for future ski area development and should not be reclassified as open space.

In the late 1970s, based on the support by Girdwood 2020, the Municipality of Anchorage classified the land for potential development. To encourage the potential for future development, the municipality bought out the gold mining claims in the area, at a considerable cost.

I want to point out a comparison of this Glacier Valley with the current Mount Alyeska and Sun Valley:

Glacier Valley has 3,151 acres of skiable area. Mount Alyeska has 1,000 acres as currently developed, and Sun Valley has 2,054. When it comes to vertical drop (in feet), Glacier Valley would have 5,000, compared to the 2,500 feet at Mount Alyeska and 3,400 at Sun Valley. Glacier Valley’s longest run would be an impressive five miles; Mount Alyeska’s longest run at present is two miles and Sun Valley’s is three miles.

The base area of Upper Glacier Valley is also about 500 feet higher than the Alyeska base area, which gives it much better snow cover and reliability at the higher elevation.

As stated above, Glacier Valley has more than three times as much ski terrain as the Mount Alyeska ski area. It also has much more intermediate terrain for skiers — that’s what makes a ski resort much more popular with most skiers.

The Glacier Valley area is described in detail in the beautiful color book titled ”Alaska’s Perfect Mountain” by Lana Johnson, with photos by Randy Brandon.

The area right now has been used by Chugach Powder Guides for heli-skiing and Snow Cat skiing, and the powder skiers are full of praise for what a great ski mountain we have in our backyard.

I am sure the great majority of Alyeska skiers and property owners very much support this potential development, even though at this time there are no current plans. But we should preserve this opportunity for the future.

I also want to point out that the Glacier Valley area will also be open for hiking and trails, just like the existing Mount Alyeska terrain.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no plans for residential development in the Upper Glacier Valley. The area for future commercial and residential area called Alpine Village is in the existing master plan proposal of Alyeska Resort by the Pomeroy Lodging company. The location is between the existing Hotel Alyeska and the Upper Glacier Valley.

As the former CEO of Alyeska Resort, I would greatly appreciate for our community of Girdwood to continue to support this fantastic upper Glacier Valley for potential future development. This would create a continued economic opportunity for Girdwood and its residents, just like Alyeska Resort has created the major economic base for Girdwood for the past 65 years.

Chris von Imhof is a former CEO of Alyeska Resort and 50-year resident of Girdwood.

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