Former Deer Valley Resort President Bob Wheaton greets Deirdra Walsh, vice president and chief operating officer of Park City Mountain, after the Park City Planning Commission approves a set of lift upgrades at Park City Mountain. Credit: Jay Hamburger/Park Record Park City Mountain on Wednesd ay evening secured the key approvals needed to move forward with lift improvements that had been sought for more than four years but became entangled in procedural matters before the final rounds of talks in recent months. The Park City Planning Commission cast unanimous votes on the resort’s bid to replace the existing Eagle and Eaglet lifts with a six-passenger lift and install an eight-passenger lift as a replacement for the current six-passenger Silverlode Express lift. People inside the crowded Park City Council chambers applauded after the first vote, covering the Eagle and Eaglet lifts. The Planning Commission received approximately 45 minutes of testimony from the public, nearly all in support of the upgrades, prior to the votes. Speakers addressed issues like the aging infrastructure at the resort, the ability for youngsters to ski more laps with the upgrades and an anticipation that the new lifts will not lead to overcrowding on the slopes. There was limited testimony raising concerns about safety. Deirdra Walsh, vice president and chief operating officer of Park City Mountain. Planning Commissioner John Frontero broached the issue of comfortable carrying capacity, an industry metric measuring the size of crowds that a resort can accommodate. He wanted updated numbers while the Park City Mountain side indicated they were provided during an earlier round of talks. The planning commissioner argued any detrimental impacts are unclear without details about the comfortable carrying capacity, while another member of the Planning Commission, Christin Van Dine, said the raw data was not required from Park City Mountain. Other panelists outlined that steps are planned that will manage the parking and traffic. The post Park City Mountain wins approvals for lift upgrades appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less