Industry News
Mt. Shasta Ski Park, CA, yesterday announced a long-rumored new lift that will service much higher elevation, epic terrain, and access to their backcountry area.
“The rumors are true! We are working on a new lift!”
– Facebook announcement
The project site is in an unincorporated part of Siskiyou County near the base of Mt. Shasta, approximately six miles north of the community of McCloud. The bulk of the project is occurring on the Ski Park’s undeveloped ownership to the northeast. The project includes the development of a new ski lift and backcountry area.
What will the Gray Butte Lift add?
- Fixed quad lift
- This will be their longest lift with 14 towers – a 9.5-minute ride
- It opens 88 acres of skiable terrain
- New Longest run will be a little over three miles
- 1154′ vertical rise
- All intermediate terrain
- Adds five new runs
- Base terminal elevation 6400′, top terminal elevation 7500
LiftBlog reports that although the lift line has already been cut, in order to receive the required permits to install a new lift on Gray Butte, the county is requesting public input. Please email planning@co.siskiyou.ca.us if you support the project by April 14th at 5 pm. You can also show support by attending the Siskiyou County Planning Commission meeting on April 20th at 9 am. This meeting will take place at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 311 Fourth St., Yreka, CA. 96097.
- Related: VIDEO: The History of UFO Sightings, Bigfoot, and Mystery Disappearances on Mount Shasta, CA
According to Wikipedia the Ski Park was the second ski area constructed on Mount Shasta, but the only one which now survives. The old Mount Shasta Ski Bowl had been built in 1958 in a huge open cirque much higher up on the southern flank of the volcano, with a lodge at 7,800 ft (2,400 m) and lifts topping out above timberline at 9,200 ft (2,800 m). However, the ski area had often been in financial trouble over the next two decades, and a massive avalanche in January 1978 which destroyed the main chairlift was the finishing blow. The Ski Bowl closed permanently after that, and there was no more lift-served skiing on Mount Shasta until 1985, when local businessmen and developers finally began construction of a new ski area lower down on the mountain, in an area well below timberline and safe from avalanches. Starting with Marmot Ridge and Douglas Butte chairlifts. Then later the Coyote Butte lift. The Mount Shasta Ski Park opened on December 14, 1985, and has been successfully operating for close to three and a half decades since then. The ski area is located entirely on a 1 sq mi (2.6 km2) single section inholding of private land within the checkerboard pattern of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and road access is via Forest Route 88 across national forest land.
