Pinedale OFFline
Pinedale, Wyoming 

Feds begin mountain relocation and resizing project

The Forest Service, working in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Sublette and Sweetwater Counties, have begun a project to relocate and restructure local area mountains in western Wyoming.

The ambitious project was conceived when a wealthy businessman recently purchased a local ski area and wanted to make the terrain more challenging, especially for extreme skiers. Phase 1 of the plan is to create an experience similar to those who climb to the top of the Tetons and do dare-devil skiing and snowboarding down steep narrow rifts in the mountain face.

"Our ski area will become the ultimate destination for extreme skiing and snowboarding," said Pinedale ski hill manager Ron Jacobs.

Right now, the mountain terrain is a little too gentle to entice those thrill-seeking skiers and snowboarders. The new owners are bringing in huge cranes that will move, pull up, and stretch the existing mountain tops to elongate them and create the desired topographical elevation and steepness. "It's state-of-the-art, never-been-done-before technology," Jacobs explained. The local ski area advisory committee did not want to stop at just "snow making," they added "mountain making."

"We are pleased the Forest Service supported our ideas and enthusiastically agreed to allow us to modify our special use permit to create new topography and high elevation recreational terrain," he said.

Expanding the plan

The Forest Service and BLM have been so excited about the prospects of this new mountain moving and growing technology, they are implementing a grander expansion for this project.

"The Upper Green River Valley in western Wyoming is a very unique ecological habitat," Resource Manager Clifford Crawford said in a recent interview. "It has been declared an essential element of the 'Serengeti of North America' by environmental groups wanting to preserve vast herds of deer, pronghorn, moose, elk, and wild horses."

Since the Upper Green River Valley is already hemmed in on three sides by three mountain ranges on the west, north and east, the two government agencies have decided to add a fourth mountain range to the south, creating a wonderful enclosed bowl that will provide a buffer to allow the valley to become even more prime wildlife habitat. Using the same mega cranes as described above, they will relocate some available mountains from the nearby area and do some vertical stretching of the existing terrain to create the new range, which will be called the "Green River Mountains."

The new range will run east-to-west, just north of the Interstate 80 corridor, from Fontenelle to just south of Farson, and over to South Pass. "Now when people drive over South Pass, they will have mountains on both sides so they won't be confused and will know they are going through a real mountain pass," said Wyoming Department of Transportation Highway Engineer John Jones.

Once the new mountain range is in place, the communities of Rock Springs and Green River already have plans to create several new ski areas on their side of the mountains.

"Now when I-80 is shut down for weeks at a time due to harsh winter conditions, we'll have a great place for all those truck drivers to go and get some exercise while they are waiting for the roads to reopen," Rock Springs Mayor Bob Smith said.

Green River Mayor Samuel Baker said it will be a real boost to all the I-80 corridor local economies, and added the new tree-covered, snow-capped mountains will greatly improve the scenic view year-round for travelers in southwest Wyoming.

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