Patsey Marley Development Proposal

The Summer Road at Alta is a backcountry hot spot. Whether you’re taking an avalanche class and just getting into backcountry skiing or testing your abilities in Wolverine Cirque, Grizzly Gulch is a mainstay for backcountry skiing in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon. And while change is coming to this zone, hopefully, changes to existing and long-standing access are not! 

The Estate of JoAnne L. Shrontz is proposing a condominium development on their 26-acre parcel on lower flanks of Patsy Marley near the summer road that would include a conservation easement on the upper 20 acres of the private property. This proposal serves as an alternative to a previously permitted 10-lot residential subdivision with no conservation easement under the 2014 Settlement Agreement.

Wasatch Backcountry Alliance attended an open house hosted by the Town of Alta on Tuesday, March 25 to learn more about the plans. While WBA does not support development in this area, we recognize that this is not a choice between development and no development — it is a decision between two different development scenarios. Given these circumstances, WBA believes that consolidating development into a higher density and smaller footprint, coupled with a conservation easement, is a preferable outcome compared to 10 dispersed single-family homes with no conservation protections in the same area.

Our primary concern remains protecting public access to Grizzly Gulch via the summer road. To that end, we urge that any conservation easement explicitly designate the protected land for human-powered recreation only, with a clear restriction against lift-served access. This provision is critical to maintaining the current integrity of Grizzly Gulch.

Additionally, we have learned that under either development scenario, a parking garage would be built for the new residences. This means that existing parking in Grizzly Gulch would not be heavily impacted — an important consideration for backcountry users accessing the area.

The Town of Alta is accepting public feedback on the proposal until Friday, March 28, at midnight. To learn more, review documents from the Town of Alta’s January 2025 meeting packet (pages 14-55).