One year after Eldora Mountain Resort was cleared to launch an ambitious expansion project, work is finally underway that should bear fruit for skiers in the upcoming season.

General Manager Brent Tregaskis, hired little over a year ago and retained in that position when the resort was sold in June to the Utah-based chain Powdr, is elated to see the resort launch its first significant enhancements to the ski terrain in quite some time.

“We’re willing to spend several million dollars here in the next couple of years, improving the resort,” Tregaskis said. “I’m super excited about that. That’s the best investment this resort has seen in a number of years.”

Tregaskis said trees are being cut to facilitate three new black diamond runs that were approved by the Forest Service in its Oct. 1, 2015, record of decision, as well as to facilitate the replacement of the existing Cannonball and Challenge lifts with a single, high-speed, six-seat detachable lift.

“And then, we’ll have snowmaking coming right in behind it. We’ll get to use those runs this year. Right around Christmas-time would be the goal,” he said.

The shortest of the three new runs — located between the Corona and Indian Peaks chairlifts — has been fully cut. Tregaskis described it as looking like a run that has “been there 20 years.”

The steepest of the new trails is being called Wolf Tongue. The second, and longest, is dubbed Alpen Horn, featuring a steep pitch and counter kick at the end. The third addition, named Red Trail, begins as an intermediate blue run before plunging down an advanced pitch onto Mule Shoe.

They range from 1,300 to 2,608 feet in length, and add 15 new skiable acres to the Eldora terrain. They’re designed to hold 300-plus inches of natural snowfall, but will be buttressed by 100 percent snowmaking coverage.

“We’re moving full steam ahead on that upgrade and replacement of the Challenge and Cannonball, and we’ve already cut the lift line for the new detachable, to replace those two lifts,” Tregaskis said.

The new high-speed lift is scheduled to be installed for the 2017-18 ski season.

Long-term plans still taking shape

U.S. Forest Service personnel have been on the Eldora property in recent weeks monitoring the ongoing work.

“We had folks up there this summer overseeing the contract, marking the trees to be cut and then they oversee the cutting, itself,” said Reid Armstrong, spokeswoman for the Boulder Ranger District of the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest. “We still have a role to play, until the work is completely finished. I know they are planing on having the helicopter come in, at some point.”

Tregaskis said a helicopter would be utilized in operations later this month.

“The Forest Service has been great,” Tregaskis added. “We’re working with them extensively. They’ve got guys on-site to make sure that we’re doing everything by the book.”

The Forest Service decision of last year on the proposed expansion was not an unqualified win for Eldora.

Then-acting Forest Supervisor Ron Archuleta, in his ruling, held off on green-lighting an expansion of its boundaries by about 18 acres on the south and 70 more acres on the north. Those plans had raised concerns on the part of environmentalists for its potential impacts on Middle Boulder Creek and an associated wildlife corridor in that area.

In his decision, Archuleta recommended that the resort and those who had an interest in the future of the project and its effects on neighboring land and communities “work together” to chart options for moving forward with the more broad expansion vision.

Tregaskis said Powdr was not ready to discuss more long-term plans in any detail, choosing instead to “get its feet wet” in its first full season of ownership at Eldora before talking about ambitions on the further horizon.

‘A win-win-win’

Boulder County Land Use Director Dale Case was aware the work at Eldora was underway, and said the trail cutting did not require any action or review by the county.

“On the lift replacement, that’s something we’re going to be working with the resort on, to see what might be involved, whether or not that lift is a modification to their previous special use approval,” Case said. If so, “Then it would need to go through the special use process. We’ve met with them, and they’re going to be submitting information as to what is involved and what is the lift placement plan, and what impacts that would have on the parking lot. … The only real concern we would have with it is if it took away a bunch of parking spaces.”

Environmentalists who have been watching Eldora’s progress closely, united under the banner of the Middle Boulder Creek Coalition, approved of what they knew of the resort’s current activities, judging them as consistent with their preferred “infill” alternative to the resort’s expansion — upgrading within its existing boundaries.

“Infill to upgrade the lifts, open new runs, and improve the lodge are a good investment in sustainability,” Michael Chiropolos, an attorney for the coalition, said in an email.

“Controversial expansions at the expense of Middle Boulder Creek and the Nordic experience would be bad business, and bad for the land. Taking account of local concerns is good for business. It’s appreciated by the resort’s neighbors in Eldora townsite, and thousands of locals who support protecting Middle Boulder Creek and a backcountry experience for visitors to Hessie and Lost Lake.”

And, Chiropolos said, “Infill is a win-win-win for the local environment, local communities and the ski area.”

Charlie Brennan: 303-473-1327, brennanc@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/chasbrennan