Pitkin County officials are reviewing what appears to be a new glade run on Aspen Mountain.
The Aspen Skiing Co. cut down an unknown number of trees east of Aztec ski run.
Officials have claimed the new glade is simply the result of “routine maintenance.”
“The work being conducted between Aztec and Ruthie’s Run on Aspen Mountain is completely permitted by the 1997 Aspen Mountain - Mountain Master Plan, which is currently still in effect. The Aspen Skiing Co. has the exclusive right to perform maintenance and trail work within its ski area boundaries,” SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle wrote in an e-mail Wednesday.
County officials, however, aren’t so sure.
Lance Clarke, assistant community development director for Pitkin County, requested that the company disclose how many trees were cut; how many of them were dead, diseased or fallen; and how many of the trees that were cut were alive.
Clarke described the county’s review of SkiCo’s actions as “more of a discussion” than an “investigation.”
Tree-cutting appears to be the only potential issue county officials have with the work SkiCo has done this summer.
Officials said a shack that was built into the mountainside is too small to have required a building permit. They also reviewed a temporary road created this summer when the work was done, but since fewer than 50 cubic yards of dirt were removed, the activity did not trigger any county code violations.
Even had there been or if there is a code violation, county code enforcer Carrington Brown said state law focuses on bringing violators into compliance rather than punitive actions.
Rich Burkley, vice president of mountain operations for SkiCo, has said the road that was created will be re-vegetated.
County officials and at least one SkiCo executive have acknowledged the irony of the situation: SkiCo fired a long-time ski instructor seven years ago for cutting dead and fallen trees in the same location, albeit to a much more limited extent.
SkiCo owns the land in question.
hoop@aspendailynews.com
