Managers of Aspen Mountain Powder Tours are hoping a local advocacy group will agree to embrace the status quo on Richmond Ridge rather than risk a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to open the area to unrestricted use by snowmobiles.
But the executive director of Powder to the People doesn't think his organization will accept a compromise being drafted by Aspen Skiing Co. executives, which owns Powder Tours.
The potential compromise is expected to reflect the current situation in the area behind Aspen Mountain, which allows snowmobile-skiers access to about a third of the terrain on the east side of Richmond Ridge.
"We've always been about equal motorized access to established over-the-snow roads," said Mike Sladdin, the leader of Powder to the People, a non-profit group formed several years ago in response to increased regulation of snowmobile skiers on Richmond Ridge.
If snowmobiles had unfettered access to the public land in the area, the managers of Powder Tours feel the snowcat skiing operation on Richmond Ridge could be diminished.
"It won't spell the end of Powder Tours in and of itself, but it clearly moves us in that direction," said Murray Cunningham of Powder Tours. "We need to be able to keep some terrain where we know we can create a quality experience for the guest."
Looming over the discussions is the Forest Service's plan to name as its "preferred alternative" a land-use designation allowing "open motorized" use on Richmond Ridge.
"Open motorized is the best tool we have up there," said Tim Lamb, a recreation specialist with the Forest Service.
The preferred alternative is expected to be included in the draft travel management plan for the White River National Forest, now scheduled to be released in April or May.
But the preferred alternative could change if SkiCo and Powder to the People agree to a compromise position the Forest Service likes.
Powder to the People wasn't pushing for the whole ridge to be open to snowmobiles and at least one of its board members is concerned about the direction the Forest Service is heading.
"I would prefer to reach a different solution," said Sean Gooding of Gooding Investment Properties. "And I feel it might ruin it for us as well as SkiCo's Powder Tours."
The organization's board members include Sladdin, Gooding and three other Aspenites: Gary Gleason, Brad Smith, and Jeff Bingham.
Powder Tours operates under an exclusive special use permit from the Forest Service.
SNOWCATS
It typically runs three, 12-passenger snowcats for three days after a snowstorm. The operation generally only runs cats if snow conditions allow them to give their guests access to untracked deep powder.
In contrast, snowmobile-skiers are individuals who usually take turns either skiing or ferrying skiers back up a snow road behind a private snowmobile.
Cunningham says snowmobile skiers frequently ski the best snow they can find shortly after a storm; they don't wait until tracks from the last storm are filled in, and they don't ski tight formations.
All that, he says, makes it harder for Powder Tours to then offer untracked slopes to its customers, who pay $350 a day for the experience.
He's also concerned about "free ride" snowmobilers who enjoy the thrill of cutting up powder on their specialized sleds made to ride through deep snow.
Powder to the People's Web site counters that the east side of Richmond Ridge is public land, that snowmobile-skiers have long enjoyed access to the area, and that it should not be the exclusive domain of a company catering to the "moneyed elite."
"I feel like that is my backyard out there and I can just go out in the woods and do what I need to do," said Sladdin, who works at the base of Aspen Mountain at the Gorsuch ski shop.
After a Dec. 15 meeting, SkiCo executives agreed to draft some language that might allow them and Powder to the People to approach the Forest Service in solidarity.
The language is expected to reflect the current situation on the Ridge, which both sides agree has worked out well.
THIRD SEASON
This is the third season where Powder Tours, the Forest Service and Powder to the People have all agreed to amend the exclusive special-use permit for Powder Tours and allow snowmobile skiers to access one of three winter-only roads groomed by Powder Tours.
The designated road is the one closest to Aspen Mountain. It offers access to the steepest, and most dangerous, terrain on the east side of the ridge - McFarland's Bowl, which is popular with local snowmobile skiers.
The other two roads, called Ptarmigan and Wine Tree, offer access to moderate terrain which is ideal for Powder Tours' sometimes upper-intermediate clientele. It is also very good for snowmobile-skiing.
From Cunningham's perspective, if Powder to the People refuses to embrace the current compromise on the ridge and keeps pushing for access to all of the Powder Tours terrain, it could end up dramatically changing the nature of the area.
"They are willing to gamble with the future of that entire ridge for their own selfish purposes," Cunningham said.
Sladdin, however, thinks SkiCo is using scare tactics and doesn't feel the situation on Richmond Ridge will change much with either an "open motorized" designation or with all three winter roads on the east side open to snowmobile-skiers.
"We don't feel that it will be hugely detrimental to their operation," Sladdin said.
bgs@aspendailynews.com 
