Keystone chairlift delayed, U.S. Forest Service pushes construction start date for more evaluation

The United States Forest Service says it's official, they will need months to complete the evaluation of a ski lift project proposed by Vail Resort, delaying the start of construction until the summer of 2023. In our reporting Monday, we referenced a decision from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on whether or not they would need to go back out and do additional environmental surveys to figure out how the project is affecting the area.

Scott Fitzwilliams, Forest Supervisor with the White River National Forest said he is impressed with Vail Resorts' restoration plan. 

"It's thorough, it's detailed. It has the right monitoring. If implemented properly, we are really confident that this was as good as we're going to be able to get as far as the work using all the latest data," Fitzwilliams said.

Vail Resorts put out a statement as well after the decision earlier this week, saying in part:

"Keystone will not complete the Bergman Bowl Express lift for the 2022/23 season. I am disappointed to share this news with our guests and community. I know many were looking forward to this new lift-serviced terrain at the resort, including myself and the Keystone team, but for this winter, we do plan to open Bergman Bowl with hike-to skiing and riding."

Fitzwilliams said he understands the frustration from the public and said it would be a more significant issue if Vail Resorts were not being as responsive as they have been trying to clean up their mess. 

"I don't like being the heavy on these things, but that's part of my job. It's part of my job as a public servant. And they've been responsive. So we just got to follow through. We've got to go through to implementation," Fitzwilliams said.

The plan includes 5 years of active restoration, as well as Keystone checking back in after those 5 years each year to make sure they are still on track.