Sleeping Giant's general manager, Jon Reveal, doesn't see the called-for changes as much of a concern, but does see them as a delay. But he's taking it all in stride.
"We are going to be delayed from our point of view," Reveal said. "Realistically these are the sorts of things you have to expect. There's going to be people questioning the validity of the impact statement."
There had been speculation that the zip line could still make it into operation for this summer, but Reveal thinks otherwise.
"It does not look good for this summer," he said. "Here once again it's a process that you go through. You don't get overly aggressive or overly optimistic about when you'll be able to do something."
The mitigation calls for a July 1 opening of the Three Mile Campground and the closing of Blackwater Road past the new trailhead and turnaround. Reveal doesn't see these as a big deal, since few people use the high-elevation campground and not many travel the boggy area beyond the turnaround.
"When you use the word turnaround, that's obviously a place where a lot of people go and turn around," he said.
Even so, the changes create bureaucratic delay, including a new environmental assessment and public comment period.
On a positive note, Reveal said recent snows have helped the resort.
"Last week we had just a gangbuster week of snow," he said. "We caught right back up on our snowfall and had a great weekend this past weekend, even with the Super Bowl!"
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