Arizona Snowbowl outlines plans for expanding services

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A northern Arizona ski resort wants to expand services with night skiing and tubing, new chairlifts and mountain biking trails, and a zip line.

The Arizona Snowbowl operates on roughly one square mile (3 square kilometres) of the San Francisco Peaks.

Snowbowl general manager J.R. Murray says the resort will submit a master plan to the U.S. Forest Service this fall. The plan will be subject to environmental review and public comment.

Murray says implementing the plan could boost visitation from 3,870 to 4,500 people daily.

The resort says the earliest that the new services could start is 2021.

Native Americans have challenged the Snowbowl for decades over its existence on a mountain they consider sacred. More recently, they lost a lengthy legal battle to prevent snowmaking at the resort.