Marshall Mtn. lift cable coming down ahead of forest thinning

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Hundreds of mountain bikers converged on Marshall Mountain over the weekend to compete in what organizers said was among the largest XC races in the state.

The event, which drew as many as 450 riders each day, is just one of the events or improvements planned to the public park this year.

“The race was a real spectacle,” said Jackson Lee, the Marshall Mountain project manager. “It's nothing like we've ever permitted up there.”

With the XC race in the books, Lee said the Missoula Mountain Bike Coalition will design and construct an expert-level skills trail this fall. The project will be carried out with voluntary work, he said.

The county also has a contractor in place to remove the cable from the old ski lift. Lee said the cable will be spooled and scrapped at Pacific Steel.

“The towers will stay in place,” he said. “But what that allows us to do with the cable removed, we can look at the lift terminal and look at transitioning that into a picnic pavilion.”

Lee said the project will result in temporary trail closures, but the end product will provide summer shade at the base of the mountain.

Crews will also begin forestry work as fall moves in, Lee said.

“We'll be able to do forestry treatment on the ski runs. There's value for wildlife risk reduction and forest resiliency, but there's also recreation value,” he said. “We'll masticate and hand-thin the ski runs to free up more ski-able terrain going into the winter.”

That project will treat around 80 acres and provide glade skiing.

“We're curious to see how this goes,” Lee said. “It's a test pilot for what could be a larger forest treatment at Marshall going forward.”