Snowmass, CO – A federal judge on Friday rejected an environmental group’s effort to bar Aspen Skiing Co. (ASC) officials from clearing new ski terrain on Burnt Mountain at Snowmass, allowing the project to move forward for the 2012-13 ski and snowboard season.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg denied a request for an injunction to stop the work, filed by The Ark Initiative, a Wyoming-based environmental group opposed to the 230 acres of new glades created by linking several meadows east of the Longshot run in previously out-of-bounds terrain on Burnt Mountain that is popular with local backcountry skiers.

The new glades are nonetheless within Snowmass’ U.S. Forest Service permit area. The Ark Initiative argued that the portion of Burnt Mountain in question was improperly omitted from Forest Service designation as a Roadless Area, but Boasberg disagreed, ruling that the 2011 Colorado Roadless Rule does not include land within designated ski area boundaries. He further ruled that because The Ark Initiative did not comment on the rule during its creation and thus participate in the process at that time, they have no legal standing to challenge it now.

The glades on Burnt Mountain were part of Snowmass’ Master Development Plan (MDP) first approved in 1994 and revised in 2003. After three more years of deliberation and public input, White River National Forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams approved the glade clearing.

While the lawsuit filed by The Ark Initiative temporarily halted work to clear the glades in September, when they were estimated to be 60 to 70 percent complete, work is now expected to resume to complete the new terrain in time for the 2012-13 ski and snowboard season at Snowmass.