Regional Issues

Jumbo Glacier Resort and the Regional Economy

The Jumbo Glacier Resort project will substantially expand tourist visits to the region, creating a new synergy with existing attractions. It will become a major contributor to the reputation of the Columbia Valley as a tourist destination, creating a magnet that will counterbalance the Lake Louise image in the National Parks.

The project may become a significant support for the expansion of Cranbrook Airport, providing the major international magnet that is currently lacking. Skiers from overseas that currently fly into Calgary and spend the first night at the Delta Airport Hotel would have the option of flying directly into Cranbrook and staying at the St. Eugene Delta Hotel facility before travelling to the mecca of B.C. ski destinations. To promote local character and its integral relationship with the Valley, the resort is being designed to be a development area with multiple ownership, to be substantially owned and operated by local residents.

The Windermere Valley base is a well-known tourist destination that has made considerable progress in enhancing its facilities and reputation. It already has seven golf courses, including award winning Greywolf Golf Course at nearby Panorama Mountain Village and Eagle Ranch Golf Resort near Invermere. Several additional courses are being planned. Lake Windermere and Lake Columbia provide a variety of water activities, including sailing and wind surfing. Radium Hot Springs, Fairmont Hot Springs, and Panorama Mountain Village already provide accommodation and recreation facilities. It is an area of approximately 30,000 beds, comprising residents, tourist accommodation and second homes, until now most active in the summer. The proposed resort will complement Panorama and Fairmont with skiing facilities that will be within an hour's drive from the second homes and the tourist facilities in the valley, now largely unutilised in winter.

The Windermere Valley.

It is estimated that this project may produce some 150 to 250 construction jobs in the initial stages and would create a permanent work force that is estimated at approximately 750 to 800 jobs. An Employment Equity Plan that will ensure preferential employment of locals and First Nations members has been proposed.

While the financing is Canadian and international, the entire operation is planned to be Canadian and locally based, including its management. The resort is planned to be parcelled out to many owners and to be managed under the B.C. Resort Associations Act. The choice of the location is due also to the ability to access a tenacious, capable and sophisticated work force in the region.

  Local Support  |  Road Improvements  |  Other License Holders  

Local and Regional Support

Several local groups have come out in favour of the proposed project. A non profit Society, called Welcoming Employment Through Sustainable Tourism (WEST), was formed in support of the project and tourism and business organizations have come out on several occasions in support of the project.

The two local municipal councils, at Invermere and at Radium, and the Regional District of the East Kootenay recommended that the original application proceed to the final stage, which is the presentation to the Provincial Government of the Master Plan proposal.

The Regional District of the East Kootenay, on September 6, 1996 passed a resolution in support of a letter by Pheidias Project Mangement and requested to the Minister of Municipal Affairs that the area be declared a Mountain Resort Area, according to the Resort Associations Act. This vote was revisited on August 7, 2009.

Despite some vocal oppostion to the project, in the 1996, 2001, 2005 and 2009 Provincial elections the candidate supporting development and the approval process in place for the project obtained the majority of the popular vote in the area near the project.

In 2004, the Council of the Village of Radium voted unanimously (five out of five) to support the project. The Council of the District of Invermere voted narrowly (three to two) against supporting the project.

Numerous local businesses have also expressed their support for the project. A local advisory committee has been formed, and focus groups have been held to explore areas in which local businesses can expect to participate in the project. The Kootenay Rockies Tourism Association (BCrockies.com) and the Tourism Action Society in the Kootenays (TASK) have expressed their support for the project. The local First Nation, the Kinbasket-Shuswap, have also expressed their support for the project. Their support has been endorsed by the 17 Chiefs of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council.

Intrawest, the leading resort developer in North America and the management of Panorama Mountain Village, the nearest ski resort to the project, have given a vote of confidence to the project, supporting the idea that the project will bring new tourists and new markets to the area.

There has also been opposition, which gained a narrow majority in the last municipal elections in Invermere. However, this does not seem to reflect the mood of the B.C. population and the project is not in the jurisdiction of the District of Invermere. The other local government nearby, The Village of Radium Hot Springs council, has consistently supported the approval process in place for this project.

As in most projects in North America, there are opposing groups, but the Proponent is encouraged by the fact that those who oppose the project do not seem to have based their opposition on the actual data and design intent of the project, and seem to represent a radical segment of the electorate that is generally anti-development, regardless of what is proposed.

Provincial policy encourages the type of project proposed and Premiers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers have encouraged the Proponent to bring the development forward over many years, despite the controversies generated by special interest antidevelopment groups. The Proponent group is encouraged also by the positive result of the Vancouver plebiscite on the Olympic opportunities and the general public support for sports and resorts focused on skiing and snowboarding, evidenced by the success of the Olympic Games in Vancouver.

The Province and local Governments emphasize the need for sustainable quality projects that will improve the economic development and job opportunities in the region, and recognise the uniqueness of the project, which will create an image and a North American destination with no comparison possible on this continent.

Road Improvements

An earlier project for a Jumbo Pass highway studied by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways as an alternative route for a Trans-Canada corridor, which has since been completely abandoned, fuelled an initial controversy over the type and cost of the road to the Jumbo Glacier Resort project. The proposed highway up to Jumbo Pass was estimated to cost in the range of twenty-five to forty million dollars. No such project has ever been contemplated as part of the Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal.

For a relatively low traffic volume road leading to a resort, the proposed access will be one of the most economical to improve in the Province. The existing road from Panorama to the Mineral King Mine along Toby Creek and the forestry road from the mine to the sawmill site along Jumbo Creek follow some of the easiest terrain among mountain roads anywhere in the world, without any serious obstacle to overcome, such as a rock face, a canyon, a steep slope, or a major bridge.

Selecting the alternative route of a mining road access to Jumbo Valley on the east side of the mine tailings it is possible to follow a road alignment that goes from Panorama to the sawmill site without a single switchback, or a crossing of Jumbo Creek. The existing gradients do not exceed 8% in any location, and because the valleys offer a multiplicity of forestry road alignments on either side of the creeks, selecting the best route makes it possible to avoid most avalanche paths all the way up to the sawmill site (the resort base), and to eliminate existing bridges. The road improvements will be similar to those made to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort original forestry road, excluding its large 40km/h switchback. A 50 km/h road design has been proposed in order to minimize costs and the potential for wildlife loss.

Relationship with Other License Holders

The area under consideration is entirely Crown land that is owned by the Province of British Columbia. As in most of North America, Government land is subject to a multiplicity of existing controls and uses, and any new project raises very complex land use issues. This is one of the reasons why new projects, in most of North America, are not proposed. In British Columbia, CASP was established to create a system whereby the Province facilitates the creation of new projects.

The Province invites multiple use of Crown land by the public and by license holders and the overlapping of compatible tenures. Where compatibility is not achievable the Province regulates the separation of uses and compensation is expected to be fairly arbitrated. The Proponent has discussed future operations with the license holders since the beginning of the application and it expects that the Province will provide for a fair arbitration if an agreement cannot be found.

It is the Proponent's stated objective to cooperate with the license holders to enhance their business, and this topic has been discussed particularly with the heli-ski operator. It is the Proponent's objective to offer mutual advantages by the creation of a new base of operations and a lodge near the proposed resort in the Jumbo Creek Valley, which is near the centre of the expanded heli-ski tenure, and to minimize the loss of heli-ski runs.

Following the Interim Agreement that was granted to the Proponent, the heli-ski tenure was expanded to the west, with the Proponent's support, with a much larger area than the one offered by the Province to the Proponent for lift serviced skiing. The heli-ski tenure was expanded from approximately 125,000 hectares to 150,000 hectares (150 square kilometres). The ski area requested for the project would reduce the tenure by 5,900 hectares. A cooperation meeting was also held in 1993 with the heli-ski operator and with representatives of the Proponent and of Vail Associates, but the length of the subsequent process did not give the Proponent an opportunity to achieve a constructive follow up. The basis for cooperation established at that meeting, however, is still valid, and the Proponent expects that once the project goes ahead it will be recognized.

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