Stories of Ice: Adventure, Commerce and Creativity on Canada's Glaciers by Lynn Martel

Author:Lynn Martel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RMB - Rocky Mountain Books

Glacier Gamble

With the Jumbo dream in limbo, Oberti’s son, Tomasso, turned his attention to plans for a big glacier skiing resort near Valemount, west of Jasper. A 3½-hour drive from Kamloops, and 5½ hours from Edmonton – when the roads are not snow-covered – the destination is, again, out of the way. Described in promotional material as “one of the rare available sites for new mountain resort developments in North America,” it is adjacent to Canadian Mountain Holidays’ Cariboos and Valemount ski tenures, which have been operating since the 1970s, as has nearby Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing. The glaciers in the area are considerably large, large enough that they might still be worth seeing while the Athabasca – less than three hours’ drive to the south – diminishes into economic oblivion. Designed with a 20-year buildout, it promises a “unique and magical location, with large, majestic mountains and glaciers.” The project aims to provide a lift system spanning from one peak to the next over Twilight and McLennan glaciers that operates year round, for skiers and sightseers alike. Regional support for the $175 million project exceeded opposition, but the initial completion date of December 2018 has been pushed to 2020. As of late 2019, no work had yet begun.

Meanwhile, in August 2019, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that the decision made in 2015 by the Provincial Minister of Environment – that the Jumbo Glacier project’s environmental assessment certificate was expired because the project had not been “substantially started” – should be reinstated after being previously overturned by a lower court.

“With the resort dead in the water, Jumbo is going to stay wild,” said John Bergenske, Wildsight’s Conservation Director. “Now, it’s time for Qat’muk to be legally recognized, and beyond Qat’muk, wildlife need long-term protection in the broader central Purcell Mountains, all the way from the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy to Glacier National Park.”

This bulldozer was used to clear a track on the Commander Glacier by Winsport in preparation for CODA – Canada Olympic Development Association – summer training. Salt was also used to melt ice. Photo by Pat Morrow I am among those who cheered the decision. I’ve never understood the logic behind wanting to build a resort – a significant part of whose investment strategy includes dozens of vacation properties – in the heart of forest fire country. In recent years, forest fires have begun earlier in the summer season and lasted later, smothering western Canada’s mountain ranges in thick, unpleasant smoke and a substantial coating of dread. And as Earth’s climate continues to warm, as all predictions and evidence indicate it will, those conditions are expected to persist. It’s unknown how this might impact western Canada’s tourism industry, especially for a resort built at the end of a dead-end valley, with absolutely minimal firefighting resources. The location would turn into a death trap with lightning speed if a fire started at the bottom end of the valley and worked its way uphill, as fires often do.

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