Progress to Date

Progress Report

A major study has been in progress since 1990, with continuous visits to the Valley by the consulting group lead by Pheidias Project Management Corporation of Vancouver, the prime consultant in this effort.

Jumbo Glacier and the Lake of the Hanging Glacier. The resort base will be located in the centre of the valley shown in the upper right hand part of the photograph.

A large group of consultants has been participating in this study, which ranges from on going environmental monitoring and reviews to engineering and market analysis. A five volume report was presented in June 1995 in compliance with CASP requirements for a Master Plan and in order to qualify for the transition into the Environmental Assessment Act review process.

Following the 1995 report, additional work has been in progress, including the preparation of responses to the Project Specifications. This additional work covered the analysis of potential impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat according to the proposed resort design; water quality and fisheries; waste disposal; geotechnical and engineering issues. Although the basic concept has not changed substantially, the ongoing work has refined and deepened the analysis, and provided a better design basis and a full response to the Project Specifications issued by the Environmental Assessment Office.

The context of the Project Specifications was discussed with Government staff in order to finalize the responses in the Project Report. A Project Report consisting of 3,772 pages divided into thirteen volumes was formally accepted in February 2004 and a public input process was completed in June 2004.

On October 14, 2004 the Environmental Assessment Office announced that the project received its Environmental Assessment Certificate.

Regarding the issue of Grizzly Bears, it was noted before that of the 33 individual Grizzlies identified from hair samples collected in the 1998 "Grizzly Bear Population Survey in the Central Purcell Mountains", only 2 Grizzly Bear hair samples were collected in the Jumbo Valley, versus 31 in the other drainages. Grizzly Bears were not found within 1 kilometre of main valley bottom roads, even though 26% of the capture sites were located near these roads. The proposed resort is at the end of the existing road.

The small number of Grizzly Bear hair samples collected in Jumbo Valley in 1998 confirms the results of the previous studies commissioned by Pheidias Project Management Corporation in the early nineties, which concluded that Grizzly Bear densities are relatively low in Jumbo Valley.

In summary, Glacier Resorts Limited has gone through the following steps:

1. site selection and Formal Proposal preparation(1989-90);
2. application for Proponent status (1991);
3. signing an Interim Agreement with the Province of B.C. (1993) providing for resort development rights subject to approved conditions;
4. a controversial but successful land use designation public process ( Commission On Resources and Environment - "CORE" - 1994);
5. preliminary environmental and planning review (decision by CORE - 1995);
6. official transition into the Environmental Assessment Act approval process (1995) with a preliminary Master Plan and Project Report;
7. entry into the final stage of the Environmental Assessment Act review process (issuance of the Project Specifications - 1998);
8. preparation of the responses to the Project Specifications issued by the Province in accordance with the Environmental Assessment Act, in consultation with Government Ministries' staff;
9. preparation of the draft Grizzly Bear Management plan;
10. preparation of the draft Route Study for the highway improvement design;
11. preparation of draft updated Project Report and Master Plan;
12. transition into the revised Environmental Assessment Act (2003);
13. completion and submission of final Project Report and Master Plan Concept;
14. completion of the Public Process as required by the Environmental Assessment Office;
15. submission of responses to the issues raised in the Public Process; and
16. attainment of an Environmental Certificate for the project.

  Public Consultation  |  Changes to the Master Plan  |  Environmental Assessment Act  

Public Consultation and Participation

The Proponent has undertaken a broad public participation process on three occasions — under CASP, CORE and the EA Act and has recently completed a fourth public participation process following the submission of the final Project Report. For the success and goodwill of the project, it is important that residents of the region are both informed about and involved in the decisions relating to the proposal. The latest public process included open houses, meetings with special interest groups, circulation of relevant data and studies, and participation in formal meetings organized in conjunction with the Environmental Assessment Office.

Over the years, the Proponent has developed substantial public support and the final process has further documented that support. In the past fourteen years, Pheidias and its consultants have been visiting the Jumbo Valley and the Columbia Valley communities on a regular basis, developing personal relationships and friendships, which they plan to continue to expand.

Despite the concerted effort of special interest groups that have actively opposed the project since the CORE land use designation process, project opponents have not managed to significantly expand their base. The opposition's level of active support was recorded at roughly 1.4% of the population of the East Kootenay during the Environmental Assessment public process. It clearly indicated the support of the silent majority, as evidenced by local leaders.

Pheidias was able to design and generate the project at the North end of the Columbia Valley, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, for a different client, but utilizing a great deal of the same knowledge, experience, and policy input that generated the Jumbo Glacier Resort project proposal. It is a project that demonstrates the enthusiasm for new resorts and shows what communities with purpose can create.

Significant Changes to the Master Plan

Jumbo Glacier Resort recently completed the most extensive environmental assessment program for any mountain resort in Western Canada. As a result of this process, a number of significant design changes have been introduced since the 1995 Draft Master Plan submission. The following changes are reflected in the current 2003 Master Plan Concept:

1. Removal of a ski lift into the Horsethief Creek drainage and of any physical access into that drainage. This ensures that there will be no physical access into the Lake of the Hanging Glacier drainage from the resort.
2. Simplification and reduction of the lift system and design capacity. Comfortable Carrying Capacity is reduced to approximately half of the 1995 submission. A low utilization rate is planned and the lift system is designed with an average daily utilization rate of 2,900 people at peak periods on completion.
3. Removal of a parking area and bus access facilities at the Mineral King Mine site.
4. Dedication to the Canadian athletes' summer training program planned by the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) and others of an optional ski lift that would provide access from lower Jumbo Creek to the top of Farnham Glacier. A proposed day skier parking area connected with this lift is removed.
5. Contraction of the resort area. All future parking and access to ski lifts are contained within a compact resort base centred on a defunct sawmill site in upper Jumbo Creek. The resort area will be contained on approximately 104 hectares. It will be the most compact ski resort in the Province.
6. Reduction of the bed base to 5,500 tourist bed-units and 750 staff bed-units.
7. Removal of the Glacier Dome Lodge and deletion of an initial phase at the base of Glacier Dome. The first phase is moved to the sawmill site area and will become the core of the resort base.
8. Removal of the lower Jumbo Creek area from the Controlled Recreation Area (CRA). This area has been perceived as having greater sensitivity in terms of wildlife issues.

Comparison between 1995 and 2003 Controlled Recreation Area (CRA). The CRA has been reduced from 14,866 hectares to 5,925 hectares.

9. Reduction of the Controlled Recreation Area (CRA) to less than half of the earlier Master Plan. The CRA has been reduced from 14,866 hectares to 5,925 hectares. The CRA will still contain the most impressive ski area in North America. It will feature a vertical drop of 1,700 metres (5,500 feet), which will be the largest in North America, all located in ideal climatic conditions for skiing. The abundance of natural snow and powder conditions in winter are the result of the local climate and of the elevations of the mountains and the valleys. The top stations of the lifts will be the highest in Canada, one third higher than Whistler (the top of Blackcomb is at 2,200 metres). Jumbo Glacier reaches an elevation of 3,419 metres (11,217 feet).
10. Design of access road improvements to minimize environmental impacts, cost and traffic speed. The improved access road follows existing road alignments on one side of the valley, reducing exposure to avalanche paths, and eliminates existing creek crossings connecting forestry roads from one side to the other of the valley. The resort will encourage the use of shuttle buses, which are planned to be provided free of charge to lift and resort clients from the first day of operation of the Jumbo Glacier tram.
11. Introduction of an Employment Equity Plan ensuring preferential hiring of local residents and First Nations members, and outlining on-going training and education possibilities.
12. Introduction of comprehensive Environmental Management Plans, including a detailed Grizzly Bear Management Plan, an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan, a Water Management Plan, a Solid Waste Management Plan, a Liquid Waste Management Plan, an Air Quality Protection Plan and a Spill Contingency Plan. Terms of reference for on-going environmental monitoring have been outlined.
13. Completion of a Visual Impact Assessment utilizing 3-D modelling. The Visual Impact Assessment influenced some of the design changes indicated above.
14. Introduction of a First Nations Interpretive Centre and Environmental Monitoring Centre at the resort.

Environmental Assessment Act

The project was originally presented to the public with regard to the land use question in the summer of 1991 by B.C. Lands.

An extensive public process was followed under C.O.R.E., concluding the land use decision with a favourable written report and a Government press release in April 1995.

The project was then transitioned at the Master Plan stage into the new Environmental Assessment Act review process, and following additional extensive public consultations, the Environmental Assessment Office in May 1998 issued the final terms of reference as its legal Project Specifications to the Proponent.

The Project Specifications are the all important document that concluded a long and difficult period during which some special interests, represented both by sectors of government staff and local groups, created considerable controversy with a description of the project that was far from the truth. Project opponents succeeded in causing a decade of delays and unprecedented costs for studies, public processes, reviews, and a difficult bias in the Project Specifications.

This not unusual opposition, and its lack of accountability, was supposed to derail the Government review process, and indeed it has caused considerable delays, but the existence of a law such as the Environmental Assessment Act, and the preparation of legally binding Project Specifications gave comfort to the Proponent that the review process was going towards the fair conclusion that it was designed to produce.

The Proponent has been comforted during this long process by the support of the relevant Ministers and by the four most recent Premiers, who have clearly indicated that the project conforms to Government policy and that the review process will not be derailed.

The Environmental Assessment Act was refined and restated in 2003 and the project was transitioned into the revised Act for the final review of the Project Report.

On October 14, 2004 the Environmental Assessment Office announced the Environmental Certification of the Jumbo Glacier Resort project.

The project is now ready for final Master Plan approval and a Master Development Agreement with the Province.

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