The new resort will be Canada’s first year-round ski resort and will offer the biggest vertical drop on the continent. Photo: Valemount Glaciers
The designer of the widely detested ski resort proposal profiled in the documentary “Jumbo Wild” just got approval to build another resort in British Columbia. And while this one may not be jumbo, it’s certainly gigantic. But there is one gigantic difference: Believe it or not, this resort has none of the controversy that has for decades surrounded the still-alive Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal.
The new $100 million resort, Valemount Glacier Destinations, near the town of Valemount in the Cariboo Mountains, will boast a number of superlatives: It will be the first year-round resort in Canada, have the largest vertical drop in North America, and will be the only resort on the continent to offer access to glaciers at nearly 10,000 feet in elevation. The resort could be open by December 2018, according to a press release.
The province of British Columbia approved the project on Tuesday. The developers, who include the designer Oberto Oberti, say that unlike with the Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal, this one has secured support from numerous parties.
The author of a recent profile of Oberti in Outside magazine wrote, “Surprisingly, I could find no record, in newspapers or through interviews, of anyone reporting any environmental concerns with the project…That’s not to say there is unanimous support.” Critics wonder if the new mega resort will eat into business at other resorts, like neighbroing Revelstoke, rather than serve a market that needs another ski mountain.
Sponsored by Patagonia, the 2015 film “Jumbo Wild” detailed the more than two-decade fight environmentalists, first nations people and backcountry skiers and snowboarders have waged against Oberti’s infamous proposal.
“This would not have happened without the initiative and support of the people of Valemount and of the Simpcw First Nation, and it has been designed and will be developed as a community-driven project,” Oberti said in a press release. “We must recognize the vision and the efforts of so many elected representatives and individuals.”
Along with the ski terrain centered on Mount Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the resort will feature 2,000 beds and 214 chalets.
