Jumbo Glacier Resort: Environmental Certification received

Jumbo Glacier Resort is a proposed year round ski resort located at the foot of Jumbo Mountain and Jumbo Glacier -- 55 km west of Invermere, British Columbia.

The resort, centred on a former sawmill site, will provide lift-serviced access to several nearby glaciers at an elevation of up to 3,400 metres (11,155 feet). The resort is planned in three phases and will ultimately include 5,500 bed-units (plus 750 beds for staff accommodations) in a 104 hectare resort base area. At build-out, the resort will see 2,000 to 3,000 visitors in high season. In winter, the resort will offer 1,700 metres (5,500 feet) of 100% natural snow vertical. In summer, up to 700 metres (2,300 feet) of glacier skiing vertical will be available. The resort's location was chosen for its optimal snow conditions, high elevations, large glaciers, and the fact that the Jumbo Creek valley has seen significant prior use and it provides the easiest access to 3,000 metre high (10,000 feet) glaciers in North America. At full build-out, the proposed $450 million resort would provide approximately 3,750 person years of construction employment and create 750 to 800 permanent full-time jobs.


Hotel design concept — consistent with the style and traditions of the Canadian Rockies

The project will consist initially of a gondola, three glacier T-bars for winter and summer skiing, and two chairlifts. It will start as a day operation for sightseers and skiers from the area ranging from Calgary to Cranbrook, and particularly from Banff to Panorama, with the inclusion of a lodge and some individual accommodations for overnight visitors.

The total network of lifts outlined in the final Master Plan are expected to have a maximum Comfortable Carrying Capacity (CCC) of approximately 9,000 people per day in winter and about half of that in the summer. At an average utilization rate of 25% this design translates into 2,250 skiers per day in winter. With a higher utilization rate and with greater ski school participation, a similar number of skiers per day could be achieved at build out in the summer. Total tourist bed base is designed for 5,500 beds at build out. At 40% occupancy this would translate into 2,200 overnight guests, which is a reasonable winter target.

Environmental Certification

After a nine-and-one-half year process in the provincial government's Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), Jumbo Glacier Resort's go-ahead from the provincial government is cause for a mixture of relief and celebration among the project's proponents. "We are very pleased by today's announcement," says Grant Costello, Vice President, Glacier Resorts Ltd. "We are pleased the three Ministers acted positively on the fair conclusion and recommendations of the EAO process. "This project was approved by the CORE process in 1995, and we would not have dreamed it would take more than nine years to travel through the Environmental Assessment process," he says. "But it has been given the go-ahead." The project was approved with conditions attached by the EAO. Costello says they accept the conditions, will review them, and he expects they will be able to accommodate the conditions. "Our plan for the project has been improved by the changes made over the years as issues have arisen," says Costello. "We are confident that the EAO's conditions will also improve the ultimate project." The next stage in the development of Jumbo Glacier Resort (JGR) is the completion of the Master Plan process and the signing of the Master Development Agreement with the Province. JGR officials are optimistic this can be completed by the end of 2005. JGR will be built at an elevation and in a climate that could be the world's best for skiing, says Costello. For example, the vertical drop of 1,700 metres (5,500 feet) will be the greatest at any ski resort in North America. "Lift access to glaciers and mountains of this caliber is not available anywhere else in North America," he says. "Our natural snow conditions are secure--even in the face of potential climate change concerns. We believe JGR will become the centrepiece of the ski industry strategy for the BC Interior." Costello adds that JGR will provide 850 long-term, full-time jobs in an environmentally sensitive and sustainable project. "We would also like to thank our many supporters who have patiently stood by this project over many long years," says Costello.

Commander Glacier, one of the four significant glaciers at Jumbo Glacier Resort. A new heli-ski destination, it would become the largest lift-serviced glacier in North America and would compete with the greatest and most famous runs of the Alps, but with far superior snow -- both in quantity and quality.

The next stage is a Master Plan approval and the signing of the Master Development Agreement with the Province.

Links:
Jumbo Glacier Resort
Project Assessment Report - by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office