Jumbo Glacier Ski Resort Project in B.C. Has To “Start Over”

The proposed Jumbo Glacier ski resort in British Columbia, Canada was first envisioned in the 90s and has always been controversial.  They planned on building a 6,300 bed resort with 20 ski lifts on four glaciers including 1,500-acres of year round glacier skiing terrain.  The project is located in the Jumbo Valley 55kms west of Invermere in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia, Canada.

Last week, the Jumbo Glacier ski resort’s Environmental Assessment Certificate expired.  It expired and the overall work done so far on project “has not been substantially started,” according the the B.C. Environmental Ministry.

“As a result, the environmental assessment certificate has expired and Glacier Resorts Ltd. cannot proceed with developing this project unless a new certificate is obtained.” – B.C. Environmental Ministry press release

At this point, if Glacier Resorts Ltd. wants to continue with the project, they’ll have to start from square one.  To start again, they’d basically have to go back to the pre planning stage.

“They’d have to resubmit a project. It would be as though they had never been through an assessment before.” – Environment Minister Mary Polak

Many locals were against this project from the start due to nearby ski resorts already struggling and the impact the new resort would have on the local Grizzly Bear population.

Glacier Resorts Ltd. knows how to hustle.  In 2012 they got the B.C. government to grant them an amendment to the Local Government Act to allow Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort to become a municipality, even though zero people lived there… 

They also hustled a provincial grant of $260,000 and  $50,000 in federal gas tax monies.  

Jumbo ski resort was hoping for 2,000 to 3,000 skier visits per day once completed.

“Every environmental assessment certificate has a deadline by which the project must be substantially started in the reasonable opinion of the minister.  While it is clear that some construction has started, I was not convinced that the physical activity undertaken as of October 12, 2014 meets the threshold of a substantially started project.” – Environment Minister Mary Polak

It will be very interesting to see what Glacier Resorts Ltd. does from here.  At this point, they’ve wasted an enormous amount of money in planning, permits, environmental assessments, and more.  Starting over would be a very difficult task.