PatMorrow_Landscape2

Jumbo Glacier Ski Resort: Innovative or Irresponsible?

Deep in British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains, a controversy has brewed for more than 20 years.

The Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal to build a 6,000-hectare European resort replica — complete with 23 ski lifts and 6,000 bed units — first surfaced in 1991.

Proponents argue the proposal would make the Invermere area home to Canada’s first year-round, glacier-based ski resort. Those opposed to the project say it would desecrate a sacred place for the Ktunaxa Nation, imperil grizzly bear habitat and overload a region that already has 13 ski resorts within a three-hour drive.

Time is running out for the proponents in more ways than one. Climate experts predict the glaciers will be entirely melted within four decades. And in the more immediate future, if substantial construction doesn’t begin by Oct. 12th, 2014, the environmental assessment certificate for the project will expire, meaning proponents have to go back to square one.

At this crucial moment in the project’s history, DeSmog Canada sent award-winning reporter Judith Lavoie series to the Columbia Valley to take a closer look at the issues swirling around the Jumbo Glacier Resort.

The original reporting in this series was made possible through the generous support of Wilburforce Foundation.

The fight to keep grass carp out of the Great Lakes

Get the inside scoop on The Narwhal’s environment and climate reporting by signing up for our free newsletter. From the window of a fishing boat, Andrew...

Continue reading
Our newsletter subscribers are the first to find out when we break a big story. Sign up for free →
An illustration, in yellow, of a computer, with an open envelope inside it with letter reading 'Breaking news.'
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
'This is not a paywall' text illustration, in a reddish-pink font colour
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
'This is not a paywall' text illustration, in a reddish-pink font colour