A Sustainable Ski Resort? Tourism Development in Valemount, BC

Lia Dengler

Report prepared at the request of the Green Party of British Columbia in partial fulfillment of UBC Geography 419: Research in Environmental Geography, for Dr. David Brownstein.

April 2013

1 Executive summary

Tourism development is a hot topic in many small single industry towns in British Columbia. While a resort development can bring much needed economic stimulus to a stagnating resource economy, it also creates new challenges and fundamentally alters the nature of the community itself.

This research examines the sustainability of a proposed all-season ski resort development near the Village of Valemount, in the interior of British Columbia. It uses a literature review to try to discern the most common challenges and benefits associated with ski resort development, then evaluates the formal proposal against the 10 guiding principles of the Green Party of BC. However, it is important to note that this study is confined to a literature review, and without a consultation of stakeholders in the project, it may overlook current debates of local support or opposition related to this development.

While ski resort developments are often controversial and high impact, the Valemount Glacier Destination (VGD) proposal exhibits an unusually high stated commitment in environmental and social sustainability. However, more information, and time, is needed to see whether it can fully meet all the goals it claims to achieve. With respect to the 10 guiding principles, several are satisfied and several are not. According to the definitions provided by the Green Party, the resort fulfills the principles of social justice, non-violence, gender equality, and diversity. However, the principles of sustainability, personal and global responsibility, and ecological wisdom are not met. The principles of grass roots democracy, community based economy, and decentralization are uncertain, with evidence for both sides, and require more information to know with certainty if they are fulfilled or not. Therefore, it may be necessary to monitor the status of the project information as it becomes available to ensure the Green Party stance best reflects the actual development of the project.

2 Research question

Does the proposed Valemount Ski Resort Development satisfy the criteria of a “green” project, according to the 10 guiding principles of the Green Party of BC?

3 Project introduction

3.1 Study area Valemount is a small town located at the confluence of the Rocky, Caribou, and Monashee mountain ranges. It is very close to Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, a popular destination for sightseers. It is 300 km SW of Prince George, and 120 km west of Jasper. Its relatively modest population of approximately 1100 is supported by a mix of forestry related activities, the public sector, transfer payments from senior governments, and tourism (Pheidias Project Management Corporation 2012b).

3.2 Project proposal The proposal is for a year round, four season glacier skiing and sightseeing resort. In the summertime, lifts will be used to access spectacular mountain views as well as high altitude glacier skiing. It is intended as a showpiece destination, designed to attract international guests and emulate the experience of the European Alps. It will feature the ski run with the longest patrolled vertical drop in the world, at 2400 metres, and will have a controlled recreation area of 20 000 acres, a ski run terrain of 2500 acres, and a total capacity at full build out of 12 000 people. At build out, it will also include a village base with up to 2 000 new bed units, approximately 10% of which will be designated employee housing, and several new restaurants. In addition to the ski lifts and sightseeing platforms, several other recreational facilities, including snowshoe and cross-country ski trails, a snow tubing area, and a full size hockey rink will be developed (Phedias Project Management Corporation 2012b).

3.3 Proponent information The proposed resort is designed by Oberti Resort Design, a well established architectural firm based out of Vancouver, and managed by Pheidias Project Management Corporation (PPMC),

3 which shares the same office. This partnership has been responsible for a number of resort proposals and developments in British Columbia, including the Kicking Horse Mountain resort near Golden, an expansion to Crystal Mountain near Kelowna, and the highly controversial Jumbo Glacier proposal near Invermere, BC. The Jumbo proposal has been controversial since its inception in 1990, and has recently been given the green light with the provincial approval of the Jumbo Resort Master Plan in November 2012 (Metcalfe 2013).

4 Literature review

Before evaluating a ski resort, it is important to have an idea of some of the common issues, challenges, benefits, practises and solutions with respect to sustainable ski resort and tourism development. While a more limited quantity exists specifically pertaining to Valemount, there is a large body of work on various facets of ski resort and tourism development in other areas. A brief literature review is provided here, presented within broad areas of environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

4.1 Environment Environmentally, ski resorts are known to generate numerous negative effects. These can include increased energy and water use, increased solid waste, increased emissions from transportation, deforestation, impacts on vegetation, fish, and wildlife habitat, air, sound, and visual pollution (Call 2012, Chipeniuk 2005, George 2003, Clifford 2002, Holden 1999, Good 1995). In face of such evidence, it is hard to argue that they create environmental benefits. However, in some cases, such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the environmental cost of a ski resort is seen as somewhat beneficial in that it is less detrimental than the environmental degradation that would have occurred had resource extraction continued in the area (Chipeniuk 2005).

While it is inherently almost impossible to incur zero environmental effects as a result of a new project, it is possible to minimize environmental impact through careful planning and adherence to existing guidelines. For ski resorts, an example of one such guideline is the Sustainable Slopes Charter developed by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) in 2000 (NSAA 2005). Although it has been proven to be ineffectual in practise, due to the voluntary nature of the

4 guidelines (Rivera et. al 2006, George 2003), it does provide a comprehensive checklist of principles and practical options for reducing the environmental impacts of ski resorts throughout the construction and operation phases. In this document, the key areas of concern for ski resorts include: water and energy use, waste management, fish and wildlife, forest and vegetation, wetlands and riparian areas, air and visual quality, transportation, education and outreach, emphasizing the importance of reducing impacts across a range of environmental criteria as well as educating the public about them (NSAA 2005). Furthermore, in the long term, there is the consideration of climate change, and the uncertain effects on the ski industry (Scott et. al 2006, Holden 1999). While it is believed that the Valemount Resort is of a sufficiently high altitude to be unaffected by climate change for some time (PPMC 2012a), resorts in other areas such as the Northeastern United States are facing decreased ski season lengths, more variable snowfall, and an increased need for water resources for artificial snowmaking in as little as fifty years (Scott et. al 2006).

4.2 Social From the point of view of existing residents, there are several key social sustainability issues pertaining to resort development. Perhaps most importantly, is the disconnect that often exists between existing residents, the developer, and governmental agencies. There may be a real or perceived lack of control by local residents, and a fear that the resort developer, often a large corporation, will become the sole controlling factor in the community (Nepal 2008). To some extent, this can be mitigated if the ski resort lies within the municipal boundaries of the nearby town. This allows the municipality to collect property taxes and have more influence over the actions of the resort, but it also means they must provide municipal services such as electricity and water, which can be expensive (Nepal 2008). Furthermore, in the BC context, under the 2004 BC Resort Strategy and Action plan, the decisions of local governments with respect to resort development may in some cases be overridden if the provincial government deems the resort to be in the broader public interest (Chipeniuk 2005).

Some additional common social issues with ski resort development include the following:  Increased real estate prices and a higher cost of living (Nepal 2011, Chipeniuk 2005)

 Out-migration of long-time residents to more affordable or undeveloped areas (Chipeniuk 2005, Nepal 2011)  Trends of counter-urbanization, rural gentrification, and the segregation of existing town and new resort community (Nepal 2011), changed social structures within the community (Nepal 2011, Clifford 2002)  Lessened sense of community and place (Chipeniuk 2005, Gill 1994)

Overwhelmingly, the literature points to the importance of community and stakeholder consultation when developing a tourism resort (Nepal 2008 and 2011, Aspinal et al 2011, Richins 2009, Chipeniuk 2005, Gill 1994). This would help develop a common ground between the developer, residents, local government and other authorities, and identify potential concerns and benefits. Ideally, there would be continued opportunity for public consultation throughout the resort process, and for some guarantee for this feedback to be incorporated. Richins (2009) provides a good example of a case study of extensive community consultation with respect to tourism planning in Noosa, Australia. This study uses an inclusive community based sustainability framework to evaluate and plan for ecological, cultural, economic and socio- community sustainability within the development of the community, and to establish a larger community vision. While the local context is clearly very different, and it is too early to measure the success of this particular model, it does provide a theoretical framework for evaluating and planning for long term sustainability in tourism development.

4.3 Economic Economically speaking, the creation of a ski resort will create jobs, during both the construction and operations phases, although jobs in the service industry tend to have relatively low wages (Clifford 2002). In the interest of economic diversification, developing a local tourism industry is a popular approach by many small resource-oriented towns in BC. Support is generally larger for multi-strand tourism projects (Nepal 2008), for otherwise they can effectively function like a single firm resource town. Especially in the early stages of resort development, it is easy to sacrifice residents’ quality of life in the interest of economic growth (Gill 1994).

However, it is important to consider the high capital cost of a ski resort, and how it is being financed. For large resorts, the capital cost is generally such that the small towns that host them cannot afford to pay the upfront cost of development, so the money tends to come from investors outside the community, which means the community has reduced control. While Valemount Glacier Destination promotes itself as “well-positioned to capture a share of the world skier market” (PPMC 2012b pg. 176), trends across the North American ski industry as a whole show a lack of growth or even decline in the past 25 years (Clifford 2002). Stock prices of American ski companies have crashed in the late 1990’s to mid 2000’s, and while the large resorts seem to be growing, it is at the expense of the declining smaller hills. Of course, the larger resorts also have a higher capital investment and therefore a higher risk (Chipeniuk 2005). Often, there is a need to incorporate real estate development and other tactics to diversify the resort revenue stream in addition to lift tickets (Clifford 2002), however, this must be balanced with the social costs of uncontrolled tourism development.

Finally, there may be challenges arising from limited nature of small town planning and administration itself. In a study by Chipeniuk (2005) that surveyed 24 resort towns or resort towns to be in BC, Colorado, and Wyoming, it was found that in many cases, planners and administrators for small communities in the interior of BC do not fully appreciate the scale and complexity of the planning challenges associated with large scale resort development. Planners in smaller communities were generally less realistic about the about the impacts, benefits, and challenges of resort development compared to those in larger, more established centres such as Whistler and or Jackson Hole. As well, smaller communities may not have their own planning departments, leading to a disconnect if they are only served by planners from a larger regional district to which they belong. The author found many of these small town characteristics present in the Valemount case.

5 Evaluation of Resort Proposal against the Green Party Guiding Principles

Please note: unless stated otherwise, information in this section is quoted from the Valemount Glacier Destinations Formal Proposal document. The citations have been excluded for clarity and lack of repetition.

5.1 Sustainability Positives Negatives Principle met?  Proposed actions for  Insufficient evidence and No sustainability and impact knowledge of planning mitigation in the short for the very long term term  Unknown environmental  Some partnerships and effects of climate change initiatives have the (ex. Scott et. al 2006) potential to continue into  Overall trends to the future declining ski industry (Clifford 2002)

5.2 Social Justice Positives Negatives Principle met?  Development of tourism  May also cause further Most likely yes industry in wake of challenges and inequity declining logging for some groups; some industry may provide groups will undoubtedly economic opportunity to profit at the expense of help more citizens fulfill others their potential  Additional challenges in  Joint project ownership transitioning from a by the Simpcw First resource to resort Nations in the initial community (Gill 2000) stages but in this case, the  No documented instances transition is already well of discrimination based underway on gender, race, citizenship or sexual identity

5.3 Grass Roots Democracy Positives Negatives Principle met?  Valemount has taken a  Lack of information on Uncertain proactive approach to intended citizen tourism development involvement in the  At this point, more over the last 20 years, construction and information on the role  In 2000, a community- operations stages of the of citizen involvement based economic resort during the construction development strategy for  Some lack of transparency and operation phases of Valemount affirmed the in the resort planning the resort is needed. town’s interest in tourism process, for example,  As well, residents’ development and VGD formal proposal attitudes to this particular explored various options document is not publicly iteration of a ski resort for doing so (Pfister available development near 2000).  Developer involvement in Valemount is currently  Extensive public Jumbo shows that in unknown consultation and reality, residents are not academic study for an always considered in the earlier ski resort on process Canoe Mountain, which was sidelined in 2008 (Nepal 2008, Pfister 2000)  Support from various community players including: the Mayor, Chamber of Commerce, Yellowhead Outdoor Recreation Association, Valemount Ski Society, Simpcw First Nation, local Snow-Cat Operator and tenure holder

5.4 Non-violence Positives Negatives Principle met?  Overall, community Yes attitude to this resort proposal is relatively  Seems unlikely that positive violence would erupt  Site selected partly due as a result of this ski to its lack of resort irreconcilable local  No documented conflicts protests or excessively strong opposition

5.5 Community Based Economy Positives Negatives Principle met?  Resort development as  Investors have not yet Uncertain a deliberate means of been announced – economic potential for foreign or  Need for further diversification and non-local control information to make a stimulus  Conflict with Canadian decisive  Proposed partial Mountain Holidays recommendation, due ownership and Heli-Skiing tenure area to the high importance investment in the  Limitations on local of this principle initial project stages by control due to local Simpcw First provincial regulations Nations (Chipeniuk 2005)  Potential for an  Local officials and additional First planners may not fully Nations resort base at appreciate the scale full build out and complexity of a large ski resort development (Chipeniuk 2005)

5.6 Gender equality Positives Negatives Principle met?  Evidence of  Limited information on yes cooperation and hiring practises of consultation in non- developer gender related issues  Sometimes there is related to this project only information if  No known issues with there is a problem with unfair hiring processes, gender equality discrimination, etc.

5.7 Diversity Positives Negatives Principle met?  Considerations for  Limited information yes wildlife with respect to the true  Considerations for scope of biological and aboriginal groups human diversity within  No known major the study area issues with cultural, sexual, or racial discrimination in the study area

5.8 Decentralization Positives Negatives Principle met?  Community first  Currently, province Uncertain approached consulting can virtually override company to investigate local decisions with  Will need to wait and the possibility of a respect to tourism see how the power skiing destination, not development distribution actually the other way around (Chipeniuk 2005) plays out in practise.  Applied for extension  Provincial mandate to  Potential to go either of municipal boundary promote tourism way, depending on the in 2008 to gain more development and actions of the province control over the Canoe economic growth and the developer Mountain resort (Chipeniuk 2005, development Pfister 2000)  March 2012,  Unclear if the Village Valemount Ski Society of Valemount has conducts a signature applied for a boundary campaign, which extension to resulted in over 500 encompass the current signatures in support proposal on Mt. Arthur of the project Meighen  Support from  Invermere experience community players in with the Jumbo Resort Valemount including: proposal by the same the Mayor, Chamber company, which was of Commerce, approved by the Yellowhead Outdoor province in November Recreation 2012 and is proceeding Association, despite very Valemount Ski considerable local Society, Simpcw First opposition and a lack Nation, local Snow- of consultation Cat Operator and throughout the process tenure holder

5.9 Personal and global responsibility Positives Negatives Principle met?  “Tourism development  Unclear as to the role No involves 3 sectors: interest groups other government, business, than First Nations will  Insufficient evidence non-profit or non- play in the that responsibility will government development be shared among all organisations”  Hard to justify levels of society (Pfiester 2000) sustainability and  Partial shared justice at an ownership between the international level First Nations and the based off a resort that developer will only affect a certain small region

5.10 Ecological Wisdom Positives Negatives Principle met?  Environmental  Stated goals provide a No management stated as clear set of ideals, a planning priority however, an in depth  Inherently impossible  Goal: Minimize energy environmental to have a project with use, development assessment of the zero impacts footprint, responsible impacts will only  However, may be water management, occur in the Master possible to minimize tertiary wastewater Planning Phase. impacts through treatment, minimize  The All Seasons careful adherence to wildlife impacts, Resort Guidelines existing guidelines waste, motorized legislative framework,  Based on the travel, visual and which will review the assessment in the social impacts, include Master Plan should it Jumbo Glacier Master an education remain below the Plan (PPMC 2010), the component; thresholds for a full assessment is likely to maximizing guests’ EA, is biased towards be extensive. appreciation of the economic development natural environment  Several Old Growth  “The resort base will Management Areas be kept small to and wildlife corridors minimize its are located within the environmental impact study area and remain below the thresholds of the lengthy Environmental Assessment Act review process (pg 22)

6 Recommendations

In conclusion, my recommendations to the Green Party of BC are as follows:

 It is recommended that the Green Party does not actively oppose the Valemount ski resort development, unless information surfaces which would make this course of action desirable.  Certain sections of the guideline evaluation matrix are incomplete, and will depend on how promises and theory turns into action. It is recommended that the Green Party actively monitor the progress of the resort development, and be willing to adapt their policy stance as necessary.  In terms of the ecological impact of the resort, it is recommended that the Green Party wait to see the results of the more thorough environmental assessment that will be conducted as part of the Master Planning Process, should the formal proposal be approved, before proclaiming the environmental woes or benefits of the project.  If more information is desired from the perspective of the Village of Valemount administrators, it may be beneficial for the Green Party to speak directly to the Village of Valemount. This may also help win political support from citizens in the Valemount area.

w.c. 3 360.

7 Works Cited

Aspinall, A., Cukier, J., & Doverstein, B. (2011). Quality of Life Assessments and Social Sustainability: Ski Tourism Development in Invermere, British Columbia. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management 13(2), 179-201. Call, A. (2012). Sustainable Ski Resorts in the State of Utah: Working Toward the Future. (Masters thesis). Utah State University, Logan, Utah. Chipeniuk, R. (2005). Planning for the Advent of Large Resorts: Current capacities of interior BC mountain communities. Environments Journal 33(2), 57-69. Clifford, H. (2002). Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment. San Fransisco: Sierra Club Books. George, A. (2003). Managing ski resorts: perceptions from the field regarding the sustainable slopes charter. Managing Leisure 8(1). 41-46. Gill, A. (2000). From growth machine to growth management: the dynamics of resort development in Whistler, British Columbia. Environment and Planning A 32 (2000), 1083-1103. Good, R. (1995). Ecologically Sustainable Development in the Australian Alps. Mountain Research and Development 15(3), 251-258. Holden, A. (1999). High Impact Tourism: A Suitable Component of Sustainable Policy? The Case of Downhill Skiing Development at Cairngorm, Scotland. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 7(2), 97-107. Metcalfe, B. (2013, March 21). A Jumbo Summer Ahead. The Tyee. Retrieved from http://thetyee.ca/News/2013/03/21/Jumbo-Glacier-Resort/. National Ski Areas Association. (2005). Sustainable Slopes: The environmental charter for ski areas. Nepal, S. K. (2008). Residents' Attitudes to Tourism in Central British Columbia, Canada. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment 10(1), 42-65. Nepal, S. K. & Jamal, T.B. (2011). Resort-induced Changes in Small Mountain Communities in British Columbia, Canada. Mountain Research and Development 31(2), 89-101.

Pfister, R. (2000). Tourism as a Community-Based Economic Development Strategy: The Village of Valemount Experience. Prince George, BC. Phedias Project Management Corporation. (2010). Jumbo Glacier Resort Master Plan. Vancouver, BC: Glacier Resorts Inc. and Pheidias Project Management Corporation. Phedias Project Management Corporation. (2012a). Valemount Glacier Destination Project Introduction. Vancouver, BC: Valemount Glacier Destinations Ltd. and Pheidias Project Management Corporation. Phedias Project Management Corporation. (2012b). Valemount Glacier Destination Formal Proposal. Vancouver, BC: Valemount Glacier Destinations Ltd. and Pheidias Project Management Corporation. Richins, H. (2009). Environmental, cultural, economic and socio-community sustainability: a framework for sustainable tourism in resort destinations. Environ Dev Sustain 11, 785- 800. Rivera, J., Leon, P., & Koerber, C. (2006). Is Greener Whiter Yet? The Sustainable Slopes Program After Five Years. The Policy Studies Journal 34(2), 195-221. Scott, D., McBoyle, G., Minogue, A., & Mills, B. (2006). Climate Change and the Sustainability of Ski- based Tourism in Eastern North America: A Reassessment. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 14(4), 376-398.

8 Works Consulted

Collins, Alan. (1999). Tourism Development and Natural Capital. Annals of Tourism Research 26(1), 98-109. Flagestad, A., Hope, C.A. (2001). Strategic success in winter sports destinations: a sustainable value creation perspective. Tourism Management 22, 445-461. Pröbstl, U. (2006). Proceedings from CORP International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Informational Society: Ecological improvement and sustainable development in European skiing resorts by adapting the EU-Eco-Audit. Recommendations of the BC Resort Task Force. (2004). Report presented to Sandy Santori, Minister of State for Resort Development. Web.