Valemount will be home to a premier, year-round ski resort if developer Oberto Oberti has his way.
Oberti, who was the head designer of the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort near Golden, presented his vision to the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors on Thursday. Oberti's company, Pheidias Project Management Corp., has filed an expression of interest with the provincial government in the Mount Trudeau and Mount Arthur Meighen area of the Premier Mountains.
The proposed resort would be unique in B.C. because it would offer access to a high-elevation glacier, he said.
Currently in B.C., skiable glaciers are only accessible by helicopter.
We believe the time has come to open this system up by a sustainable access: an electrical gondola, Oberti said. It is truly one of the best options in B.C. [for a new resort.] There are only two locations that are accessible and approvable.
The proposed resort would offer year-round skiing, site-seeing and adventure tourism opportunities, Oberti said.
If successful, the resort would provide sustainable employment and economic activity to the region, he added.
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is a good
example of how to open a new area with the right climate. The initial investment was $10 million, and that expanded to $25 million once we got the approvals, Oberti said. Three hundred people got full-time jobs. [But] the most exciting thing is we started an economic engine that will never stop.
Stephen Leahy, president of Vancouver-based mining company North American Tungsten Corp. is the financial backer for the proposed project, Oberti said. However, he said, once environmental approvals are in place the project will likely attract additional investors.
Development of Kicking Horse Pass Mountain Resort took three years, however Oberti has been involved in projects, including the ill-fated Jumbo Glacier Resort, which have taken years to reach
completion.
Two years from now we could be starting the project. But I've been on other projects ... where it took 21 years to complete the project. That's the range, he said. [But] I would like to complete it before I retire, and maybe another one.
Cooperation from local government, First Nations and residents was key to the smooth development of Kicking Horse, he added.
Valemount Mayor Andru McCracken said the project has the potential to bring economic and social benefits to the region, if it is well designed and managed.
This kind of development brings development pressures, McCraken said. It's important that we do it right.
