Valemount Glacier Resort

This just got approved recently.  Construction is scheduled to begin next spring with an opening in December 2017.  The vertical will be 6,726 feet when the ski area is fully completed.  If that vertical is lift served, I'd find a way to ski there.  Twice the vertical of Whiteface, and better snow.

http://www.therockymountaingoat.com/2016/08/province-approves-valemount-glacier-destination-resort/

Most of Europe has similar Verts ..Easier to get to, better food and they have been open for the better part of 70yrs..

One need only look at Revelstoke to see how this is likely to end up.
The don't need a new resort - they need better roads to get to them and a closer airport.

It talks about year round skiing so this could become quite a popular training area for racers.  The roads access would be much better in summer.  Given its altitude and how far north it is it has the potential to be a better and longer training day than Hood and cheaper than flying to the Southern Hemisphere

Coach Z wrote

It talks about year round skiing so this could become quite a popular training area for racers.  The roads access would be much better in summer.  Given its altitude and how far north it is it has the potential to be a better and longer training day than Hood and cheaper than flying to the Southern Hemisphere

Yes - that was one thought. However, for summer training, the further north you get the longer exposure to the sun you have during the day and it is likely to slush out quicker during the day - the latitude will actually hurt you at that point. I also doubt that they are banking on racers in their business plan. The other issue is global warming, BC is expected to loose 70% of it's glacier ice by 2100.

Hearing 6750 feet of vertical I can't help but feel a little excited and if the people in that area are in support of the project to better their lives there than I would support it too but my heart says we just don't need any more ski areas. It's a waste of natural resources and we already have too many ski areas that are barely surviving. I also can't help but feel that this civilization is on the decline, we are tilting the scales at this point and if the climate continues to shift as much as it currently is the near future is looking bleak. Skiing isn't going to be a huge priority in another 30 to 50 years. things are about to get ugly imho.

Ease up with the gloom and doom.  Skiing has never been a huge priority in the vast majority of society and never will be.  There are huge cost barriers to getting involved, and to become a true expert takes a lifetime.  Most people decide that it's better to spend their money elsewhere.  I'm glad that I was fortunate enough to get into skiing, and it has provided me with countless hours of fun every winter that I've done it, and gotten me outdoors, while most kids my age are stuck inside all winter.

Look up any list of the 10 biggest sources of pollution, and you'll see that skiing doesn't make any of the lists.  The biggest source of pollution and thus climate change in the US is automobile emissions.  Unfortunately, most Americans won't leave their cars for public transportation until you pry them from their cold dead hands.  Increasing the usage of public transit and making cars more efficient is going to be the best way to reduce pollution the most.  The ski industry is small potatoes compared to that, and even if you shut down every ski area in the country, you would barely make a dent in this country's carbon footprint.

I don't care if ski areas take land that used to be wild.  In the Adirondacks, there are dozens of mountains and millions of acres, but two mountains and under 1,000 acres that we ski on.  Like a needle in the haystack compared to the land that isn't ski areas.

I don't see it as gloom and doom, it's just the reality. No great civilization has lasted very long and we aren't going to be any different. The red flags are all there.

Then again, if we headed straight for a collapse you might as well build whatever you want!

What do you mean?  Are you and PeeTex telling me to jump off a bridge because life is just going to be so horrible going forward?  That mentality is not going to help me succeed in life.

Jeez you are so dramatic. No, enjoy everyday but lets not ignore reality either.

snoloco wrote

  Are you and PeeTex telling me to jump off a bridge because life is just going to be so horrible going forward?  

So Party like it's ........... 1999 !!!       Wait, somehow that just, ,,, is that still a thing ?

Is ok Sno. Naturally , you're a " long tailed cat in a room full of  rocking chairs " on here.  

Two sides to a coin....... when  GW craps out other resorts peeps may be wishing for a glacier to ski.

Then again, on the other hand , you have four fingers and a thumb.

snoloco wrote

What do you mean?  Are you and PeeTex telling me to jump off a bridge because life is just going to be so horrible going forward?  That mentality is not going to help me succeed in life.

The rest of the Global warming story - Higher altitude mountains will actually markedly better snow falls due to Global Warming. The issue is - it won't be there all year and I was referring to Z's summer training for racers. The real issue for these guys will be how remote the place is.

PeeTex wrote

snoloco wrote

What do you mean?  Are you and PeeTex telling me to jump off a bridge because life is just going to be so horrible going forward?  That mentality is not going to help me succeed in life.

The rest of the Global warming story - Higher altitude mountains will actually markedly better snow falls due to Global Warming. The issue is - it won't be there all year and I was referring to Z's summer training for racers. The real issue for these guys will be how remote the place is.

 I'm actually hoping that we might get a period of years where Colorado gets hammered with heavy wet snow more coastal or intermountain in behavior and we get to open up those big faces in the middle of winter with pow and stability!

See Sno, I'm not all doom and gloom, I'm hoping for the best out of the situation. Half empty or half full? Nahmasayin?

Wow. It does sound like an incredible place for a project like this.

http://valemountglaciers.com/projects/skiing/?sf48289515=1

They are claiming that they could squeeze out a vertical drop of 7450 feet. It also says that at around 5500 feet in elevation the average annual snowfall is around 550 inches!

If they have a reliable airport there this might actually work. On paper right now it sure sounds like it might become one of the best ski areas in the world.

The terrain doesn't look like the kind of place you can drop an airport into the town. Usually I find that these small regional tourist airports are too expensive to fly into for most people as well, unlike Denver or SLC.

That means bucket list trips by skiers into Vancouver, 7 hours away.

Just yesterday it was also revealed that Red Mountain is trying to raise 10m from skiers after their most successful year for pretty basic ski resort expenses.

I certainly have my doubts about the project. If I was them is start with a heli/cat op to gauge interest and let people sample the terrain because it could be a mega flop.

As a UNESCO site I would say that the people of the world have some vested interest in making sure it doesn't become as 12k garbage site on one of the worlds increasingly rare glaciers.

look at the google earth map
it looks like there is a river valley that is pretty low so the airport should be ok if they can get flights from Calgary it would be great.

ml242 wrote

The terrain doesn't look like the kind of place you can drop an airport into the town. Usually I find that these small regional tourist airports are too expensive to fly into for most people as well, unlike Denver or SLC.

That means bucket list trips by skiers into Vancouver, 7 hours away.

Just yesterday it was also revealed that Red Mountain is trying to raise 10m from skiers after their most successful year for pretty basic ski resort expenses.

I certainly have my doubts about the project. If I was them is start with a heli/cat op to gauge interest and let people sample the terrain because it could be a mega flop.

As a UNESCO site I would say that the people of the world have some vested interest in making sure it doesn't become as 12k garbage site on one of the worlds increasingly rare glaciers.

My impression based on the website for Tourism Valmount, is that already is heli ski operations.  Also currently a destination for snowmobiling.  As for airports, have read that it's about 6 hours from Calgary, 5 hours from Edmonton, and 3 hours from Kamloops.
 
http://visitvalemount.ca/play/winter/

That entire area is just heli/backcountry-ski central. There are many heli ski operations in the area between the proposed location and Kamloops.

3 hours to a city of under 100k with a smallish airport doesn't sound like a gamechanger to me. I have a friend in Kamloops, I looked into it once and I think I had to switch in Seattle or Vancouver. Kind of a drag when you're already going across the country. But what do I know, I'm happy skiing 600 vert at Mohawk :)

I'll believe it when I ski it.