Jumbo Glacier development faces another hurdle

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INVERMERE (NEWS1130) – A proposed year-round ski resort near Invermere is on hold.

Concerns are being raised about the location of the Jumbo Glacier Resort’s day lodge.

The massive resort was given provincial approval back in 2012. However, the developer, Pheidias Project Management Corporation, has been slow to do any work on the site.

Facing the expiration of its environmental certificate, the company recently built the foundation for the day lodge.

The provincial Environmental Assessment Office says given the building is being built close to historical avalanche paths, the company has to submit an avalanche risk evaluation.

NDP environment critic Spencer Chandra Herbert says the work was done hastily, given the deadline.

“The company rushed to put a concrete slab down for a lodge to say that they have done something. But it was pointed out by a local heli-ski operator that where they were putting the proposed lodge was in the middle of an avalanche zone.”

The project has been met with fierce opposition from environmentalists, political leaders and local First Nations.

Chandra Herbert says the project shouldn’t be allowed to proceed.

“There was very limited work that went into starting a resort there. That should not qualify the company to continue.”

The company planned to open the resort for Christmas of 2016.

In a statement, company president Oberto Oberti says it’s disappointed with the decision and that “the goalposts for the required studies never cease changing for this project.” He says, for example, the guidelines for snow avalanche risk were only being developed at the end of the environmental review process, and therefore could not have been generally accepted standard at the time.

He also points out day lodges at other resorts are located in avalanche zones.

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