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As the saying goes
Letter to the Editor
What a magnificent day last Saturday (Sept. 20) was for a trip up to Jumbo!
There were an awful lot of people there and all seemed to be enjoying the beautiful surroundings and marveling at the fall colours! I was there to have a look first hand (yet again) at what was going on at Jumbo Glacier Resort (JGR) and as I travelled by one huge avalanche slope after another ready to wreak havoc during the next winter/spring, I marveled, yet again, at the enormous amount of water pouring out of the mountains, ready to wreak havoc during the next major rainfall.
None of these hazards matter much at this point but they most certainly will when there are busloads of skiers heading up this hazardous mountain road. But that can all be mitigated with several millions more taxpayer dollars (like the ones being spent now to build temporary bridges). But the taxpayers won’t mind one bit as long as the proponent continues to offer their free consulting skills to match.
And surely, there will be busloads of skiers because it will take a steady stream of huge passenger busses along with a vast number of private vehicles to feed the massive body count that will be required to sustain the business model that JGR says it will develop up there.
Holy Cow! Wow! Do the math! How many 47-seat passenger busses will it take along with how many private vehicles to get 6,000 skiers per day up to Jumbo?
Now of course they won’t all go up and down the hill daily as there will be accommodation for (pick a number) of folks, but the accommodation can’t be built until the infrastructure and lifts go in at say, upwards of $6,000,000 to $10,000,000 per lift. Will they all ski from the one ski lift they will have to build, or do you think JGR will actually build all of the lifts they have proposed (how has that worked out for Kicking Horse and Revelstoke)?
I mean, wouldn’t that calibre of elite skier require some vast terrain to ease the cost of a day lift ticket and the (rather major) effort of getting there all the way from the huge metropolis of Calgary after passing by at least three major ski resorts that already service that population? I’m quite sure that many of these same skiers, some of whom have not yet heard of, or ever skied Panorama, will be quite happy to drive the extra hour past Panorama to experience all of the JGR promised lifts, for heaven’s sake!
Of course, the proponent is not just relying on these ‘local skiers’ to drive the 4.5 to five hours from Calgary. They are also expecting bunches from Europe and the USA! Hundreds and thousands even! How many more 777s a day would that be into Calgary or Cranbrook (bet the airlines have those landing slots allocated already)! Just saying!
In any case, there is this huge number of jobs that will be created, albeit minimum wages jobs, but as the valley folks are not so inclined towards accepting minimum wage jobs (there are already too many of these much closer to their homes) JGR will have to rely on even more Australians, New Zealanders, Germans, etc., passing through these beautiful mountains for winter and summer jobs that are more about the ‘experience’ than the idea of looking forward to a rewarding career that will pay a living wage… perhaps the Mountain Resort Municipality of Jumbo will be able to classify them as residents… just saying!
Now, if you haven’t driven up there in a while (or at all, ever), it’s absolutely amazing up there right now so go on up and see for yourself why this pie in the sky resort should remain exactly that… just saying!
Deirdre Hamstead,
Columbia Valley
