Olympian and Para-Olympian medalists speak out again proposed Jumbo resort
By Contributor
A group of Canadian Olympian and Para-Olympian medalists are speaking out on the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort near Invermere.
Nordic skiing medalist Beckie Scott and hockey gold medal winner Scott Scott Niedermayer are just two of the many Canadians fighting to Keep Jumbo Wild.
“We recognize there are limits to development, when enough is enough, when bigger values and the future of our children’s heritage is at stake,” the group said on the Jumbo Wild website.
“That is why we are opposed to the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort.”
The proposed resort lies 55 kilometres from the nearest community.
While nearby world class ski resorts adjacent to communities on Canada’s major transportation routes are already competing to fill their facilities, Jumbo Resort would require a provincial road through some of the most avalanche prone terrain imaginable.
“It’s unfortunate that the province has OK’d a remote real estate development tied to melting glaciers, smack in the heart of critically important grizzly bear range,” the group said.
“It makes no sense. This proposal isn’t about skiing, it’s about real estate.”
Peer-reviewed science unanimously attests to the significance of these lands to grizzly bears. The development would fracture wildlife connections critical to the long-term health of the North American grizzly bear population.
The Ktunaxa First Nation, in whose territory the development is proposed, is strongly opposed Jumbo Glacier Resort as a threat to the sacred land of the grizzly bear spirit.
“We are blessed in British Columbia to have retained much of our wild inheritance,” the group said. “The Alps on the other hand, with their busy peaks and valleys are bereft of wildlife. European tourists flock to Canada in search of that lost wilderness, not to see a faux Euro-style resort.”
The group went on to say a remote resort on melting glaciers will not strengthen British Columbian communities.
Cutting the ski-tourism pie ever thinner to compete with the region’s world-class ski destinations would only drain community-based livelihoods. For over 20 years, local opinion has remained overwhelmingly opposed to the resort.
Joining Scott, winner of silver in 2006 and gold in 2002, and Niedermayer, gold in ice hockey in 2002 and 2010, are alpine skier Emily Brydon, nordic skier Sara Renner, Josh Dueck Para-Olympics, alpine skier, Thomas Grandi, Jon Montgomery, skeleton, Doug Anakin, bobsled and Kristin Groves, speedskating.
The athletes have combined for at least 10 Olympic medals.
