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Pacific NW/AK/BC Zincton a proposed Ski Area

Nathanvg

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I ran across the below links which refer to a newly proposed ski area. It would likely take several years or more to open, if ever but there is a ton of potential. The ski area is pitched as a back country ski area, which isn't a well defined term. They plan to have lifts but few runs and lots of hiking options. My first thought is that it might be like Silverton or like Telluride (a ski area with lots of hiking) or most likely, a midpoint between the two. A lot of the details are exciting:
  • Up to 6,400 vertical feet with a base as low as 2600 or more likely around 3500. Significantly higher than Revelstoke and Whistler. The general rule of thumb in the region is a base of 3500 is safe from rain
  • More important than the vertical is the fact that the runs stay steep for 3-5k vertical feet. Most of the runs are black and extreme level steep. Blue run steeps are more limited but there are blue run areas with 3k vertical as well.
  • 500" of snow per year. This stat may be optimistic but if true is elite. They also mention at 70" avg dec. base and a 140 avg March base.
  • Proposed 11,000 acres which would make it the biggest ski area in N America
  • Planned capacity of 1550 (roughly 10% of Breck and 35% or Revy for comparison) That should be an extremely low skier to acre ratio.
  • They plan to leave most of the terrain natural. A lot of the terrain was logged in 2019 and some is above timberline so there should be a good mix of open areas and glades.
  • Likely 2-4 lifts. They are pretty vauge on lift details but they mention access to two ridges that are far apart so that's at least 2 lifts. They plan two long cat tracks, each about 5 miles long to get back to the base. Some might see this as a bummer but I think it's a great way to ski lots of uncrowded terrain. They also mention a gondola to get to a parking lot which sounds like way too much cash for low skier volume.
  • They plan a pedestrian village which only has cabins and maybe small hotels.
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jmeb

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Disconnected thoughts:

- Sweet freakin' area.
- Should be a primarily local determination decisions IMHO. You'll have people balancing pristine environment vs jobs.
- It doesn't take a ton of money to run a b.c. style resort. Significant money yes -- but not huge multi-national corp investor style.
- What will public access be like if this goes forward.
- Damn does skiing look good.
 

David Chaus

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This is labeled as “CO” when it‘s in BC.

The location would put it north of Nelson (the city) and Whitewater ski resort. It looks to be in areas that have cat-skiing operations. Maybe that makes it easier to justify planning for a lift-served backcountry operation.

I’m wondering how many would travel to something like this, who don’t already do cat-ski trips. Doesn’t driving long distances to a remote destination with a village and lifts kind of counter to the whole point of backcountry? Just asking for a curious friend......
 
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Nathanvg

Nathanvg

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I’m wondering how many would travel to something like this, who don’t already do cat-ski trips. Doesn’t driving long distances to a remote destination with a village and lifts kind of counter to the whole point of backcountry? Just asking for a curious friend......

It's remote. The closest major cities of Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle are all about 8 hours away. Mid size cities Kelona/kamloops [450k pop] and spokanne/coeur d'alene [750k] are still 4 hours away. Most people from from all of these cities go to closer ski areas but many go to similairly far away Red/WW/revy/BW. Most long distance traveling Americans would likely travel via Spokane airport and most Canadians via Castlegar. Ski area employees at ski areas within a few hours are also likely to visit. (e.g. revy, WW, Red). So if it's a great ski area, I think there are enough people who could come.

The other big question is how it compares to cat skiing. I would expect pricing to be similar to Silverton: $84 unguided, 184 guided. That's much cheaper than cat skiing and likely offers more runs per day.

A lot of poeple would likely combine Zincton with trips to Revy, WW or Red. Kind of like how people often stay at Fernie and go over to Castle for some of the days.
 

noncrazycanuck

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Realistic chance of new ski development being approved by locals in the that area is zero.
 
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Nathanvg

Nathanvg

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Realistic chance of new ski development being approved by locals in the that area is zero.
Is that just general sentiment or something specific? Somewhat nearby Jumbo had a lot of opposition but seemed to fail due to lack of investment since they had permits to build. Also somewhat nearby Valemont had local support but is on hold due to lack of funding. Red, WW, Revy, Kickinghorse, Fernie and Panorama all expanded fairly recently. That said, there are a lot of obstacles for Zincton to overcome but I hope the odds of it happening are somwhere in the 20-60% range.
 

babanff

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I give it minimal chance of getting govt approvals (<10%). Caribou protection plan is a big focus of the govt right now and the proposal looks to fall
right in the southern population zone.
 
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noncrazycanuck

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the local population is heavily against development period, they like it as it is, when they moved there.
Development is often seen as either a corporate sell off or too hazardous despite any approvals.

That coupled with the great uncertainty.
The unknown costs which will be requested by local native bands, including the length of time they need to finally approve, and changing goalposts afterward should they approve,
Often those unknown costs become too expensive for a lot developments in rural B.C.
 

surfacehoar

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Hwy 31A is my favourite place on the planet. The terrain and snow on London ridge are excellent.

There is a weather station on the ridge for highway avalanche control. This link will take you to the historical data and if you'd like to search for london ridge low (6500ft), you'll be able to nerd out on the snowfall numbers all you want.

Last season "new snow" records show Nov 13th to May 1st saw 1292cm. The base was 100cm Dec 1st, 200cm Jan 1st, and peaked around 325cm. June 5th, the base is 139cm.

There is an extensive network of trails and roads up and down either side of the ridge. Historically for mining now used for ATV/bikes/hunting/skiing/hiking/recreation ect.

I get there are always environmental concerns, but it makes sense to build next the highway rather than deep in the woods like the Jumbo project. The Caribou are the biggest concern and I believe there hasn't been Caribou in this area for quite sometime. The Southern herd doesn't cross Kootenay lake and stays S of Nelson, while the Central herds range is further North. If someone can correct me here, please do so.
 

JoeSchmoe

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Looking at the topo map, I'm not really seeing the potential for 6500ft vertical. Best I can see is maybe 5000ft ballpark.
 
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Nathanvg

Nathanvg

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Looking at the topo map, I'm not really seeing the potential for 6500ft vertical. Best I can see is maybe 5000ft ballpark.
Whitewater mountain is about 9k, the lowest part of the base is about 2.6k, hence the max possible vert of 6400. The actual vertial may end up being less due to a wide variety of factors.
 

fatbob

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Wouldn't bet on seeing it in my lifetime. Stayed with a friend's uncle who built his own place near Kaslo on the lake. The locals definitely like their own isolation at least until they get old enough to need amenities like hospitals.
 

surfacehoar

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Totally agree it's an uphill battle against some vocal opposition. People need to realize that there needs to be economic growth for the small towns in the interior to survive. It's called the Valley of the Ghosts for a reason. Sandon once had a population of 5000, now it's 6. You can't even fill your boat up with gas in Kalso anymore.

The natural environment in the West Kootenays is spectacular. From the large lakes and beaches all the way up to glaciers and ice fields. Terrain aside, the weather is about as ideal in all 4 seasons as it gets as well. Kaslo has nearly identical temperatures to Park City.

Tourism is the natural direction these small towns need to embrace. They have an incredible product to offer and providing opportunity for people to get out and experience the great outdoors only helps to develop our appreciation for and preservation of the natural world.

 
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graham418

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If you read any of the local opposition editorials, you can see that this is going nowhere. Not in our lifetime, and even less likely in our children and grandchildren lifetimes.
Maybe its just a smooth talking salesman going to relieve some investors of their money. Not to be cynical or anything........
 

surfacehoar

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I'm keen to hear opinions from both sides.

1,500 skier visits per day isn't much compared to other resorts, however when you consider that's equal to the population of Kaslo and New Denver combined it seems extreme. London Ridge is also"low hanging fruit" for backcountry adventure as it is adjacent the highway, however no one in the right mind would ever approach London Ridge from the 3 Forks area for skiing.

4,500 hectares is huge for N.America resort standards. Comparatively, this is 5% the size of the Goat Range Provincial park that it shares it's border with. Also consider that 135,000 Hectares are logged in the interior of BC annually makes habitat loss due to the resort seems insignificant.

Hunters who are upset about lost opportunities to kill wildlife in the name of preservation doesn't resonate with me at all.

Personally, I think that maintaining a road and a parking area at elevation (above 5000ft) would be a good start. The reality is unless you have a sled,heli or will to walk for miles it's hard to even get into the mountains.

Here is an interesting gram.

 
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Wilhelmson

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If the ski area doesn't work out its a catchy name for a cryprocurrency
 

Ken_R

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Denver, CO
I ran across the below links which refer to a newly proposed ski area. It would likely take several years or more to open, if ever but there is a ton of potential. The ski area is pitched as a back country ski area, which isn't a well defined term. They plan to have lifts but few runs and lots of hiking options. My first thought is that it might be like Silverton or like Telluride (a ski area with lots of hiking) or most likely, a midpoint between the two. A lot of the details are exciting:
  • Up to 6,400 vertical feet with a base as low as 2600 or more likely around 3500. Significantly higher than Revelstoke and Whistler. The general rule of thumb in the region is a base of 3500 is safe from rain
  • More important than the vertical is the fact that the runs stay steep for 3-5k vertical feet. Most of the runs are black and extreme level steep. Blue run steeps are more limited but there are blue run areas with 3k vertical as well.
  • 500" of snow per year. This stat may be optimistic but if true is elite. They also mention at 70" avg dec. base and a 140 avg March base.
  • Proposed 11,000 acres which would make it the biggest ski area in N America
  • Planned capacity of 1550 (roughly 10% of Breck and 35% or Revy for comparison) That should be an extremely low skier to acre ratio.
  • They plan to leave most of the terrain natural. A lot of the terrain was logged in 2019 and some is above timberline so there should be a good mix of open areas and glades.
  • Likely 2-4 lifts. They are pretty vauge on lift details but they mention access to two ridges that are far apart so that's at least 2 lifts. They plan two long cat tracks, each about 5 miles long to get back to the base. Some might see this as a bummer but I think it's a great way to ski lots of uncrowded terrain. They also mention a gondola to get to a parking lot which sounds like way too much cash for low skier volume.
  • They plan a pedestrian village which only has cabins and maybe small hotels.
View attachment 103478
More details:


Make this near Denver, CO and its money in the bank :roflmao: :beercheer: Just put lifts and the people will come in droves...
 

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