Image: Supplied by Pixabay /A gondola descends to the valley floor below. A councillor with the Cheam First Nation east of Chilliwack and a co-founder of the Cascade Skyline Gondola are both eager to see the Cascade Skyline Gondola project move forward as a competing proposal, Bridal Veil Mountain Resort (BVMR), vies for public attention and land. A councillor with Cheam First Nation says his First Nation will never allow BVMR to get off the ground. The Cascade Skyline Gondola envisions a sightseeing gondola that will provide an elevation view of over 1,200 metres above the Fraser Valley with breathtaking views of the Coast Mountains, Cascade Mountains, Fraser River, Harrison Lake, and Vancouver. It is currently in the final process of tenure approval with the province. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Cascade Skyline Gondola

Cheam First Nation eager to see Cascade Skyline Gondola move forward, not proposed ski area

Mar 22, 2023 | 9:07 AM

CHILLIWACK — A councillor with the Cheam First Nation east of Chilliwack and a co-founder of the Cascade Skyline Gondola are both eager to see the gondola project move forward as a competing proposal, Bridal Veil Mountain Resort (BVMR), vies for public attention and land.

In a statement released Tuesday (Mar. 21), Councillor Luke Pike says the construction of a gondola and Sto:lo Cultural Center would usher in cultural and language preservation, employment opportunities, and revenue generation for Cheam First Nation.

“One of the most important aspects of this project is the profile it will give our First Nation communities with the Sto:lo Cultural Center (similar to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler), as a fundamental component of the Cascade Skyline Gondola project,” Councillor Luke Pike said. “This will provide a cultural legacy for education, language preservation and promotion, training and much more for generations to come. Employment opportunities and a stream of future income for Cheam First Nation is also a major plus.”

Cascade Skyline Gondola is currently in the final process of tenure approval with the province. All agency and public referrals have been completed; the proponents hope to have a fulsome update from the province with clarity on the timelines for approvals soon, Cascade Skyline Gondola co-founder Jayson Faulkner said.

At the same time, the proposed area for BVMR overlaps with the anticipated gondola project, meaning the provincial Mountain Resorts Branch will need to initiate a review process in which they will be seeking feedback from local First Nations, the City of Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley Regional District, with the aim of determining which project, if any, should proceed to the next stage in the application process, BVMR wrote on its website.

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Cascade Skyline Gondola is also dealing with heightened BVMR visibility as a result of billboard advertising at two sites, one along Highway 1 and another on Vedder Road, as BVMR aims to become the first all-season mountain resort in Canada to be jointly planned, developed, owned, and operated in full partnership with participating local First Nations communities.

Many elected officials in the Fraser Valley have backed the Cascade Skyline Gondola project, not BVMR. Faulkner said the two projects are dissimilar in every way.

“The BVMR project could not be more different in terms of impacts, footprint and scope than the Cascade Skyline Gondola Project,” Faulkner said in a statement released Tuesday (Mar. 21). “BVMR has already been soundly rejected by the Cheam First Nation, including when it was known as the ‘Resorts West’ project back in the early 2000’s. Further, BVMR’s large low-elevation ski resort concept has been rejected by the closest local governments, other local First Nations and many others. When the proponents rebranded their project from Resorts West to BVMR, it created confusion amongst the general public between our project and BVMR. This confusion is still ongoing and exacerbated by a PR campaign to promote their ski resort concept.”

Councillor Pike says Cheam First Nation will never allow BVMR to move forward.

“Cheam First Nation has emphatically stated our complete and total opposition to the BVMR proposal again and again, due to the negative consequences it would have for our traditional territory,” Councillor Pike said. “We won’t ever allow that project to proceed, especially at the expense of our own project which is consistent with our values of minimal impact and doing things in a “good way” for the benefit of our people and our community.”

The Cascade Skyline project envisions a sightseeing gondola that will provide an elevation view of over 1,200 metres above the Fraser Valley with breathtaking views of the Coast Mountains, Cascade Mountains, Fraser River, Harrison Lake, and Vancouver. Non-motorized activities consist of walking, hiking, snowshoeing, paragliding, mountain biking and viewing platforms. The Xwchíyò:m Cheam First Nation (CFN) has been the founding First Nation of the Cascade Skyline Gondola Project since the project’s infrastructure is located within their territory.

Project inception began in 2016 and was first marketed as the Bridal Falls Gondola Project before being re-named. The gondola base will be located at the current Bridal Falls Golf Course, while the summit terminal is six kilometres west from Mount Cheam along the west ridge between Mount Archibald and Codeine Ridge.

Faulkner says Cascade Skyline has always been envisioned as an “eco tourism, cultural tourism” project from day one, and does not require taxpayer funding.

“It ticks all the boxes for benefits with very, very little impact and a relatively small footprint,” Faulkner said. “We have no desire or need for a massive real estate development to make it viable. It is a project that has fulsome First Nation support and ownership from day one. A project that in today’s values and terms, meets the expectations of social license and intelligent, sustainable outdoor recreation infrastructure development. It is soft on the land, doesn’t require hundreds of millions of litres of water each year to operate, is consistent with community values, proven viability (check Sea to Sky Gondola) with significant long-term community benefits including a major contribution to economic independence and reconciliation with First Nations. We are grateful for strong support from stakeholders and the broader community during the lengthy approval process with the Province.”

When asked why more elected officials support Cascade Skyline than BVMR, Councillor Pike said, “Cheam First Nation has always tried to find our voice for our community and advocate for our rights and title. We will continue to press the Province on meaningful reconciliation to ensure our voices are respected, especially regarding our Cascade Skyline Gondola Project which is to be built on our territory. We have a very good relationship with local governments and appreciate their support for this project.”

Faulkner says Cascade Skyline will employ hundreds of people when completed and offer Fraser Valley residents another recreational venue to explore.

“When completed the Cascade Skyline Gondola project will employ 300-400 full and part-time staff,” Faulkner said. “Construction will require 60-80 person years of employment. It is anticipated that when fully operational, the project will generate more than $6 million per year in revenues. This significant economic contribution comes with a very small footprint. One lift, that’s all, yet the project will support non-motorized, eco and cultural tourism. People walking and hiking in nature! The Fraser Valley, while experiencing some of the highest population growth in the Province, has had very little outdoor recreational infrastructure built in the last 30+ years. In contrast, the Sea to Sky corridor (with a smaller population) has had major infrastructure development to the benefit of the residents, the economy and quality of life. As identified in the 2020 FVRD study on outdoor recreation, many residents here love the outdoors. They would like to see better access and more outdoor recreation opportunities, but not at any and all costs. So a project like ours that requires no real estate development, doesn’t require additional publicly-funded infrastructure, and provides both economic development and community benefits while being environmentally sustainable, is a huge win for everyone.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort (BVMR) east of Chilliwack say they are poised to submit a formal presentation to the province sometime in early 2023.

Image: Supplied by Bridal Veil Mountain Resort / Looking north at Mt. Archibald (centre right), Chipmunk Ridge on the left, with the potential Alpine Village site located in the notch just before Mt. Archibald, is part of the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort east of Chilliwack. Backers of the all-season mountain resort hope to submit their formal proposal sometime in 2023. The project is currently in the expression of interest phase.

According to a year-end update on its website (www.bvmr.ca) from December 20, backers of the all-season mountain resort say their next step is to head to public referral on its expression of interest, a prerequisite before moving to the formal proposal stage. BVMR says it looks forward to starting the expression of interest process in early 2023.

BVMR and its partners own 250 acres just minutes from Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway. It says it recently acquired an additional 52 acres next to the Chilliwack Community Forest.

“BVMR is investing in Chilliwack for the long term,” it said on its website. “This land provides the ideal starting point for a world-class all-season resort and a next-generation master-planned community.”

BVMR said its current proposed lineup consists of downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, backcountry touring, skating, snowshoeing, tubing, camping, downhill mountain biking, cross-country mountain biking, Indigenous cultural activities and sightseeing.