Image: Bridal Veil Mountain Resort / A 3D map of the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort east of Chilliwack. The Facebook account linked to BVMR, an all-season mountain resort envisioned for an area just east of Chilliwack, estimates it will open in 2029, but did say the provincial approval process can take several years. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Bridal Veil Mountain Resort

Proposed Bridal Veil Resort east of Chilliwack estimates it will open by end of this decade

Mar 6, 2024 | 11:08 AM

CHILLIWACK — Just days before Cheam First Nation announced on February 26 that it would buy Bridal Falls Golf Course for ecotourism opportunities, including a possible gondola project, the social media account linked to a proposed all-season mountain resort east of Chilliwack estimates its own operation will open in 2029.

According to comments from its official Facebook account, Bridal Veil Mountain Resort responded to online queries through a social media post by stating it may open in 2029.

“2029 estimated,” BVMR wrote on Thursday, February 22 in response to a question from a Facebook user named Kyle Anderson.

Image: BVMR Facebook account / BVMR told a Facebook user that its proposed all-season mountain resort will open in 2029 (estimated).

In response to another user about whether the all-season resort has been approved, BVMR wrote, “We are still in the Provincial approval process which takes several years.”

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Image: BVMR via Facebook / BVMR responded to a Facebook question by saying the provincial approval process can take several years.

On the same Facebook thread dated February 22, BVMR says it will not rely on any public subsidies, saying its capital financing is privately funded.

“Having a tourism draw in the East Fraser Valley that will provide excellent recreational opportunities and thousands of jobs is ridiculous? This is being privately funded. We haven’t been asking for tax dollars if that is what you are wondering,” BVMR said.

It’s been a slow go for backers of the proposed resort. Just over a year ago, supporters of the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort (BVMR) east of Chilliwack said they were poised to submit a formal presentation to the province sometime in early 2023.

According to a year-end update on its website (www.bvmr.ca) from December 20, 2022, staff associated with the all-season mountain resort said their next step is to head to public referral on its expression of interest, a prerequisite before moving to the formal proposal stage. BVMR said it looked forward to starting the expression of interest process in early 2023.

“We have spent the last two years working with the Ministry of Tourism, Art, Culture and Sport’s Mountain Resorts Branch,” BVMR wrote in its year-end update in December 2022. “In the meantime, we have been busy fine-tuning our application and communicating directly with decision-makers, including local MLAs, the Premier, Deputy Ministers, and senior bureaucrats.”

BVMR and its partners own 250 acres just minutes from Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway. It says it 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 in late 2022. “We recently acquired an additional 52 acres next to the Chilliwack Community Forest. This land provides the ideal starting point for a world-class all-season resort and a next-generation master-planned community.”

In response to a question from over a year ago on its Facebook page about what activities the proposed mountain resort would offer, 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.

In November 2023, the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) board passed a motion asking the provincial government to find a path forward to review two competing recreational projects envisioned for the mountainous region east of Chilliwack in hopes of selecting a single applicant. The motion, which passed without comment, requests the province find a path forward to review the two competing proposals, Bridal Veil Mountain Resort and Cascade Skyline Gondola, and determine the process for a single applicant to proceed through the Crown Tenure process.

The motion arose in response to a referral by the province of B.C. regarding an expression of interest update for the proposed Bridal Veil Mountain Resort and associated uses.

FVRD says such a decision to select a single applicant through the Crown Tenure process should be guided by a consensus-based approach and meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities, robust engagement with the public and interest groups, and ongoing consultation with local governments. The province will be asked to work with the FVRD to coordinate review and approval processes before granting final approvals that enable either of these projects to be developed.

These approval processes involve the FVRD major Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment, Zoning Amendment, and Development Permit approvals, which need to be supported by comprehensive technical reporting. These are required should the project proceed to the development stage, and before the project proceeds to such development stage, a robust Indigenous consultation and accommodation process must be completed by the province in a meaningful manner.

FVRD supports the province’s interest in developing a consensus-based approach with local Stó꞉lō communities for reviewing and approving major tourism and recreation proposals in this area. According to the exact verbiage of the motion, FVRD still adheres to the following principles:

1. It is the responsibility of the Province to address matters of Aboriginal rights and title with respect to the proposed Crown land tenure. The Province should address matters of aboriginal rights and title to the lands through the Crown land tenure and All Season Resort application process and not leave outstanding matters of rights and title to the Regional District’s OCP and zoning amendment application processes.
2. FVRD acknowledges Aboriginal rights and title claims. FVRD will seek to meaningfully engage with potentially impacted Indigenous Nations during the OCP and Zoning Amendment application process. The role of the Regional District in the course of the Official Community Plan and Zoning Amendment applications process is to engage with the potentially impacted Indigenous Nations; identify any negative impacts and advocate to avoid any potential negative impacts to rights and title.
3. The applicant should maintain ongoing communication with the FVRD, Indigenous Nations, and other interest groups through the provincial review process.

According to provincial documents, the proposed alpine recreation area within the BVMR proposal is loosely defined by Mt. Archibald in the north, Mt. Laughington in the east, Mt. Mercer in the south, and Chipmunk Ridge, running from Mt. Thurston to Mt. Archibald, in the west. The valley base and staging area would be in Electoral Area D of the Fraser Valley Regional District and adjacent to the Eastern Hillsides neighbourhood within the city of Chilliwack, and a few kilometres south of Trans Canada Hwy 1. BVMR is proposed in close proximity to both the Cheam and Popkum First Nation communities and within the traditional territories of these First Nations and the Ts’elxweyeqw Tribe’s traditional territory.