Land Trade Allows Ski Resort to Construct Maintenance Building on Gold Mountain Ski Trail
In 2003/2004, with virtually no public consultation, Land and Water B.C. (now called Ministry of Tourism Culture and the Arts or MTCA) and B.C. Parks renegotiated the boundary of Silver Star Provincial Park to clear up a boundary issue in the vicinity of the Lars Taylor Way cross country ski trail. The boundary was amended to keep the trail (part of the Sovereign Lake trail system) completely inside the park, supposedly thus resolving the issue of resort skiers crossing into the park without paying fees to the community ski club.
This issue came to a head during the 2002-2003 ski season, when the community ski club hired staff to check for Sovereign Lake trail passes along the Lars Taylor Way trail. In a heated argument at the community ski club's annual general meeting, resort representatives claimed that much of the trail was on their property, and so resort skiers should be allowed to use the trail without payng fees to Sovereign Lake. The resort claimed that by turning back skiers without Sovereign Lake passes, the community ski club was creating a negative experience for resort guests. Eventually the two parties agreed to redefine the park boundary, in hopes of clearing up any misunderstanding.
The redefined boundary ended up adding almost 22 hectares to the park near the summit of the mountain, but the ski resort also asked that this same amount of land be taken out of the park near the waste transfer station by Silver Star Road, and added to their Controlled Recreation Area (CRA).
The ski resort clearly came out the winner, unfortunately at the expense of all cross country skiers, as the land deletion gave the resort over 7 hectares on the north side of Silver Star Road on which to construct their new groomer maintenance building and fuel depot. The building is now located on what was once the Gold Mountain nordic trail.
Silver Star Mountain Resort's groomer maintenance building and fuel depot, built on the Gold Mountain Nordic Trail. The trail was rerouted closer to Silver Star Road, hence requiring removing skis to cross the waste transfer station access road. The 1994 Resort Master Plan called for this facility to be built on the opposite (south) side of Silver Star Road.
To view a map of the park boundary before the amendment, click on the map icon below.
If you zoom in on the area near the summit of the mountain on the above map, you'll notice how the Lars Taylor Way trail barely crossed over into the CRA near the summit, and again ventured quite a ways in, near the Paradise trail junction.
To view a map of the amended park boundary, click on the icon below.
If you zoom in on the above map, you'll notice that the boundary zigs and zags in order to keep the Lars Taylor Way trail inside the park, and also to keep the power line outside the park. The land used for the resort's groomer maintenance building is immediately south of the Pople Pass snowmobile trail. Silver Star's new nordic trail map incorrectly labels the Pople Pass trail as the Gold Mountain Parkway, showing it passing on the north side of the groomer maintenance facility. Negotiations with the Vernon Snowmobile Association will be necessary before the Pople Pass trail is established as the new connecting trail between Sovereign Lake and Silver Star Resort. Only a short section (about 100 metres) needs to be added to the Pople Pass trail to complete the link to Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.
No need to bring your lunch if you're skiing on the Gold Mountain Parkway to Sovereign Lake, as there is some fine dumpster-diving to be had on the trail at the Regional District's Waste Transfer Station. You'll have to take your skis off anyways to make your way thru the confusing maze of gates, heavy equipment, snowmobile trails, and snowpiles to Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre's new Dog Trail.
Snowmobile Tunnel near the waste transfer station. Due to poor signage along the Gold Mountain Parkway, many cross country skiers coming from Sovereign Lake become confused, erroneously opting to ski thru this snowmobile tunnel under Silver Star Road.
This abandoned section of Gold Mountain Trail near Silver Star Resort's maintenance facility was inside Silver Star Provincial Park until June 17, 2004 when it was deleted by an Order in Council.
Pople Pass trailhead at Silver Star Provincial Park snowmobile parking lot.
Photo of trail map at Snowmobile parking lot shows how Pople Pass and Gold Mountain Parkway trails run almost parallel. Notice how both Sovereign Lake's and Silver Star Resort's trail maps label the Pople Pass trail as Gold Mountain Parkway.
Questions Regarding Land Trade Remain Unanswered
Was the boundary dispute planned and orchestrated by Land and Water B.C. (LWBC) and B.C. Parks in order to secure more land for the resort, close to Silver Star Road? It is quite entertaining to read the letters negotiating the park boundary; first the intial email from B.C. Parks sumarizing the issue, then LWBC's letter of response, B.C. Parks' letter to the resort, and finally LWBC's reply. LWBC and MTCA have used the same strategy to secure sections of Garibaldi Park for Whistler Resort, and MTCA is currently negotiating a boundary amendment involving Big White Ski Resort and the Big White Mountain Ecological Reserve. Why did LWBC allow the resort to construct the maintenance building on the Gold Mountain nordic trail when the 1995 Base Area Master Plan clearly called for it to be constructed on the south side of Silver Star Road? The final boundary agreement clearly stated that both parties would strive to keep the Gold Mountain trail unobstructed. Why was there no public consultation regarding locating the maintenance building on the Gold Mountain trail (nordic skiers must now remove skis to navigate through the Waste Transfer Station)?
The important thing to remember in this boundary dispute is that the root cause of the problem was deleting the ski area from the park in the first place! Had the ski resort been kept in the park, there would be no boundary to dispute and the public interest would have to be prioritized, instead of just the interests of the privately owned ski resort.
