Climbers not supportive
John French
Chief Staff Writer
The two people behind a proposal to build a gondola that would take people to the top of the Stawamus Chief are now out in the open and want to share their plans, but are holding back for the time being at the request of the provincial government.
Peter Alder said this week that he and his partner Paul Mathews are ready to begin a consultation process designed to determine the level of community support for the proposal. They were prepared to begin the consultation process by issuing a news release this week about the gondola proposal. Alder said the province asked him to hold the release.
"The government has laid down a process which developers have to follow," Alder told The Chief. "The process being to make a presentation first to these four major stakeholders [District of Squamish, the Squamish Nation, the Ministry of Transportation and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games] and then to have a public consultation process following these presentations where we would have public meetings in Squamish and North Vancouver. That is the process they laid down and we would like to release more detailed information.
"Squamish has indicated that they would meet with us after the mayor is back from his vacation after Sept. 8. We hope to have meetings with the Squamish First Nations as soon as possible."
Alder and Mathews are now waiting for further direction from the provincial government.
"Water, Land and Air Protection (WLAP) has asked us not to release any further details of the proposal for the time being and we will inform the public at large as soon as they give us the okay," Alder said in his first formal interview with a reporter on the gondola issue.
As associates in a Whistler-based mountain resort planning company called Ecosign, Alder and Mathews are very familiar with gondolas and tourist attractions. According to the Ecosign web site, Mathews is the president of the company and Alder as a senior associate. Mathews is the company's head planner and Alder concentrates on project management and government relations.
The company's history dates back to the 1970s when Whistler was struggling to develop its skiing potential. Ecosign did its first planning work in 1975 and continue to consult for Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. The company was involved in the early planning of Blackcomb Mountain and played a key role in the 1980s when Blackcomb's annual skier visit jumped from 329,000 to 578,000 in just one season.
The Chief first reported on the gondola proposal in May. MLA Ted Nebbeling said early in June that he was aware of the gondola proposal and supported it.
Mayor Ian Sutherland also acknowledged he knew of the proposal but did not offer comment on it. Bill Barisoff, the minister of WLAP, was not available to discuss the gondola issue with The Chief before the newspaper press deadline. A ministry spokesperson said Barisoff is on vacation.
The park management plan for the Stawamus Chief Provincial Park does not allow for a commercial operation like a gondola; however the government has the ability to amend the plan.
Barisoff told Alder and Mathews to get community support and prove the park plan is worth amending.
Local climber John Howe, a co-director with the Squamish Access Society, is adamantly opposed.
"I think the climbing community is unanimous in their condemnation of it and the concept of someone proposing something so contrary to the park management plan," Howe told The Chief on Thursday. "The Chief Park is just fine the way it is."
Perry Beckham, a climber on the District of Squamish Select Committee on Outdoor Recreation, is also totally opposed to putting any structures on the top of Chief for any reason.
"I was involved in the process of having the Chief turned into a Class A park," Beckham said. "One of the top values that was recognized by everyone in attendance was that the Chief is a very spiritual place."
He said that he is even opposed to the ladders and chains that help hikers reach some of the viewpoints that are difficult to reach without assistance.
"I'm not opposed to a gondola in Squamish," Beckham added. "It should provide access to more recreation areas. One concept that was floated that I would want to know more about is a gondola above the ice climbs instead of going over Oleson Creek and open up terrain that currently isn't being used by recreationalists. It will offer the same views that are you get on the top of the Chief."
Beckham worries that an already busy area will have significantly more erosion and sustainability issues with increased foot traffic on the top of the Chief.
The Squamish Chamber of Commerce has yet to take a stance on the proposed gondola.
Chamber president Gord Prescott said this week that he can see that the issue is going to be a controversial one. "The chamber directors have to discuss it before we come up with any policy," he said.
