Room to ride is becoming increasingly scarce for snowmobile enthusiasts in Squamish. Last winter, motorized vehicles were banned from popular terrain in Callaghan Valley to accommodate the Nordic venue Whistler Olympic Park.Now the proposed resort Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) threatens terrain on Brohm Ridge, one of the few places where snowmobile riders can venture year round."There's very little left," said Black Tusk Snowmobile Club (BTSC) president Barry Groundwater.Rather than fight these developments, club members have chosen to work toward a compromise. They hope the loss of some trails are offset by opportunities elsewhere as some non-motorized bans are lifted in parks.Reaching this goal will take a fair bit of government co-operation, but BTSC executive director Mike Blomfield said working together to preserve snowmobiling terrain would bring direct benefits to the entire community."If you start lobbing these things off with development and the Olympics, you've got to realize that you're displacing an activity that brings huge economic activity to the area," he said. "If the government wants to double tourism, they'd best embrace this activity."He said snowmobile riders often buy their fuel and food in Squamish, showing up with little more than their wallets.Blomfield has come up with a plan to create a new snowmobile route if GAS is approved: the Brohm to Whistler trail. The route would mirror the Garibaldi-Nevee traverse, but would run on the west side of the mountaintops, leaving cross-country skiers and hikers undisturbed. It would provide a corridor between Whistler and Squamish helping local riders tie into trails further north. Perhaps the most attractive feature it offers community members is the opportunity to hitch a ride up to the top of the mountain range, so they could explore the Garibaldi-Nevee traverse without the exhausting climb up. This option would open the spectacular route up to skiers and hikers with various skill levels boosting tourism all-round, Blomfield said. "They can piggyback from our trail and then go see the really good stuff."It would also give people with accessibility issues an opportunity to enjoy the alpine environment.There's just one catch: a small section of the trail would cross Garibaldi Provincial Park, a place that has banned motorized users since the 1980s. The plan has been submitted to the Integrated Lands Management Bureau. For the area to be opened to snowmobiles the Garibaldi Park plan would have to be revisited, an exercise Blomfield said is overdue.The proposed route has been put forward many times over the past 15 years but always hits the same wall."We've run it up the flagpole and Parks have always said, 'No we're not going to revisit the park plan,'" he said."Parks are meant to be protected for the people not from the people."When assessing GAS, he said the province should make any approval conditional on the Brohm to Whistler trail approval to accommodate the lost terrain."If government wants to go ahead with GAS, and I think it's quite clear that they dothen they have to be prepared from a Parks point of view to say, 'Yeah, this is a reasonable plan," said Blomfield.The BTSC has worked with GAS proponents and developed an arrangement where snowmobile riders could still have access to their alpine chalet if the development goes ahead. Riders would use an alternative route to access it.Blomfield said he appreciates the co-operation from GAS, but would still prefer if everything stayed as is. "We certainly enjoy the status quo. It is most desirable for sure," he said. "If we have to make a concession, here's a plan that really works."Groundwater agrees the trail would not make up for losses."[The trail] is actually only going to be good a few months of the year because of the weather."Heavy snow and fog means the Brohm to Whistler trail would be best travelled in the spring. During that period, Groundwater said the getting up to those heights would be well worth the trip."The view of the Tantalus Range is pretty awesome," he said. "It's sort of sub-alpine trees. There are two small lakes."Meanwhile, the club is also trying to reclaim access to the Callaghan Valley terrain, which Blomfield said, "never should have been lost in the first place."For 30 years, the area was important beginner's terrain, giving novice riders the change to journey up to Callaghan Lake. The area is also a valuable route to the Pemberton Ice Fields.Blomfield said snowmobiles were banned from the site last winter with no public consultation.On the May long weekend (May 17 and 18), when the area was once again open to motorized vehicles, the BTSC staged a peaceful protest ride to show how important the areas is to them. About 150 snowmobile riders took part.Though Blomfield recognizes the Nordic users need space from snowmobiles, he said there are some ways for the two activities share the area, like the opening date for motorized users could be moved up to March 15."At the end of the year, the skier interest really, really falls off but the snowmobile interest is really strong."
