The following letter is from Jennifer Mansour’s class at Learning Connections.
Garibaldi at Squamish is a project to build a ski hill on Brohm Ridge so people wouldn’t have to drive all the way to Whistler. Building this ski hill/town may destroy a lot of animal habitats and bring a lot more people into Squamish, which could be good for the economy. The houses will go up in price/rent a lot. There are good things about this, but I think in my perspective it would benefit less than it would without it.
All their water will come from Squamish which means they will need a pipe under or on the ground from Squamish to the mountain
The ski hill will be at such a low altitude so there won’t be enough snow to run a fully-functional ski hill, I don’t think, so they will have to make most of their snow which will initially use most of the money they make
The SDBA is the dirt biking community in Squamish and they will be destroyed if the project continues because Cat Lake is the one of two spots in Squamish to ride. The highways are already blocked with traffic, if there is a ski hill we won’t be able to go anywhere because everyone will be wanting to go skiing.
Also, the resort is hardly a unique idea. It will join a total of 40 other ski resorts operating in BC and adversely pit smaller resorts against larger competitors. It will also create a rivalry against Whistler Blackcomb. This could result in weaker competitors eventually being driven out of the market leaving monopoly companies to take the majority share.
The economy of Squamish could benefit from this because it’s a big addition to Squamish, but the money they make will most likely be used for running the snow makers and chair lifts.
In conclusion, I don’t think Squamish needs a ski hill or a new town, if we keep on making giant projects, what will Squamish turn into?
