Marmot Basin and Parks Canada are working together on the first stage of a new long-range plan for future development at the ski resort. 

The ski area has submitted a vision statement to Jasper National Park planning staff, the first step in a newly streamlined process that is intended to reduce the cost and time required to prepare the plans.

“The vision statement is written and we’re addressing that with Parks right now,” said Dave Gibson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Marmot Basin. “It was completed earlier this month.”

The short document outlines the entirety of what Marmot would like to see in terms of ski hill reconfiguration and additional development in the next decade and a half. 

“What Parks has to do now is review it to ensure that it fits into the mandate of Parks Canada,” said Gibson. “That’s where we’re at right now.”

The details of the vision statement have not been made public and Gibson said that discussions with Parks will have to be finalized before any information is released.

“We’ll have to finish our discussions before determining how to present this to the public,” he said. “The public has been very well informed through the various public meetings that Parks Canada has had and I think that people are well aware of the process.”

No matter how long it takes for the two parties to agree on the particulars of the vision statement, it will be some time before any actual construction work based on the plan will begin.

“I would expect that to get from where we are now to where we start building from the vision statement will be two years,” said Gibson. “It would be nice if it was shorter ... but realistically, we’re talking about a period of 24 months.”  

The alterations to the planning process will, in theory, reduce the time spent on the planning process, according to Parks Canada’s Bill Fisher.

“It would have taken longer under the old system, but we are certainly hoping that there will be a saving of time of about six months to twelve months,” he said. “It all depends on being able to advance the work in an expeditious manner.”

Fisher, the executive director for the mountain parks region, decided earlier this year along with colleagues and counterparts to pursue a different planning strategy to the system that had been in place. 

“It certainly was a little bit cumbersome,” Fisher said of the old method of planning. 

“It’s something we have been considering for some time. We had several conversations with the ski areas over the summer and we were finally in a position to say that this was something we are comfortable with,” he said.

One significant change is in the time period covered by the plans. Under the old system, every plan was for a 15-year period. Now, each ski area has the ability to set the timeframe for its own plans, providing flexibility and avoiding discussion of aspects of the plans that are speculative.

“The ski areas were worried and I think quite justifiably about setting out the development of a ski area over 15 years,” said Fisher. “This way they can put out a plan that might be a little more modest and only be for over five or seven years.”

In Marmot Basin’s case, the plan is likely to encompass the next ten to fifteen years.

The planning process will be comprised of seven steps, many of which are unchanged. The stage of discussions that will follow the vision statement will be based on site guidelines and a strategic environmental assessment, work that will be done by Parks Canada, according to Fisher. 

“We would do the bulk of the guideline review, and this is really where the beginning work we had would be elaborated on and at the end of that we would do a strategic EA and these would look at cumulative effects and so on,” he said. 

The guidelines and environmental assessment will be subject to a public review, a process managed by Parks Canada. After that stage is complete, a comprehensive study will be conducted and the full long-range plan developed. Again, the public will have the opportunity to comment on the study before the plan components are deliberated and decided on by the federal government. Once a plan has been approved, the ski area is still required to obtain a development permit for each specific component of the plan it wishes to pursue.

“That part of the process would be streamlined because they’ve been through the long range plan process,” Fisher said.

The recent changes will not provide a situation where development could occur that is not in keeping with the goal of protecting the environment, he added.

“Obviously we’re looking for a win for the environment, a win for the ski area ... and we want to ensure that the kind of opportunities we provide to the skiers and the public are ideal but also in keeping with our mandate.”  

Of the four ski areas within the mountain parks, Marmot is the most advanced in terms of the planning process, Fisher said. Lake Louise has recently begun work on its vision statement, while Sunshine and Mount Norquay are still further behind.