New Resort - Mount MacKenzie, Revelstoke - highest vertical drop in North America

[Team2K]

Sounds Sick!

Province approves plan for $1-billion Revelstoke ski resort
Mountain to boast highest vertical drop in North America

Joel Baglole and Brian Morton
Vancouver Sun

The provincial government has approved a $1-billion plan to transform Mount MacKenzie near the city of Revelstoke into a world-class ski resort that will contain the highest vertical drop in North America.

The redevelopment of Mount MacKenzie -- which currently has only one double-seat chairlift and a couple of ski runs -- includes plans to build 25 chairlifts, 100 ski runs, and 1,984 hotel rooms at the mountain site.

The new ski area at Mount MacKenzie will have a vertical drop of 1,945 metres (6,400 feet) -- higher than Whistler's vertical drop of 1,524 metres (5,000 feet).

In fact, the vertical drop at Mount MacKenzie will be the highest in North America and the fourth highest of any ski resort in the world, says Hunter Milborne, chairman of Mount MacKenzie Resorts Ltd., a private Toronto-based real estate development company spearheading the overhaul.

"This will be a world-class facility once it's finished," said Milborne, who forecasts it will take 15 years to complete the mountain's redevelopment.

Milborne added that his company plans to build a new 18-hole golf course in Revelstoke that will operate in the spring and summer, making the area an all-season tourist draw.

There is currently one 18-hole golf course in Revelstoke, a city of about 8,000 residents that is a two-hour drive east of Kelowna in the Interior.

It's 415 kilometres west of Calgary and 641 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

"This is huge for Revelstoke," said Bill Irwin, executive director of the all seasons resorts division of Land and Water British Columbia Inc., a Crown corporation that manages public land across the province.

"It's something the residents and city council have been working on for 15 to 20 years. It's the news they've been waiting for."

Indeed, Revelstoke Mayor Mark McKee said in a statement that the city is happy Mount MacKenzie will be turned into a world-class ski destination.

"The City of Revelstoke is pleased to have reached agreement to sell the land and ski operation at Mount MacKenzie to Mount MacKenzie Resort Ltd.

"[They] have the vision and means to maximize the potential of this incredible mountain resource and contribute to the economic renewal of our region."

The resort is forecast to create 1,300 jobs during the construction phase, and 1,400 permanent jobs once it's completed.

The new area will be called "The Revelstoke Mountain Resort," said Milborne.

"We want people to identify with the town and the location," he said.

Mount Mackenzie is the second major all-season resort in B.C. to get approval in recent months.

In October, the $450-million Jumbo ski resort in the East Kootenays gained approval from B.C.'s environmental assessment office -- an announcement that drew expressions of relief from proponents and denunciations from environmental groups that oppose the development.

Four or five other existing B.C. ski resorts are planning major expansions, and there are plans to build several new resorts in the province, including one in Squamish, provincial government officials said Tuesday.

The new Mount Mackenzie ski area and golf course will be built in five separate phases.

Milborne said his company and a minority partner, Robert Powadiuk, a private Toronto-based developer, plan to finance the majority of the project by pre-selling real estate at Mount MacKenzie.

Existing plans include 556 single-family lots, 834 townhomes, 1,471 condominiums and 1,984 hotel rooms.

Single family lots will cost about $300,000, while condos will sell for $250,000 and townhomes for $400,000, said Milborne, who noted that prices may fluctuate in coming years.

Milborne's company plans to sell the real estate to private hotel developers, townhome and condominium builders, and individuals from across Canada, the U.S., Asia and Europe.

While he is confident the majority of the costs will be covered through the pre-sale of real estate, Milborne said his company may have to do some debt financing to complete the project.

"We're doing this with our own private capital," he said.

There will be an initial cost of $270 million to service the new resort area with water, sewers and roads, said Milborne.

In addition, the first phase of building, which is expected to start in 2005, will cost $100 million and include the construction of five chairlifts, and 300 to 400 units of housing.

Phase 1 is expected to be completed by 2007, said Milborne, who added that his company plans to first sell the building lots to individual buyers.

"We're seeing a lot of demand," he said, noting that Calgary is a four-hour drive from Revelstoke.

A master development agreement between the developer and the provincial government is expected to be concluded in January.

The province is not providing any money for the project, but it has agreed to sell some of the 2,590 hectares (6,400 acres) of Crown land it owns on Mount Mackenzie to Milborne's real estate development company.

Mount MacKenzie Resorts Ltd. owns 202 hectares (500 acres) at the base of Mount Mackenzie, which it purchased with a consortium of buyers in 1991 for $3 million.

The land is now worth about $15 million, said Milborne.

Revelstoke still has to approve an official community plan that encompasses the new resort area.

But there appears to be little opposition.

In addition to municipal support for the project, and 95 per cent of the people who attended three public hearings last year also expressed support for the redevelopment, said Milborne.

REDEVELOPING A RESORT:

Mount MacKenzie by the numbers:

Vertical drop: 1,945 metres (6,400 feet)

Lifts: 25

Trails at buildout: 100

Bed units: 16,000

PROPOSED NEW RESORTS AND MAJOR EXPANSIONS:

Proposed new ski resorts in B.C.:

- Cayoosh Resort, northwest of Lillooet

- Garibaldi at Squamish, 15 km north of Squamish

- Mount Baldy, near Osoyoos

- Jumbo Glacier Resort, west of Invermere

- Resorts West, near Chilliwack

- Canoe Mountain, Valemount

Existing resorts planning major expansions:

- Sun Peaks, north of Kamloops

- Big White, east of Kelowna

- Silver Star, near Vernon

- Kicking Horse, near Golden

Ran with fact boxes "Redeveloping a Resort" and "ProposedNew Resorts and Major Expansions", which have been appended to theend of the story.

[tuck3r]

That will be one sick resort. Revelstoke has some pretty insane looking faces.

on a side note: Why oh why are they expanding Mt. Baldy they don't really even get a lot of snow.

[Moocowsia]

I just looked at their trail map. Looks good. Right now its a tiny mountain with a double chair at the bottom and a bunch of runs for snow cats on top. Thats a massive mountain though

In other news whistler is expanding too. 1100 new acres in the flute valley (behind harmony) and peak to creek (below the west bowls)

[freerider guy]

Not to be hurtfull Moo but that whistler stuff is old news.

[Moocowsia]

I know, it just wasn't listed on the expansions list though.

[Sharon]

Garibaldi and Cayoosh are non-starters. There is a lot of protest against Jumbo Creek as well.

One thing all these ski areas need is a major airport in the interior of BC that will accomodate international flights to feed into these. Right now it seems the options are Kelowna and Kamloops.

We drove through Baldy last summer. Interesting potential. For a true success you need an all season resort. Baldy can never be popular in the summer with Osoyoos just down the road.

[patrolskid]

i wish them all the success , but , this is not the first time a major development has been announced for mt. mckenzie . maybe this one will be a go . . . . .

[Cec_XN_Bikes]

one of my dads clients (my dads a lawyer) is the guy paying for all of this, my dad told me about it today an said that most likely this guy is gonna go bankrupt,like most private entrepenures,before the resort is built...so dont get ur hopes up

[Nelson]

Originally posted by Cec_XN_Bikes
one of my dads clients (my dads a lawyer) is the guy paying for all of this, my dad told me about it today an said that most likely this guy is gonna go bankrupt,like most private entrepenures,before the resort is built...so dont get ur hopes up

What ever happened to lawyer's confidentiality obligations?

Originally posted by Nelson
What ever happened to lawyer's confidentiality obligations?

what ever happened to not being a pussy?

[the flying moose]

Originally posted by Nelson
What ever happened to lawyer's confidentiality obligations?

no kidding.

i wish i had a lawyer that slagged me behind my back.

Originally posted by the flying moose
no kidding.

i wish i had a lawyer that slagged me behind my back.

Did you even read my goddamn post?

[superman_4]

any more news on this anyone?

[wallyjames]

That Mt Mackenzie press release is a year old. And that is only the latest in 20 yrs of expansion plans for Mt Mack. I sure hope it would happen, it's only a 3 hr drive for me if roads are good, but I'll believe it when I see it. No lift went in this summer although there were a lot of real estate sales efforts.

Having said that the terrain is certainly there and the area gets some amazing snowfalls. It's no accident that there are more heli and cat operators concentrated around Revelstoke than any other comparable-sized area in N America. I should add it's well worth skiing the little hill that's there now for a day en route to Rockies or East Kootenays. Powder Springs just has a double chair and very basic facilities but nice fall line skiing and the best glade skiing I've had in years. They have cleared out the evergreen trees between the runs but left the deciduous, so the trees are wide apart and you can go stupid fast. Lift pass is cheap, last time I was there it cost me $18 with my Apex passholder discount. You can get a room in the hostel down in town plus lift pass for under $30 total. Base of lifts is less than 15 minute drive from Revelstoke.

Big problem these guys are facing is distance from population. Almost 6 hrs from Calgary, 8hrs + from Van. Local airport is tiny and little room for expansion, nearest decent ariports (Kelowna and Kamloops) are both 3 hrs away and not exactly major international hubs at that. Any new BC resort has to be dependent on destination business - we are already way overserved for skiing for the resident population. And destination skiing means airports. Sure there is large and growing population fairly close in the Thompson-Okanagan region, but they have so many quality ski areas much closer that will be a tough sell to get Kelowna or Kamloops people to come to Revelstoke for a few days skiing each season, let alone buy land or condo.

I wish 'em all the best but I doubt this will go. And in the meantime, I will still do my 2 days a year cat skiing on the same terrain - get my turns in now before it's spoilt....

[tuck3r]

I agree with everything you said except this

Originally Posted by wallyjames

Big problem these guys are facing is distance from population. Almost 6 hrs from Calgary...

it's only 4 hours to calgary from revelstoke