Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • The Great Outdoors

Bark Beetles & New Terrain: How Sun Peaks Rose to the Challenge

  • November 25, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
BC forest damaged by the mountain pine beetle. Photo by: Dezene Huber, University of Northern British Columbia. Courtesy http://news.ubc.ca
Interior BC forest damaged by the mountain pine beetle. Photo by Dezene Huber, University of Northern British Columbia. Courtesy news.ubc.ca

The mountain pine beetle infestation has been a concern in the BC interior since the mid-1990s. The B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations estimates the beetles have killed a total of 723 million cubic metres of timber. And aside from the logging industry, the beetles threaten another sector reliant on trees: BC’s interior resorts.

At Sun Peaks Resort, the unwelcome and voracious insect appeared in lodgepole pines around 1997 on the western slopes of Tod Mountain and it seemed obvious that the infestation would travel to the east on the prevailing winds. The resort realized that action had to be taken to avoid unmanageable stands of dead trees subject to blowdown and uncontrolled fire. The resort began selective dead tree removal in 1998. But between 2008 (when a comprehensive management plan was put forward) and 2012 the efforts had to be scaled back due to the economic downturn.

Unflattering headshot of the culprit: Mountain Pine Beetle. Photo by: Ward Strong, B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.
“You talkin’ to me?” Unflattering headshot of the insatiable culprit. Courtesy news.ubc.ca

We caught up with Jamie Tattersfield, the Sun Peaks Mountain Operations Manager, to see what’s been happening over the last few years and how the beetles impacted Sun Peaks’ new terrain.

Mountain Life: How do you deal with beetle infestations?

Jamie Tattersfield: Unfortunately when it comes to bark beetles [of which the mountain pine beetle is a species] the way they burrow into the bark and fabric of the trees means that sprays or other applications are not effective. The main way of dealing with these kind of infestations is to remove the infected trees and in so doing try to reduce the beetle populations.  

The beetle impact is clear in this photo of Gil's from a heli recon. Photo courtesy Sun Peaks Resort.
The beetle impact is clear in this photo of Gil’s from a heli recon. Photo courtesy Sun Peaks Resort.

ML: Obviously the big news this year is the new terrain at Sun Peaks. Is much of this terrain the site of beetle kill? And how has the beetle problem affected your glade terrain in general?

JT: All of the terrain we are developing has been affected by beetles and up to 50% of the standing timber is dead.  In the case of Gil’s the main issue is western balsam bark beetle because the predominant species in that areas is balsam (subalpine fir). Over on West Mo the issue was spruce bark beetle so we are in process of removing all of the large dead and dying spruce. All the run development we have done since 2003 has been to reduce beetle populations and remove dead and dying stems for safety and wildfire prevention reasons. The challenge is to do this while preserving the aesthetics of our resort – we don’t want to make the place look like a logging show.

New terrain. Photo by Adam Stein/courtesy Sun Peaks Resort.
“The happy result is the terrain available for skiing is leading lift capacity by quite a bit – this equals an unparalleled feeling of space and solitude if you want it.” Photo by Adam Stein/courtesy Sun Peaks Resort.

ML: how many of the dead standing trees can you leave as features in the glades? Or are the dead standing trees too likely to present a hazard to skiers/boarders?

JT: For safety reasons we would only leave dead stems if they are more than one or one-and-a-half tree lengths away from any opening or trail. We use the master planned runs as access to the affected timber and our forestry operations are always aimed at preserving the aesthetics of the resort. The happy result is the terrain available for skiing is leading lift capacity by quite a bit and will continue to do so for some time in the future – this equals an unparalleled  feeling of space and solitude if you want it. Our installed lift capacity (SCC) at present is over 7000 skiers at one time, while our terrain capacity is well over 14,000.

More about winter at Sun Peaks here.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • bark beetle infestation
  • BC interior
  • BC resorts
  • mountain pine beetle BC
  • pine beetle
  • ski resorts
  • snow resorts
  • Sun Peaks
  • Sun Peaks Resort BC
Ned Morgan

Previous Article
  • THE GEAR SHED

Comfort Range to -40C

  • November 24, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
Next Article
  • THE GEAR SHED

92% of Canadians want access to emergency services during outdoor adventures

  • November 27, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

Blower Pow and Disappearing Pants

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 26, 2022
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

ML Launches Mushroom Life

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 1, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The Great Outdoors

Backcountry Skier John Baldwin Headlines VIMFF’s 2022 Best of British Columbia Night

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 22, 2022
View Post
  • FALL GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors
  • WINTER GEAR

The Legend of San Poncho

  • Editor
  • December 9, 2021
735990496 1280x720
View Post
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Island of Plenty

  • Sarah Bulford
  • July 2, 2021
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Win Adventures to the Filming Location of the HISTORY® Channel’s “Alone” Season 8!

  • Sarah Bulford
  • June 8, 2021

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Fjallraven-Nuuk-Parka-daniel-blom-photo_jacket 1
    Gear Shed: Multisport Winter Roundup
    • January 26, 2023
  • Brian-Hockenstein-surfing-Iceland-water-and-ice-ML 2
    In the Land of Water & Ice
    • January 24, 2023
  • L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec 3
    L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing
    • January 27, 2023
  • Marie-Pier-Desharnais-A-Womans-Experience-on-K2-flag-crop 4
    Marie-Pier Desharnais: A Woman’s Experience on K2
    • January 23, 2023
  • Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf 5
    Behind the Photo: Rockies Edition
    • January 19, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Wachs_Fairly-Mellow
    Friday Flick: “Fairly Mellow” at Fairy Meadow Hut
    • January 20, 2023
  • knorthphotography.Beverly-Glenn Copeland-crop
    Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Finding the Universal Broadcast
    • January 17, 2023
  • Season-Pass-Skis-and-Splitboard-both
    Gear Shed: New Season Pass Skis + Splitboard Exclusive to evo
    • January 15, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Behind the scenes of three action photos from ML’s Rocky Mountains edition.
The @banffmountainfestival 2023 Signature Image Search is on🚨
In 1986 @beverlyglenncopeland recorded Keyboard Fantasies using an Atari computer, a keyboard and a drum machine. After releasing it on cassette and selling maybe 50 copies, he went back to writing for Sesame Street and making the odd guest appearance on Mr. Dressup. In 2015, a cassette made its way to Japanese collector Ryota Masuko, a record store owner with a big online presence, who quickly bought, and then sold, all the Keyboard Fantasies cassettes he could find. Record labels worldwide lined up to reissue the hidden gem on vinyl.
MUSIC SERIES TICKET SALE IS NOW LIVE 🗣️
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.