50
MLCM
FALL/WINTER2016
Mid-Mountain Blues
The first casualty of climate change will be all of your
favourite lower elevation ski runs. The winter of 2014/15
offers a perfect example of this: dismal snowfall and
soaring temperatures swept the province and while big-
alpine resorts likeWhistler Blackcomb (elevation 2,184
metres/7,165 feet) were able to salvage the season thanks
to their terrain above treeline, smaller resorts suffered.
Vancouver’s Mount Seymour (elevation 1,265metres/4,754
feet) only managed to be fully open, with all lifts
operating, for 12 days of the season.
For Brent Hillier, an avalanche instructor and former ski
patroller at Mount Seymour, that winter “was a prime
example of what climate change is doing to our snowpack.
Many of my friends and former colleagues at the resort
were out of work. Personally, if it weren’t for the fact that
I could work more in theWhistler Valley, that winter would
have seenme unemployed.”
Brohm Ridge, proposed site of Garibaldi at Squamish,
sits just above treeline at 1,945metres/6,381 feet.
Snow conditions in the area can be so variable that
a 1974 report prepared for the Province of British
Columbia’s Department of Municipal Affairs deemed it an
“unacceptable site for a modern ski resort complex.”
On-Slope Uncertainty
Shorter, warmer winters with less snow down low are
not the only way that climate change can wreak havoc
in the mountains. Pascal Haegli, head of Avalanche Risk
Management research at the Simon Fraser School of
Resource and Environmental Management, points to the
volatility from year to year as a major concern for both
resorts and recreational users.
“Reduced andmore sporadic snowpack at lower
elevations is a big challenge for operators and resorts,”
Haegli says. “Abigger challenge [for users] will be getting
used to treating each winter like a different regime. Lines
that were perfectly fine to ski one winter might not be
appropriate the next winter.”
And the impacts are even greater in the backcountry. On big
snow years, the terrain surrounding Brohm Ridge is popular
for backcountry enthusiasts, but accessing that terrain
requires specialized equipment and knowledge. Many worry
that ski lift access and increased use couldmake it easier
for inexperienced adventurers to get into trouble.
Working as an avalanche professional, Brent Hillier has
seen the impacts of climate change beyond the ski
area boundary first-hand. “Climate change creates
If Garibaldi at
Squamish had
been operating
in the last two
years, it would
have offered little
to no skiing.
But the project’s
proponents say
they’re ready for
the challenges
ahead.
BrohmRidge has a richhistorywith snowboarding,the original Superpipewas built there.Here JodyWachniak hits a sunset booter. ASHLEYBARKER
