Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) held a June 17 open house and presentation at Revelstoke Community Centre for a crowd of 75 residents seeking clarification on current and future projects at the resort. Peter Neilsen, RMR vice president of operations and Jason Kelder, RMR chief development officer fielded questions on future water usage, plans for parking expansion and staff housing.
Staff housing
Phase one of RMR’s main staff housing project is slated to be open for occupancy by 2025, providing 160 beds. Two more phases of staff housing planned for completion after 2026 will bring the total occupancy to 480 beds. Current modular housing on site is reserved for construction workers focused on the building of staff accommodations, The Karl hotel and other projects taking place in and around RMR.
Plans are for the staff accommodations to be apartment style, providing kitchens for each unit. RMR expects staff to access town resources such as Southside Market to facilitate their stay.
“We expect them to create and live a life here,” Kelder said.
New and future projects
The Karl, RMR’s new hotel and conference centre with 154 rooms is expected to be completed in time for the 2025-2026 winter season. It will become the new home of Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing, providing three helipads for tours to leave and return right at the resort. The Karl will include 6,700 square feet of conference space, and a new restaurant, bar, spa and fitness facilities for guests. According to Kelder, The Karl was a key fixture in RMR’s reimagining of the resort’s focus and future development.
“We really sat down with this project and reimagined the resort, what it was, what it’s going to be and how it’s going to evolve,” he explained.
Attendees asked for clarification on the return of previous hill amenities that were lost during COVID-19 restrictions, including one of the upper mountain warming huts that now functions as a storage unit for ski patrol resources and emergency gear.
“We’re planning to build another warming hut to replace that unit,” Neilsen said, but was unable to confirm an estimated timeline when new warming facilities would be available.
Growing infrastructure
RMR’s plans for growth includes updating infrastructure, including completing an on-site 1.7 megalitre reservoir as well as another water source at a higher elevation to take pressure off city infrastructure.
“This reservoir [at the resort] provides water redundancy for Arrow Heights neighborhood and everything south of the Illecillewaet,” Kelder said. Water mains are nearing completion, but the installation of a booster station to help bring water up from lower elevations has been on hold due to manufacturing delays on key parts.
RMR is looking to solve parking issues by improving current parking lots and building transit routes to the city. Some attendees worried the focus on transit was part of the resort’s plans to reduce parking for future developments, but the increased transit routes could provide locals an additional option to get on the hill while leaving parking open for guests and those staying at the resort hotels.
“We’re not going to constrain parking artificially, but if we can partner with the city and BC Transit, then there’s so many good reasons for the environment, for safety…that an expanded transit system is something we’re going to be focused on,” Kelder said.
South access parking lots will be accessible for the summer season, but north parking lots will remain unavailable during the realignment and utilities work on Camozzi Road, which includies reinstalling sanitary, storm, water and gas infrastructure. Leveling out the ground and removing two hills that cause traffic are key projects in the redesign of Camozzi, Kelder noted. While the completion of Camozzi will include a multi-use trail providing access between RMR and Mackenzie Village, that route to the resort will remain closed until an estimated Fall 2024 completion.
Attendees asked if the old walking trail that followed Camozzi is still accessible in the meantime or if guests traveling by foot and bike would need to access RMR via the Airport Way detour. Current work on and around Camozzi means non-workers need to stay clear of the area, Kelder and Neilsen both stressed.
Heavy duty equipment and blasting makes the area unsafe. The level of work taking place is all in an effort to complete what could be multiple years of work into the summer season and fall shoulder.
“It’s not pleasant, but we’re going to get it done and move on. Next year those same kids will be on a dedicated trail,” Neilsen said.
Wastewater struggles
Concerns that continued growth in and around RMR, including plans for townhome development aligned with the Cabot Revelstoke golf course will increase wastewater struggles the City of Revelstoke has been plagued with for the last decade. Attendees to the open house asked how RMR would be assisting the City of Revelstoke in increasing sewage infrastructure down the road or if they would be taking on projects themselves.
“That has been a core priority of city engineering,” Kelder said. “We’ve been in discussion with them and trying to support them as well.”
The main hurdle to increased wastewater management lies in part with the province, Kelder said, focusing on what some consider “moving goalposts” for the City of Revelstoke to meet to secure financial support from the province and wastewater treatment expectations. When pressed by audience members on how RMR is supporting the city, current and future development plans were pointed to as the financial support from RMR.
“If there wasn’t growth, all the sanitary treatment upgrades would be funded by current taxpayers,” Kelder said. “We have new developments that contribute money, existing developments that contribute [to city finances]. The city is better at chasing other levels of government to contribute to this.”
Winter season update
RMR saw lower than anticipated numbers this winter, Neilsen explained, pointing to their lowest and highest temperature recorded within two weeks of each other.
“From a visitation standpoint, this last season was a little disappointing. For those who run businesses in town, you probably felt that a little bit. But it wasn’t tragic, this season was still probably our second or third best visitation ever, despite the weather.”
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