Support to pave the entire road to Whitewater endorsed by RDCK board
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The road to paradise could soon be paved with more than good intentions.
A move to pave the Whitewater Ski Resort access road is gaining some traction in the regional district as one of the region’s top downhill skiing destinations campaigns for tarmac.
Whitewater Ski Resort’s project to pave the last 5.8 kilometres of the road from the highway to the ski hill has again been given Regional District of Central Kootenay board of directors’ support after a recent board meeting.
Late last month the RDCK board endorsed sending a letter to the Ministry of Transportation (MOTI) in support of the Whitewater Ski Resort access road being fully paved. The move was prompted by a letter from Ed and Laurie Mannings who claimed Nelson-Creston MLA Brittny Anderson “is currently advocating hard behind the scenes to her government colleagues to get approval for one‐time funding to get the Whitewater Ski Area Road paved.”
He cited Whitewater’s economic and social impact on Nelson and the entire regional district and that the city would not be a winter ski community without Whitewater.
“The operation’s impact enhances employment in the hospitality sector, and results in significant tourist visits to our area, and has resulted in many people choosing Nelson and area as their home,” they wrote.
“The Whitewater Road is a public road which is not only used by resort skiers, but by many others to access the backcountry for hiking, biking, snowshoeing, ski touring, school programs and other activities. And Whitewater itself is currently expanding to full summer operations.”
Although MOTI and Yellowhead Road and Bridge (YRB) have been keeping the 10-km. road section operational from December to April each year, the job has become increasingly difficult, noted Whitewater general manager Kirk Jensen in a letter to the board in 2019.
“We continuously have challenges with our road due to the fact that (5.8) kilometres of the road is still dirt and becomes increasingly hard to maintain when the spring weather moves in,” he wrote.
The state of the road has resulted in a significant negative impact in the resort’s business, he wrote, resulting in a loss of revenue from people not wanting to travel to the resort and “increased cost to our shuttle operations and staff personal vehicles due to damage.”
Jensen noted that all destination resorts in Western Canada have paved access roads “and Whitewater should be included with these other resorts.”
The Class A access road leading to Whitewater needs to be upgraded, Jensen explained, and eventually it has to be paved.
“Perhaps a staged approach is something that can be considered in the future,” he concluded.
The matter now lies with MOTI for the final say on whether the funds will be forthcoming for upgrading or paving the road.
Whitewater was purchased by Knee Deep in 2008 and more than $10 million has been invested into development of the resort in that time, resulting in an increase in visitation increase of 75 per cent (140,000 skier visits in 2019).
