April 21, 2016

Hikers: walk an extra 5 km of boring logging road - Mountain Resorts Branch

Yep, that's what Mountain Resorts Branch wants for you - hike five kilometers of logged out timber just to reach the park boundary. And run a gauntlet of ATVs and mountain bikes flying through the air. Lucky you if you make it further than Singing Pass. Repeat on the way back.

Mountain Resorts Branch dictates terms of Singing Pass public access

2020 Commentary

2020 this week received a backgrounder article produced by Mountain Resorts Branch entitled "Singing Pass Trail through the Whistler Blackcomb Controlled Recreation Areas". In part, it is a collection facts and timelines. As such it is a background article. It is also a set of excuses why Whistler Blackcomb should not honour its legal obligation to restore vehicle access to the Singing Pass trailhead near the park boundary.

Bias riddles the report. The bias that Whistler Blackcomb may pursue its business objectives unfettered without observance of their legal obligations. Inappropriate developments are permitted on the access route that endanger hikers with physical trauma. Hikers must run a gauntlet of ATVs and mountain bikes five kilometers long to reach the safety of the park. Turn it around and blame the hikers - they are the problem. 

Mountain Resorts Branch to the rescue! Presenting two options, neither of which resolve hiker's safety concerns and neither of which brings hikers closer to the safety of Garibaldi Park.

News from the Twilight Zone

• Hikers passing through the bike park are creating conflicts. They are crossing downhill bike trails leading to safety concerns that bike riders might be injured.
• Public vehicle access would conflict with Whistler Blackcomb's resort operations.
• Bike riders could be injured by vehicles.
• It is a complex issue.

The reality is...

• The Singing Pass Trail and Fitzsimmons Creek access road were in existence for 50 years or more.
• Whistler Mountain took on a legal obligation in 1982 to preserve and maintain public access including vehicle access to the parking lot near the park boundary. In return, they were granted the controlled recreation area.
• Whistler Blackcomb developed a bike park knowing full well of the conflicts it was creating. Whistler Blackcomb created the safety problem not hikers.
• It is the hikers that will suffer physical injury not armour-laden stunt riders flying through the air on a bike weighing 100 pounds.
• It is a simple issue.

How simple is it?

Pave the road to the park boundary and provide public parking.

Whistler Blackcomb must remove inappropriate developments. Whistler Blackcomb must honour its legal obligations. Mountain Resorts Branch must not approve inappropriate developments that threaten public safety. Mountain Resorts Branch must work in the public interest and not act as a shill for Whistler Blackcomb.

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