A new hiking trail that will provide access to the alpine area of Mount Currie is in the planning stages and the Pemberton Valley Trails Association (PVTA) recently learned it has secured funding to get the project off the ground.
The Pemberton Valley Utilities and Services Committee (PVUS) approved a PVTA funding request for $45,000 on Monday (Feb. 6), of which $20,000 is slated for the development of the Mount Currie trail. The money comes out of the Pemberton-Area C trail service requisition that collects $50,000 annually.
A PVTA delegation officially presented the proposal to PVUS on Jan. 20 and reprised it for Pemberton council in committee of the whole on Tuesday (Feb. 7).
“It’s an idea that’s been in many people’s minds for a long time,” PVTA director Hugh Naylor told The Question on Tuesday. “Last year, John Chilton spent several weeks flagging out a route. He did a lot of reconnaissance on the mountain and he’s basically flagged out what he thinks is a suitable location for the trail.”
The trail would start near the Green River Motocross Park and eliminate the need for “bushwhacking” to get up into the alpine and access the summit of Mount Currie if desired, said Naylor.
“Once you’re in the alpine, you can find your way to the peak alright,” said Naylor. “We really feel it could be a destination trail for visitors to Pemberton, and Whistler, for that matter.”
Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy, who sits on PVUS, agreed that the trail could be a tourism-generator for the Spud Valley.
“I believe there’s an economic aspect to this whole thing,” Sturdy said during Tuesday’s regular council meeting. “When you think about (other hikes in the corridor such as) the Red Heather hike, the Diamond Head hike, the Wedgemount hike or Singing Pass hike, I think Mount Currie is clearly in that class, if not at the top of that class.
“I’ve lived at the base of it for a long time, looking up and thinking, ‘It would sure be nice if we had a route up there.’”
The total cost of the Mount Currie trail project is expected to cost $60,000 and the PVUS funding is contingent upon that amount being matched through PVTA fundraising efforts. Naylor said the PVTA plans to approach potential funding partners like the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation to make up some of the remaining cost and that any donations towards the project are welcome.
Of the remaining $25,000 approved by PVUS, 80 per cent will be utilized as “core” funding that will help the PVTA perform regular trail maintenance and operation, said Naylor. The other $5,000 will be dedicated to establishing a blue-level descent trail in the MacKenzie Basin area.
Snow-clearing operations to be reviewed
Council directed staff to develop a new snow-clearing policy for the village and produce recommendations for a snow-clearing bylaw to be implemented by autumn during Tuesday’s meeting.
The overhaul of snow-clearing operations comes in response to a difficult winter in 2011 that saw the village run approximately $30,000 over what was budgeted to remove the white stuff.
“We’re looking to incorporate some measures to understand what the cost is to clear this type of sidewalk or that type of sidewalk — or trail, or path, or road… so we can have some sort of system to budget better,” said Sturdy. “We want to make sure we’re spending money wisely because it can quickly (add up).
“Then, there are other issues there,” he continued. “We don’t have a bylaw in place that obligates an owner to clear their own property, or we have cases where snow on private property gets pushed on to public property, and then the taxpayer gets to pay for the removal of snow essentially for a private property.
“So we’re looking at that (to see) if that’s working effectively… whether gentlemen’s agreements work, or if we need to put in place a bylaw that says: ‘Thou shalt deal with your own snow.’”
As for the current fiscal year, Pemberton’s snow-clearing budget doesn’t appear to be under any strain.
“This fiscal, so far, so good,” laughed Sturdy. “All the sun is great.”
