Development Plans at Sasquatch Mountain Resort
The Planning Process
Sasquatch Mountain Resort has been identified for decades as having major potential to be a significant mountain resort in the Fraser Valley. The small resort has been family run since its inception in 1969 and the formerly known Hemlock Resort is renowned for its family focused, friendly atmosphere, record breaking snowfall and incredible powder. The mountain has a huge variety of terrain suitable for all ability levels, and currently offers recreational activities in the areas of skiing, boarding, tubing, snowshoeing during the winter months. Sasquatch Mountain is also breaking ground as a year round venue of choice for weddings, film shoots, summer events and various outdoor activities all within an awe-inspiring and beautiful mountainous setting. The location cannot be beat, with Abbotsford International Airport only an hour drive away, and just over two hours from the Vancouver International Airport. Sasquatch Mountain is in the mecca of riding wonderland in the heart of the Fraser Valley. With the purchase of the mountain by the Berezan Group in the fall of 2006, the resort has laid the foundation for a fresh look and start.
With a growing market for a unique, well-rounded, all-season mountain resort experience, a comprehensive vision for Sasquatch Mountain was crafted as the foundation for this Master Plan. After carefully analyzing the terrain, the viability for major expansion of the area’s alpine skiing and snowboarding has been confirmed. A wide variety of concepts were created to explore the opportunities for growth and development at the resort which is iterated in the Master Plan which can be found online by clicking the link below…
Vision for the Future
Sasquatch Mountain Resort is envisioned:
“To be a unique cutting edge, four season mountain resort, catering to local, regional and destination guests, in a dynamic fashion, offering an easily accessible refuge and escape from the City.”
Supporting this, the following goals and objectives acted as the guide to the creation of the Sasquatch Mountain Master Plan:
- Respect the natural attributes of the mountain and the setting recognizing that these are Sasquatch Mountain’s primary attraction and currency
- Establish an unprecedented working relationship with the Sts’ailes First Nation – one that will assist both parties to respectfully achieve sustained prosperity
- Provide state of the art, all-season facilities linking the mountain, the village and base areas and Harrison Lake
- Focus on the development and operation of a wide variety of recreation and retreat pursuits
- Cater to the needs and expectations of the day use visitors and the local resort residential population, establishing them as the baseline community to which destination guests will strive to identify with
- Provide a well-balanced, lift serviced alpine skiing and snowboarding experience as the primary winter attraction
- Offer a diverse range of attractions to complement the alpine skiing including, but not limited to, cross-country skiing, skating, tubing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and backcountry touring
- Establish summer facilities including, but not limited to, lift serviced mountain biking, cross-country mountain biking, nature trails, hiking, swimming, boating, golfing, team-building, ATVing and horseback riding
- Establish a diverse mix of village based facilities and amenities including restaurants, pubs, bistros, retail, equipment rental, training facilities, spas and “unique to Sasquatch Mountain” outlets and galleries
- Incorporate resort residential developments, designed to be directly connected to all of the area’s attributes by capitalizing on “ski in/ ski out” opportunities, immediately accessible all season trails, well positioned solar access and world class viewscapes
- Progressively establish a distinctive mountain resort community at Sasquatch Mountain
Winter Mountain Development Plans
The primary development goals for the mountain as we relate to winter facilities are to:
- Establish Sasquatch Mountain as an all-season resort
- Ensure that all winter facility development is completed in an environmentally sensitive fashion
- Develop an alpine skiing and snowboard environment that establishes a unique and distinctive character, and is all about ‘mountain play’
- Creatively expand the ski lift and trail configuration at Sasquatch Mountain
- Establishing and maintaining a balanced offering that anticipates evolving market trends, reflects skier expectations and market composition
- Incorporate a variety of new facilities and amenities designed to diversify the range of winter activities at Sasquatch Mountain
At full buildout of the Master Plan, Sasquatch Mountain will consist of 23 ski lifts servicing 283 formal trails plus glades. This is an increase of 19 ski lifts and 248 ski trails from what is currently there. With the addition of approximately 1,108.8 hectares of developed ski terrain, this will bring Sasquatch Mountain’s total developed ski terrain to 1,255.6 hectares. The Master Plan includes a wide variety of winter activities. The objective will be to gradually add more to the winter offering. These include the establishment of:
- Expanded facilities for cross-country skiing, backcountry touring, winter play, ice skating, snowshoeing, tubing, snowmobiling, etc.
- Winter zip lining and treetop adventures
- An extensive multi-use network of trails throughout the resort including:
- A lighted “valley trail” system that links all areas of Sasquatch Mountain, designed to cater to walking, snow running and track-set cross-country skiing, “pouch-loop” skiing, horse drawn sleigh rides, etc.
- Smaller, single track trails for hiking, dog walking, snowshoeing, backcountry touring, winter mountain biking, running and training, etc.
- Snowmobile trails leading away from the resort and connecting to regional trails, outside of the Controlled Recreation Area
- Snowmobile staging facilities including drop off areas, storage, gas and maintenance
- Village oriented winter attractions (water park, health and wellness spas, conference centre, shopping, dining, galleries, programmed events, concerts, celebrations, and hotel escapes, etc)
**Please keep in mind that development plan is constantly evolving and final outcomes are projected goals and possibilities which are subject to change over time pending approvals and other outside circumstances
Summer Mountain Development Plans
With the beautiful mountain setting, the skiing facilities, the development of on-mountain villages, and the lakeside development on Harrison Lake, it is apparent that the Sasquatch Mountain area is very well suited to the development of summer facilities, amenities and operational programs. As such, the primary development goals for the mountain, as they relate to summer facilities are to:
- Establish Sasquatch Mountain as an all-season resort
- Establish facilities of a unique and distinctive character that is fundamentally about ‘mountain play’
- Establish a wide range of summer facilities and amenities on the mountain that will act as “escape to the mountains” type of attractions that complement the size and scale of development established for winter use
- Establish Sasquatch Mountain as a downhill and cross-country mountain biking “mecca”
- Establish a wide range of waterfront amenities and facilities on Harrison Lake
- Establish multi-use trail systems
- Establish at least one and possibly two golf courses overlooking Harrison Lake
- Build on the development of the ski lift serviced infrastructure and village development, programming their use for summer and the shoulder seasons
- Ensure that all summer facility development is completed in an environmentally sensitive fashion
A wide array of summer oriented facilities have been incorporated into the plans, designed to cater to the perceived desires and expectations of guests, second home owners and residents. These include the following:
- An extensive network of trails throughout the resort. This will largely utilize the same trail system used for winter facilities
- Paved “valley trail” system as the primary spine that links all areas of Sasquatch Mountain, designed to cater to walking, jogging, roller blading and biking
- Gravel surfaced trails for hiking, jogging, dog walking, cross- country mountain biking, horseback riding, interpretive programs, etc.
- Single track trails for technical hikes and mountain biking, etc.
- Lift-serviced facilities and activities (downhill mountain bike park, sightseeing, zip lines, tree walk adventures, hiking interpretive tours, horseback riding, etc.)
- Waterfront oriented facilities, activities and amenities on Harrison Lake (beaches, boating, marina, swimming, fishing etc.)
- An eighteen hole golf course staged from the proposed Quqwathem Village
