A new resort offering year-round skiing in British Columbia could open as soon as December next year, after plans for the project were given the go-ahead by authorities.

With a projected vertical of 2,050m, Valemount will have the largest top-to-bottom distance of any ski resort in North America – a title currently held by Revelstoke, also in British Columbia.

Located near the ski resort of Jasper in Alberta, the town of Valemount is in the Cariboo Mountains of western Canada. The area is already popular as a heliskiing destination, but the resort will make the terrain more accessible to visitors. It’s expected to take 15 to 20 years to complete fully, according to a press release from Valemount Glacier Destinations (VGD), the company behind the project.

Once it’s completed, the ski area will include high-altitude glacier skiing at over 3,000m, allowing the upper slopes to remain open all year round.

The development was driven by the Valemount Ski Society, formed by residents to promote the idea of a new ski resort to bring investment to the town. After securing council support, the society contacted Oberto Oberti, whose architecture firm will be designing the resort complex.

Once construction is finished, the ski area is expected to have a vertical of at least 2,050m Credit: valemountglaciers.com

Oberti is the architect behind a long-running and controversial project to build a ski resort on the Jumbo Glacier, 180 miles from Valemount in British Columbia’s Purcell Range. The proposal has attracted widespread criticism, including opposition from First Nations and environmental campaigners, due to its projected ecological impact.

In contrast, VGD claims to have broad community support for the new resort at Valemount. Plans include a base-area resort village as well as lift facilities. The first phase of construction is due to start in summer 2018, with the company aiming to open the resort to its first visitors by December 2018.

It’s not clear whether this estimated schedule will match the reality. An article in Powder magazine last October said the resort could open as early as December 2017, a launch date which has already been pushed back by a year.

Powder also reported on scepticism that Valemount will be able to compete with other big-name resorts in North America, such as Whistler or Aspen, partly due to issues of accessibility: “It’s in the middle of nowhere, five hours from Edmonton, which is the closest major airport, and three from Kamloops or Prince George.”

Development is planned in three phases – once the resort opens, visitors will have access to Twilight Glacier at 2,530m, giving a vertical drop of 1,370m to the resort base. The second and third phases will further extend the ski area and increase the vertical past 2,000m.