NHLer Niedermayer opposes B.C. ski resort

A champion hockey player is facing off against a proposal for a ski resort near Invermere in southeastern British Columbia.

Scott Niedermayer led the Anaheim Ducks to their first Stanley Cup in 2007. Now the all-star defenceman is trying to break up a play by a resort developer.

He wants to stop a ski resort from being built about 120 kilometres north of his hometown, Cranbrook, in the East Kootenay region.

Niedermayer said there's no room for development on the Jumbo Glacier.

The Jumbo Glacier resort, located at 55 kilometres west of Invermere at the foot of Jumbo Mountain, has been in the works for nearly 20 years.

Niedermayer said he hopes throwing his name into the fight will help preserve one of the remaining wild areas in the Purcell Mountains.

"There is more development all the time. And maybe some of those opportunities are disappearing," said Niedermayer.

"And if we can hold onto a few maybe a little bit longer I think it would continue to make the Kootenays a special place and, basically, what they're known for now."

Grant Costello, the vice-president of the Jumbo Glacier project, said the all-season ski area is environmentally sound, and that the Purcell Mountains are the perfect fit.

"There aren't very many potential sites to build a resort in British Columbia because most of the areas are protected," said Costello.

"This is one of the few that's not in a national park, it's not in a wilderness preserve, it's not in a conservancy. And it's well-accessed, well-roaded area. So it's actually the ideal site."

Costello said construction could go ahead as soon as the fall of 2009.