The province has designated Mount Lady MacDonald as an All-Season Resort Area, providing a pathway for the Silvertip Gondola. “We’re really thrilled to have a designation today, granted by the province of Alberta,” said Stone Creek Resorts President Shauna Dudding. The proposed Silvertip Gondola would connect the base station-adjacent Palliser Trail through the Silvertip Village, with an upper terminal on the summit ridge of Mount Lady MacDonald. It would take visitors 75 per cent of the way up the mountain. People would be able to hike on trails at the top and enjoy a viewing platform and restaurant. The All-Season Resort Area designation allows Stone Creek Resort to move forward with an application and master development plan for the Silvertip Gondola. “The application will include looking at socioeconomic impacts. It will be looking at detailed environmental assessments, transportation and parking studies, carrying capacity assessments,” Dudding said. Dudding estimates between 200,000 and 300,000 people would use the gondola annually which would be open year-round. She would not provide an exact dollar figure for how much it will cost but described it as a “significant investment.” Back in April, numerous community members expressed concern that a gondola will bring in too many tourists to Canmore and the Bow Valley area. “There’s already too much tourism in the Bow Valley,” said Leanne Allison, a board member with Bow Valley Engage. “There’s so much pressure on the community.” Stone Creek Resorts said the project won’t add much more foot traffic to the area, and instead will give tourists another amenity to enjoy. The resort is hoping to have the project approved by the province in 2027, at which point it would begin building as quickly as possible, according to Dudding.
