B.C. approves plan for major resort

VICTORIA, B.C. – The provincial government has approved plans for a ski resort with one of the longest vertical drops in the world at Revelstoke in south-central British Columbia.

The Mount MacKenzie plan includes more than 16,000 beds, guest service facilities, an 18-hole golf course, a multiuse trail system, 25 lifts and 100 ski and snowboard trails on 9,880 acres, according to a government news release.

The resort, which would operate year-round, would have a vertical drop of 6,381 feet.

The biggest vertical drop in the province now is about 5,000 feet at Whistler, north of Vancouver, where some events in the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held.

The Mount MacKenzie resort, once completed, would be about one-third the size of that at Whistler.

Construction is expected to begin next year.

Initial capital investment is pegged at U.S. $221 million.

The town of Revelstoke, about 350 miles northeast of Vancouver, now owns about 221 acres and operates a lift and ski runs at the site.