Zincton Mountain❄️ReGen Villages
Open Source Regenerative Mountain Village for People, Planet, Profit in the Kootenays BC.
The pandemic demonstrated to millions we no longer needed to live near our income. Imaginations engaged, and we packed up and moved to where we plan to retire, where we go every year on holidays, and where we always dreamed of living.
For a lot of people, moving to the mountains – near Parks, big clean lakes and rivers, glaciers, ski areas – is now more than possible, it’s necessary to live their “best” lives.
Skiing, splitboarding, mountain biking, hiking, mountaineering, exploring, camping, boating and sailing are in ZINCTON’s backyard.
Where in the World?
ZINCTON is situated in the Selkirk Mountain Range, central British Columbia – midway between the prosperous mountain towns of Revelstoke, Rossland, and Nelson. The Selkirks hosts dozens of world class Heliski and Catski operations, several ski areas (Red Mountain Resort, Whitewater, Revelstoke Mountain Resorts), and is known for being one of the most reliable snow belts on the planet. This area’s climate is temperate inland rainforest, receiving most of its precipitation from October to April. The summers are generally hot and the precipitation infrequent. Late Snow keeps the alpine inaccessible to late June.
The proposed Tenure is approximately 5,500 hectares (over 13,000 acres). The two main features are London Ridge running SW to NE. London Ridge intersects the much higher and more rugged Whitewater Ridge. Both offer great, complimentary styles of terrain.
Elevations:
- New Denver and Slocan Lake, Kaslo and Kootenay Lake: 1,770 feet
- Parking lot in Kane Creek: 2750 feet
- Village: 3400 feet
- London Ridge: 7400 feet
- Whitewater Peak: 9081 feet
The ZINCTON WINTER Tenure is divided up into 4 zones with unique attributes: GREEN is Lift Serviced, the remainder is backcountry with varying exposures and terrains. In total, ZINCTON is about 4235 hectares (14,000 acres) of terrain plus residential area and Village.
The Village Zone is ski in / ski out, lower left on the map, near the ghost town of Three Forks. All residential and Village development is on private land.
Wildlife Migration Protection and Mining District remediation dominate ZINCTON’s SUMMER TENURE plans. The grizzly denning, foraging, huckleberries, and N-S migration requires elimination of almost all commercial activities to ensure all species habitat and wildlife corridors are protected.
As the first ski area worldwide to embrace the environmental action organization “1% for the Planet”, ZINCTON is dedicating 1% of revenue from the ski operation to remediate the old mining district above the Retallack townsite for up to 50 years.
The primary focus will likely include closing old tunnels, diverting ground water and creeks away from diggings and contaminated slag waste, and closing contaminated grizzly denning areas. The full scope of the project is unknown. ZINCTON will try to partner with local governments and agencies.
Our trail focus for bikes will be low elevation rails and trails, linking to nearby ghost towns and local communities, plus trails throughout the Village Zone.
“ZINCTON 100% POWERED BY GRAVITY & SUNSHINE”
Silversmith Power & Light, a local “certified green” run-of-river power producer in Sandon running continuously since 1895, is 7km from ZINCTON. Our power partnership with Silversmith ensures that ZINCTON will be “ClimateNeutral” from opening day on.
In addition to the Silversmith Power partnership, ZINCTON will install 65kw of solar on the rooftop of the Village, up at elevation in the sun.
Each Mountain Cabin and Residence will be mandated to have a minimum of 700 watts of solar and a Tesla Powerwall (or similar) as redundant power in case of interruption. Our power station will be grid-tied to the BC Hydro grid for redundancy
EV charging stations will be available in the BaseCamp Gondola Parking Lot, and adjacent to the Village for onhill EV shuttle transport.
ZINCTON is committed to running EV buses from Kalso and New Denver for day skiers, pass holders and Staff. Silent EV buses will contain or reduce wildlife / vehicle interactions of Hiway31A, reduce ghgs, and provide convenient, safe transit for young skiers, while engaging Kaslo and New Denver businesses with ski traffic.
ZINCTON is committed to annual, third-party carbon audits.
We designed ZINCTON to be a new standard for “high elevation, high latitude” ecovillages. We had help from the best regenerative and eco-planners. Small, intimate neighbourhood pods, surrounded by abundant flowing green spaces, ZINCTON remains very porous to wildlife migration with 3 wildlife overpasses, and several wildife crossings. The Village location is considered low quality grizzly habitat. Human / wildlife interactions will be minimized by carefully managing site lines. No local tree fruit nor outside vegetable gardens are permitted. Indoor, hydroponic grow-op in the Village will supply fresh greens year round.
The ZINCTON Village site will be 1/5 of New Denver’s area, and 1/10 of Kaslo’s Village limits.
Infrastructure buildout will be phased, excluding the water system and reservoir at elevation. The state-of-the-art MBR sewage systems are fully enclosed in 40’ containers, and are monitored wirelessly by dedicated service experts.
Targeted Snowmaking at lower elevations to ensure early season starts. Ample water supply exists from our water license on Kane Creek.
ZINCTON MOUNTAIN VILLAGE
Phases are colorized:
Phase1:
- Premium Residential Building Lots: 44
- Mountain Cabins: 55
- Staff Cabins: 14
Phase2:
- Premium Residential Building Lots: 67
- Mountain Cabins: 32
Phase3:
Premium Residential Building Lots: 68
COMMERCIAL VILLAGE:
Build as demand requires, 200 year lease, balloon payment upon possession.
To open: 14,400sf + Pier.
Capacity: estimated at 60,000sf.
Pier and 2 retail arms frame a south facing courtyard. Music stage faces North into the courtyard.
The Village in the heart of the community. We will work to have Village pedestrian traffic to be > 50% Residents + onhill Guests by fostering community events, social activities, and creative engagement.
What will drive demand at ZINCTON?
- Amazing natural beauty and a local culture that respects Mother Nature.
- Meaningful engagement with local Indigenous & Mountain Métis.
- First ReGen Villages in Canada
- Exemplary stewardship of the Tenured lands.
- Village grown food and brewed beverages.
- In-home & suite catering and gourmet delivery.
- Redesigned Mountain Guides, Instruction, Ski Patrol, Daycare, Clinic, Environmental Professionals.
- Very Low density lift-assisted backcountry skiing and splitboarding.
- Quiet, peaceful Pedestrian Village – no traffic / no parking / no congestion.
- Fiber connectivity to every home and business.
- “100% Powered by Gravity and Sunshine”. ‘Climate Neutral’ starting opening day.
- ZINCTON committed to third-party annual carbon audits.
- Focus on creative: film, design, photography, music, artisan crafts, innovation.
- Sharing of local opportunities to create ROI/cashflow/work for all Residents:
- All accommodation revenue flows to HomeOwners, with up to 4 suites.
- All businesses onhill to be Owner / Operators.
- Residents, Owners, and Business Operators will be invested ZINCTON Ambassadors.
Photo by Doug Kelly
