BC Supreme Court granted an injunction barring
a backcountry ski outfit from access to Snowy Mountain Lodge near Blue River.
Image Credit: Snowy Mountain Lodge
November 01, 2023 - 5:00 PM
A backcountry ski outfit near Blue River lost access to Crown land after a court injunction barred them from the area.
Snowy Mountain Lodge opened its operations more than a decade ago, first getting license over the land in 2010. When its lease expired in 2020, however, the company kept taking on reservations and hosting skiers and hikers that came to stay in the lodge.
The province successfully had an injunction applied to the property on Oct. 4, more than a year after the company launched a civil claim over the licensed land.
"The owners wear the injunction like a badge of honour, willing to sacrifice everything to expose the defendants' fraudulent actions," Snowy Mountain said in a written statement.
Snowy Mountain Lodge owners Dana Foster and Stephen Ludwig launched the lawsuit in 2022, claiming ministry employees that oversaw its tenure were supposed to do more to stop snowmobilers from accessing the area, thereby reducing avalanche risk. Instead, snowmobilers continued to access the area.
"It is the first time Snowy Mountain Lodge has been safe from violent and intoxicated snowmobilers who persistently harass lodge guests, staff and trespass into the lodge," the owners said in a written statement, referring to the injunction now blocking snowmobilers from the lodge.
The injunction order was given on Oct. 4, restricting lodge owners and employees from accessing the lodge, bunkhouse, washrooms and sauna on the property. Although the claim was launched a year ago, Justice David Crerar's order was issued before a trial or any discovery as the province has tried to remove the ski outfit from the area since 2020.
The company continued to book reservations at least into the 2021/2022 ski season, according to the decision.
"While I have sympathy for the plaintiffs' position, they have it backwards," Crerar said. "The land is Crown land. They are not allowed to use or occupy those lands without permission or licence to do so."
In its response to Foster and Ludwig's notice of claim, the province said they failed to hold up their end of the bargain during the ten-year lease. The province said they failed to pay rent and property taxes, among the conditions they failed to meet, according to the claim.
None of their claims have been proven in court and there has yet to be a trial.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
News from © iNFOnews, 2023