Planning for sustainability and climate change in mountain based resort municipalities: a case study of Whistler and Rossland, British Columbia

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified ski and snowboard resorts and mountain-based resort communities as vulnerable to the symptoms of climate change (e.g. receding glaciers and less reliable snow cover), and recommends they develop a response plan. This research adapts Jopp et al.’s (2010) regional adaptation model to learn how the ski and snowboard resort and the local government in Whistler and Rossland, British Columbia are planning for climate change. The findings suggest that in Whistler the ski and snowboard resort, is using its sustainability-based approach to planning to develop a series of mitigation strategies, and the local government, is using its comprehensive sustainability plan as a platform to implement a community wide mitigation plan. In Rossland the ski and snowboard resort has not developed a response plan; however, the local government is using its sustainability-based approach to planning, to develop a community wide adaptation strategy.