Camp Fortune Winter Ski Lighting Project

Camp Fortune proposes to replace a majority of existing lighting and install new high efficiency lighting to the main Valley area trails and the Meech area trails.

 

Camp Fortune Area is located on leased National Capital Commission (NCC) lands within Gatineau Park. This proposed Ski Lighting project is a project that is subject to a federal land use, design, and transaction approval (FLUDTA) under the National Capital Act. This process is designed to ensure that projects on federal lands will contribute to Canada's Capital being a source of pride for Canadians.

 

The existing light standards/poles are in a deteriorated condition and therefore pose a life safety concern and must be replaced. New light standards will generally be in the same locations as the existing poles, with the addition of new pole locations to increase lighting for night skiing. New lighting will be LED and dark sky compliant, replacing the current inefficient metal halide lights. Night skiing at Camp Fortune begins around December 27th and ends around March 22nd between 16:00h – 21:00h, Monday to Saturday, and 16:00h to 19:00h on Sundays. The lights will not be lit during periods when bats or migratory birds would be present or active.

 

Trails that will feature updated lighting include Marshall, Clifford, Slalom, Pineault, and Allen's Alley. Trails accessed from the Meech chairlift, Paradis and North American will receive all new lighting. This area does not currently offer night skiing. The addition of the Meech trails to night skiing will offer skiers more beginner and intermediate terrain that Camp Fortune currently lacks for night skiing offerings. The addition will also provide another chairlift to move skiers around the area, reducing congestion on Pineault and Clifford chairlifts. This will make for a more enjoyable and safer ski experience.

 

Construction details are as follows: 

      • Construction/renovation work would be completed during the late summer of 2023 to ensure operability by winter.  
      • Construction access routes for installing new lighting systems on Paradis and North American will follow the existing adjacent ski run. Access routes for the other hills will directly align with the existing light standard routes, again on existing ski runs.  
        • Given their existing use as ski runs, vegetation coverage is limited to low ground cover and the surface is firm, thus requiring no vegetation clearing or road building to permit access of construction equipment.   
        • No tree removal will be required for any installations.  
      • Staging areas for the project will be limited within existing?parking areas on site. No aggregate material will be removed from the construction areas or Camp Fortune. 
      • Camp fortune has existing fuelling facilities. No equipment refueling will be required outside of these facilities. 

Lighting upgrades will result in one of five possible actions for each lighting standard: 

i.             Lighting standard is removed  

  • The existing base is removed  
  • The footprint is filled and smoothed using existing adjacent aggregate material 

ii.            Lighting standard is reused  

  • A new lighting fixture is installed atop the existing pole 
  • No groundworks are required 

iii.           Lighting standard is replaced – new pole on the existing footprint/base 

  • A new pole is installed on the existing base  
  • No groundworks are required 

iv.           Lighting standard is replaced – new footprint/base in close proximity to existing footprint 

  • The existing pole and base are removed  
  • A new base (for a new pole) is installed near the existing footprint to limit the overall potential for new impacts 
  • The existing footprint is filled and smoothed using aggregate material from newly excavated areas as required 

v.            Lighting standard in new location. 

  • A new base (for a new pole) is installed 
  • Excavated material is spread on the ski run adjacent to the pole standard location  

 

 

The table below identifies the specific combination of actions for each hill. The appended maps detail locations accordingly. 

Trail

Existing Light Standards Removed 

Existing Light Standards Reused 

Light Standard Replaced -Same Footprint 

Light Standard Replaced – New Adjacent Footprint  

New Light Standard Locations 

Total Number of Light Standards 

 

Before - After

Marshall

10 

0 

0 

0 

18 

10 - 18 

Clifford

13 

0 

2 

2 

16 

13 - 20 

Slalom

3 

0 

5 

1 

8 

9 - 14 

Pineault 

0 

9 

1 

0 

9 

10 - 19 

Allen's Alley

7 

0 

0 

0 

10  

 7 - 10 

Paradis

0 

0 

0 

0 

28 

 0 - 28 

North American 

0 

0 

0 

0 

26 

 0 - 26 

 

More

Latest update

March 6th, 2024 – The National Capital Commission issued its Notice of Determination and determined that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

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Key documents

Key documents
Document Number Document Title File Date
2 Notice of Determination - March 6, 2024

Contacts

National Capital Commission
Environmental Assessment
40 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5A8
Email: IA-EI@ncc-ccn.ca


  • Location

    • Camp Fortune (Quebec)

  • Nature of Activity

    • Recreation and Tourism

  • Assessment Status

    Completed

  • Start Date

    2023-06-13

  • Proponent

    Camp Fortune

  • Authorities

    • National Capital Commission

  • Assessment Type

    Project on federal lands

  • Reference Number

    85683
Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

 

Nearby assessments

...within 200 kilometres
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