Prior to creating his own firm, Brent Harley and Associates Inc., Brent headed up S.e Canada, the Sno Engineering office located in Whistler, BC. It was during this time that he worked on the Mountain Master Plan for Rusutsu Resort in Hokkaido, Japan. The Mountain Master Plan was completed in October of 1993.
Technology used for the project was set up on a pin bar mylar system, where each layer was of the plan was hand drawn complemented by letraset and letraline. These were then carefully annotated and sent down to Vancouver to be individually photographed by the print shop. The negatives were then married to create the various colour plans in the Master Plan.
The Mountain Master Plan created the basis for more detailed base area and residential real estate planning.
Original resort master plan
Original 3D Digital Terrain Model
Today, Rustusu is a popular and award-winning winter resort drawing a mix of locals, tourists, and professional skiers and snowboarders. The ski resort is built on three mountains, namely West Mountain, East Mountain, and Mount Isola. The total number of ski runs is 37, with a length of 42 kilometers. In addition to ski runs, the resort features an amusement park, golf courses, and a conference centre.
The early days of Rusutsu Resort in the wintertime. Image: Brent Harley and Associates Inc.
Mt Isola and Rusutsu Resort as seen from Shiribetsu-dake, 2015. Image: Andrew Strain
BHA 2021
© BHA 2019
© 2019 BHA