Valemount () is a village municipality of 1,018 people in east central British Columbia, Canada, from Kamloops, British Columbia. It is between the Rocky, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. It is the nearest community to the west of Jasper National Park, and is also the nearest community to Mount Robson Provincial Park, which features Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. Outdoor recreation is popular in summer and winter—hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, mountain biking and horseback riding are common activities. Valemount is one of 14 designated resort municipalities in British Columbia. As a flag stop Via Rail's Canadian calls at the Valemount railway station two or three times (depending on the season) per week in each direction. The name Valemount was coined for the Canadian National Railway station there in 1927 from the words vale and mount. History The land that would become Valemount is in the traditional territory of the Kootenai, Shuswap and Rocky Mountain Cree. Other first peoples with ties to the area included the Lheidli T’enneh and the Mountain Metis. In 1950, the Canoe River train crash occurred south of Valemount Station. Valemount was incorporated as a village under the Municipal Act (now Community Charter), on December 13, 1962. Until the construction of the Yellowhead Highway 5 in the 1960s, Valemount's population was small and mostly itinerant. Road conditions were poor in the wintertime and electric power unreliable. Expansion and growth in the 1970s Valemount's population increased from 600 people to 693, and from 693 people to 1,160 in the 1970s. The sewer system was completed in 1975, a water tower of 300,000 gallons started to service the town in 1977, a clinic opened in 1978, and a new Community Hall was inaugurated in February 1979. A shopping mall (1978) and several hotels on Highway 5 were completed in the late 1970s. Valemount in the 1980s In the 1980s population growth slowed. In 1980, work began at the Starratt Wildlife Sanctuary with a clean-up operation at an old dumpsite. The Canoe Robson Education Development Association (CREDA) was founded in 1984 to assist local residents with continued education and training. Canyon Creek Forestry Products was replaced by Clearwater Timber Industries which employed 400 people between Clearwater and Valemount. After two mill crises in 1984 and 1986, Clearwater Timber Industries went bankrupt and was purchased by Slocan Forest Products in May 1987. Peak of lumber production in