The Lazy Gourmet.indd 1 14-10-24 2:02 PM
amount of snowfall through the first
part of the season was a record low,
a level we hadn't seen since 1989. But
with our investment in our snow-
making infrastructure, we managed
to pump 375 million gallons of water
to ensure that we had a great product
for our guests leading up through
the holidays and beyond. Typically,
before the Olympics, we would be
lucky to be pumping more than 180
million gallons.
How much did that cost?
It's not cheap. But the reality is, we
are very fortunate with the hydro
costs in British Columbia—although
everybody knows hydro costs here
are going up, so that's a challenge.
But people come to ski and snow-
board, so you need snow.
Despite pumping all that snow, the
pre-Christmas season was still poor
last year, with skier visits down
from 461,000 in 2012 to 391,000.
Why do you think that was?
It wasn't as strong as we had hoped,
for sure. But our presales were
stronger than they had ever been. In
fact, we had record presales. But our
pass holders and cardholders are
very knowledgeable and aware, and
so they weren't skiing quite as much
as they had in prior years leading up
through Christmas.
Who is your biggest market?
B.C. and Washington. On the desti-
nation side, it's still the wider U.S.,
then Europe, particularly the U.K.,
then Australia. It's amazing, though:
we see people from Brazil, from
China, from Argentina, Hong Kong—
from all around the world.
Is China a market you are actively
trying to exploit?
We are definitely pursuing it, and
we are seeing more benefit in the
summertime at this point, with
sightseeing buses and coaches
World Resorts by Skiable Terrain
24,700 acres
Val d'isère
Val d'isère, France
8,171 acres
Whistler blackcomb
Whistler, b.c.
