DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 BCBUSINESS 43
I
n early August when news broke
that Whistler Blackcomb, ranked
North America's number one resort
by U.S.-based Ski Magazine, had
been sold to Vail Resorts Inc. for $1.4
billion, there were mixed reactions—from
concern over what merging two block-
buster brands might mean for the already-
crowded mountain town to excitement
about the potential for future growth.
However, ownership announcements
from Whistler Blackcomb's head office
no longer shock Peter Smart, a former ski
racer who moved to Whistler in 1991 and
three years later founded the ski instruc-
tion and vacation company Extremely
Canadian with his wife, Jill Dunnigan.
After all, Smart has experienced 25 years
of change, including the merger of Whistler
and Blackcomb in 2003, the highs and lows
of various owners (including a near-death
experience for the resort in 2006), the
euphoria of the 2010 Winter Olympics and,
now, the arrival of a ski-resort behemoth.
Smart, who now lives in nearby
Squamish, says he's excited about the deal
but will withhold judgment until he sees
what kind of owner Vail is. "Pre-merger,
Whistler and Blackcomb were very focused
on competing against each other and it
made for a cool vibe," says the 49-year-old
Montreal native. "Each was striving to outdo
the other with better food, better service
and opening up terrain quicker after a big
storm. Post-merger, it became about share-
holder value." Smart says that he's hoping
the resort's new owners will show a stronger
commitment to customer service and value.
"At least Vail is in the business of running ski
resorts and not hedge funds."
Chris Winter, another member of the
region's tight-knit outdoor business com-
munity, takes a dimmer view. A resident
of Whistler since 2002 and a former pro
skier, Winter launched the mountain bik-
ing holiday company Big Mountain Bike
Adventures in the mid-2000s as well as Zero
Ceiling, a nonprofit that introduces at-risk
youth to mountain sports. He thinks that
Whistlerites have "learned to accept this
type of news from Whistler Blackcomb"
and that Vail's purchase, while not surpris-
ing, is not necessarily welcome either: "The
idea of increased skier visits is a little scary
for us, considering the current volume of
humans on the ski hill any day of the week."
There never has been anything subtle
or small about either Vail or Whistler, how-
ever, whose corporate trajectories follow
a similar pattern. Vail Resorts was born
WHISTLER'S
NEW
OWNERS
WITH ITS PURCHASE OF WHISTLER BLACKCOMB, VAIL RESORTS
BECOMES NORTH AMERICA'S LARGEST RESORT OPERATOR.
BUT WHAT DOES THE DEAL MEAN FOR THE KING OF
CANADA'S SKI HILLS–AND THE PRICEY MOUNTAIN TOWN
LIVING IN ITS SHADOWS?
BY ANDREW FINDLAY
MIKE CRANE / TOURISM WHISTLER
