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Resort businesses cope with poor snowfall over holiday season

Indoor activities and services see strong numbers, other businesses struggle during poor weather
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Fire and Ice New Year's Eve in Whistler saw huge crowds in the village. Photo BY Mike Crane/Tourism Whistler

While December's poor weather posed a challenge for resort operators, the lack of snow didn't deter guests, with room night bookings pacing ahead of last year, according to Tourism Whistler.

The bad weather hit some segments of the resort's business sector hard, but Tourism Whistler reported that room night bookings for the months of December, January and February have been pacing ahead of last year, while whistler.com has not experienced cancellations, according to manager of communications Patricia Westerholm. Confirmed occupancy numbers for December will not be available until Jan. 20.

"Feedback from some guests has been that while we may not have the same amount of snowfall that we've had at this point in the winter in recent years, the conditions were still positive," wrote Westerholm in an email. "Certainly being out and about in the village over the holidays, it was definitely busy."

Whistler Blackcomb also had success with their early booking efforts, said president Dave Brownlie, despite one of the worst Decembers in recent memory in terms of snowfall, at 74 cm.

In the years since 2003/04 there have been five occasions other than this season when the December snowfall has been less than 200cm. A couple of years ago a 20-year average for each of our primary winter snow months (December to March), was calculated and the average for December was 180cm.

"Our strategy as a resort has been very positive in terms of creating that early book-buy opportunity and laying that business, so we were pretty full here during the Christmas holidays and I would say that our ancillary businesses performed well," he said.

Resort businesses and activity providers not solely reliant on the snow appear to have benefited tremendously from the poor weather, with some seeing significant increases in attendance compared to 2012's Christmas season.

Restaurant Association of Whistler president Edward Dangerfield said many restaurateurs reported a pickup in business this holiday season. Dangerfield, who also co-owns Alta Bistro, added that his restaurant broke last year's attendance records, although he attributed that to the recent addition of 20 seats at the Main Street eatery.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) confirmed that usage at the public skating rink at Olympic Plaza was up 25 per cent over the holiday period compared to last year, while its family-oriented New Year's Eve festivities attracted 2,500 ticketed attendees, up from 1,820 in 2012. Roughly 1,400 people a day took part in the Whistler Holiday Experience at the Conference Centre, organized by Watermark Communications. The family activities included free table games, crafts, video games and more. The RMOW earmarked $75,000 in Festival, Events and Animation funds for the Whistler Holiday Experience in 2013, a number that has been steadily increasing over the past five years. Watermark president Sue Eckersley said attendance at the Conference Centre spiked on poor weather days, and that guests stayed for longer periods than usual.

The Meadow Park Sports Centre was another beneficiary of the snowfall shortage, with the RMOW confirming that 5,614 people, excluding pass holders, used the facility in the 14-day period between Dec. 21 and Jan. 3. This was up from 3,425 during the same period last holiday season, a 64 per cent jump.

The positive attendance trends align with a recommendation included in the RMOW's Economic Partnership Initiative report released in the summer highlighting a need to explore weather-independent attractions in Whistler. It also suggested the creation of a Poor Weather Risk Mitigation Plan to anticipate prolonged periods of bad weather in the resort. The report recommends Whistler Blackcomb and Tourism Whistler kick in funds for its development along with the $5,000 in Resort Municipality Initiative monies. Resort partners have discussed this initiative but no concrete actions have been made to date.

Not all local businesses felt a surge over the holidays however, said Whistler Chamber of Commerce CEO Val Litwin.

"A lot of the businesses in the village have done fairly well, but, of course, outdoor adventure businesses I think have really struggled, especially if their product hinges on snow," he said. "The name of the game with those has really been adaptation of service and being really flexible and creative in terms of collaborating with other folks to create an experience that the guest will still love that maybe doesn't hinge on snow."

Canadian Wilderness Adventures, for example, was able to continue offering dog sled tours, Litwin said, by trucking guests up to the snowline using ATVs. They also reported strong numbers for their evening program on Blackcomb Mountain, where guests trek to the Crystal Hut by snowmobile or snowcat to enjoy a fondue dinner.

Blackcomb Snowmobile encountered similar challenges, according to owner Shawn Wilson, with poor weather forcing the backcountry operator to delay the opening of its snowshoe and snowcat tours likely until this weekend. Dog sledding activities went on, despite some early cancellations, with the help of other local businesses that pitched in to provide 40 dump truck loads of snow to fill out trails.

"It's important to recognize the businesses in the village and others who have really stepped up to make sure that Whistler was as welcoming as possible for all of the guests over the Christmas season," said Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden. "It's such a busy time of year anyway, but when you add the fact that so many people were not necessarily going up the hill but spending way more time in the village... a great job was done by all."