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Tour operators off to a good start despite snowpack

Companies say business is flat or up compared to last year
1552tour
There Will Be Snow Despite a bummer start to the season, tour operators are pleased

Adventure tour operators are optimistic heading into this season, despite the concerns about snowpack and the economy. Many are already open, and a few are ahead of where they were at this time last year.

Alan Crawford of Canadian Snowmobile Adventure said last week they are now open for snowmobile tours, and are expecting to start their second season of dogsled tours this week.

“It did take a little while to get going because of the lack of snow, but (guest numbers over) the last few days have been up to par with previous years,” he said. “All of our tours are open, except for our most advanced backcountry tours, where we’re waiting to get a bit more snow. We also have a new base about six and a half kilometres up the Callaghan Road, which is a little higher in elevation, and the Callaghan generally gets a lot more snow than we do in the Whistler Valley. The bottom is a bit bony in places, but last time I checked we had a metre of snow on our trails around Sproatt, and on our upper trails.”

They have been running trails on snowmobile-groomed tracks, but cat grooming started on Saturday — mainly to prepare the road for the snow in the forecast this week.

As well, Crawford says the company is eager to start dogsledding tours this week, a new adventure offering by the company since last February. They would already be running, says Crawford, but they needed a little more time to finish the kennels and train the dogs.

“We’re already getting calls every day about those tours, so there’s a fair amount of interest,” he said. “We may have to run on some higher trails if we don’t get more snow, but the forecast is looking pretty good for us.”

Both CSA and Blackcomb Snowmobile Adventures signed new tenure agreements with the province as a result of the Olympic Games. The plans overlapped their tenure areas, but they were compensated by being given new tenures as well as the ability to operate base areas higher up the Callaghan Valley, where snow is less of a problem.

Kim Wilson, who owns and operates Blackcomb Snowmobiles with her husband Shawn, said their snowmobile tours bookings are on par with last year, which was a good one for the operator. Their dogsled tours are ahead of last year at this point, despite the fact they opened a little later.

“For us, we don’t need a tonne of snow to operate,” she said. “I think the mountains like to have new snow for skiing, but it doesn’t make that big a difference except in the alpine and our extreme tours, which aren’t running right now. But most guests that come out want to ride the trails. The upside is that the views have been great — it’s cold, we tell them, but it’s been clear and the views are breathtaking.”

The dogsled business was boosted by work done on their trails over the summer, as well as the fact that families in town are looking for a variety of experiences in addition to skiing and snowboarding.

“They’re here to enjoy Whistler, and they want to be able to do other activities as well,” Wilson said.

Wilson is expecting a strong holiday season, but is concerned about January and February, when business usually drops off again. “We’ll still get the hardcore sledders that we get every year, but we really don’t know what to expect (in visitor numbers).”

Powder Mountain Catskiing says there is already a two-metre base in the alpine, but they won’t start operations until Dec. 27. Last year they started on Dec. 13, but general manager Gord Calder says things never really get going until after Christmas. However, he says bookings are already ahead of where they were last season.

“I can’t say how much, but bookings for the season are up quite a bit,” he said. “We are actually getting busier every year, our profile has really increased in the last couple of years with the new ownership. I don’t even think it’s started to take off yet, but a lot of heli-skiers are starting to realize that cat skiing is an alternative, and a good one.”

Christmas is usually slow because visitors prefer to spend the time on the slopes with their families, says Calder.

“People who come catskiing are a little more advanced, and they don’t usually bring their families with them, although some do. We see an influx of business in January, once the holidays die out and people want to go skiing again on their own.”

Tourism Whistler is projecting a worst-case scenario drop of up to 15 per cent in visitor numbers this winter compared to last year, based on early bookings. As of last week, bookings for the Christmas holidays were down 10 to 20 per cent compared to last year, although Tourism Whistler says it’s harder to anticipate because people are booking just days ahead of time instead of weeks or months as has been the case in the past.