Watching the bike park roll into operation this week offers some hints at what ski season might look like.
For months it has been hard to imagine how Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains (WB) might operate as COVID-19 turns resort operations on its head.
For clues one can look Down Under at how Vail Resorts (VR) is handling the ski season at Perisher in Australia—though comparing the operations is like apples and oranges.
At time of writing the first booking window for skiers and boarders, which goes to July 5, is already sold out at Perisher— VR instituted a reservation system as a way to control numbers on the slopes and help maintain physical distancing.
It’s unlikely a pre-booked reservation system will be used for WB, though it is likely that day-of tickets may be a thing of the past. Opening here is going to have to be a made-in-Whistler strategy as Vail Resorts pivots from a focus on marketing to the destination tourist to enticing rubber-tire snow sliders.
Into this mix is the likelihood that the Canada-U.S. border will stay closed for many more months thanks to the alarming rates of coronavirus in the U.S., so Washington State pass holders will be staying home. Several pundits including immigration lawyers and an infection control epidemiologist interviewed in the media this week are suggesting the border may not even be open by Christmas time. (However, the closure did not stop 201,866 border crossings from the United States into Canada in one week this month, according to the most recent data from Canada Border Services Agency.)
The Denver-based National Ski Areas Association announced earlier this month that skier visits fell 14 per cent last season compared with the 2018-2019 season in the U.S. with an associated loss in revenue of US$2 billion. That takes into account not only revenue losses for the end of the 2019-20 season but an expected drop in future season pass sales, as well.
We know that Vail Resorts saw its stock value plummet with the closure of its properties due to COVID but it has recovered somewhat from that position by taking pretty drastic action in controlling costs and preserving cash.
Opening this summer even in a limited capacity will boost morale in the company and encourage travellers to come back if they feel risk of catching the virus is being handled on the mountains and in the resort.
This is a situation where we are in a true joined-at-the-hip relationship—it’s not just up to Whistler Blackcomb to get it right, it’s up to every retail outlet, accommodation provider, eatery and adventure tour company to follow provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s directives so people can vacation and stay well (and so can the community of Whistler).
This week WB employees were masked, they were handing out masks to those who forgot them, they were managing the line-ups for sightseeing and hiking and the bike park, there was sanitizing stations everywhere and enough staff to help mountain users settle into this new normal.
The line-up mazes on the plaza at the bottom of Whistler Mountain were significant, but they were also orderly and the flow was easy to follow.
Will this work when the snow is flying? I expect so if numbers are managed. But it’s a different experience waiting to upload in freezing rain, or snow and bitter temperatures.
Another key part of the equation is staffing levels. Whistler’s reliance on workers from Australia and others from afar is well known. But they won’t be coming to Whistler as long as our essential-travel-only rules are in place. Workers are going to have to be recruited locally, regionally and even nationally.
How will this affect what terrain can be opened in winter, the management of skier safety, and the vibe of the on-mountain adventure? And if they keep the prices the same as last year, will mountain users feel pinched by a perceived lack of value?
The challenges Vail Resorts is facing are unprecedented with COVID-19 and an economic recession. Added to this is the fact that many in Whistler and the Lower Mainland still have not embraced the company—remember the Make Whistler Great Again petition in February? Wow, it seems like a lifetime ago.
If success is to be had in the next season, Vail Resorts has to overcome this chasm, communicate with users and really make the guest experience special. That’s a big ask in the time of coronavirus.
The back end of this will be how to manage user expectations. Will skiers and boarders be given times for upload associated with their bookings? Will days you ski with your pass need to be booked in advance? Will services need to be reduced on-mountain due to fewer users and fewer available staff? And what will accommodation bookings and après and adventure offerings look like?
If anywhere in the world can do this, it’s Whistler—after all, we were born to offer the best nature has to give with courtesy, great service and, for now, in a way that allows us to be kind, to be calm and to be safe.
