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WB wishlist hinges on business

First priority is to build New Harmony Chair and replace crystal chair
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the long view A plan that would see the Harmony Express chair replaced and the old chair moved to the Crystal Chair zone on Blackcomb is still Whistler Blackcomb's top priority. Photo by Paul Morrison.Whistler Blackcomb

If the 2012/13 fiscal year shapes up the way Whistler Blackcomb wants it to, the company's wish list of big capital projects could start coming true.

Top of the list is the new multi-million-dollar Harmony Chair on Whistler Mountain, the go-ahead hinging in part on strong Christmas business numbers.

That upgrade would then pave the way for the much-anticipated changes to the Crystal zone on Blackcomb.

But excitement of the upcoming capital investment has to be tempered with this caveat said Doug Forseth WB's vice president of planning, government relations and special projects: the spending depends on business levels.

"We've been on our own now for the last couple of years," said Forseth, referring to the timeline of when the company left the Intrawest collection of resorts and went public.

"Two years on our own have actually been pretty good. We're hoping to be somewhat in the game to be doing some things."

In the capital-intensive ski industry, Whistler Blackcomb officials know only too well that significant projects such as the most recent addition of the $53 million Peak 2 Peak Gondola are crucial to keep the competitive edge. In the last few years, in the floundering global economy, and amid the big changes to the company itself, there have been no significant capital projects undertaken.

Last year, however, WB welcomed the return of destination guests in higher numbers and saw their impacts on its bottom line.

This Christmas period, as well as the winter season in general, is looking promising at this point.

"We are seeing strong pace," said Louise Walker, Tourism Whistler's vice president of marketing and strategic planning.

The pace for the Christmas time period — December 23 to January 2 — is 14 per cent ahead of last year at this time. Last year was one of the busiest winters on record.

Walker added that January, February and March are all pacing ahead of last year with more rooms booked now compared to this time last year. She called it "a confident start to the season."

The Harmony project would see the high speed Harmony Express quad replaced with a new high-speed six-seater chair.

The quad would then be moved across the to Blackcomb Mountain and put in at Crystal. The top terminal would be where the Crystal Chair is today, but the bottom terminal would be where Ridge Runner and the rescue road come together, capturing the skiers and riders coming out of the Blackcomb Glacier, Ridge Runner and Rock and Roll.

But that project too has a hefty pricetag — another several million dollars. That includes the additional snow making requirements and run development needed to balance the Crystal terrain with the bigger, faster chair.

It's what the people want, however, and Whistler Blackcomb knows that. At a public open house on the company's master plan last year, officials got the message loudly and clearly from the community: a new chair at Crystal, please.

Whistler Blackcomb's short-term wish list doesn't end there.

Next would be a project to replace the village gondola cabins, beginning to show their age after two decades, followed by a renovation to the on-mountain Rendezvous restaurant that would add dining seats to the building that is jammed to capacity on a busy day.

Those too are hefty capital investments for Whistler Blackcomb, particularly given that the company will spend $10-$12 million this year on capital improvements for things like new computers and snowcats.

"If you do one of those (capital projects) a year and your normal maintenance capital, you're in the game for up to $20 million a year," said Forseth.

He explained the multi-million dollar investment plans in Whistler Blackcomb's master plan after a recent council meeting where he spoke out at the public hearing on the Official Community Plan. At that time he was asking council to consider the significant investment Whistler Blackcomb makes to the community, and to perhaps consider recognizing that investment with development rights, if the community's cap on development is raised in future years.

Every other ski resort in the province is rewarded with development rights through B.C.'s Commercial Alpine Ski Policy. Whistler Blackcomb was given 15,000 bed units — Whistler's tool for measuring development — but has just a few hundred remaining.

"We'd like to think that potentially some recognition be given to the investment that Whistler Blackcomb has made here and we're going to have a hard time keeping up with our competition," explained Forseth, of why he spoke to council.

According to Whistler Blackcomb Holdings annual report, dated December 13, 2011, Whistler Blackcomb invested $127 million in capital to improve installations and develop new terrain and amenities on the mountains in the five fiscal years prior to the 2010 Olympic Games. This included finishing the Peak 2 Peak Gondola ($53 million), adding the Symphony Express lift ($7 million), and expanding snowmaking.

The Olympic organizing committee, VANOC, also kicked in $26 million for a state-of-the-art snowmaking system and terrain improvements as part of its investment in the 2010 Games.

Whistler as a whole also saw significant capital investments throughout and for the resort, not the least of which was the $600 million highway upgrade.

The annual report states: "The combination of these infrastructure initiatives provides incremental capacity for Whistler Blackcomb to serve a larger number of visitors in future years. Management believes that Whistler Blackcomb has the capacity to accommodate up to 2.4 million skier visits annually without any incremental capital investment."

On average there are just over two million skier visits per year. The best year was 2001/02 with 2.23 million visits.

This year's annual report will be released next month.

Indications from the third-quarter results, for the period ending June 30, 2012, however, are good.

The company generated $42.8 million net earnings before income tax for the nine-month period ending June 30. This represents a 32 per cent increase over the same period last year.