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First Person: Doug Foreseth

Part II

Whistler-Blackcomb focuses on the big picture

Pique recently sat down with Doug Forseth, the senior vice president of operations for Whistler-Blackcomb, to discuss weather, the lessons of 2004-05, marketing Whistler-Blackcomb, and the "wow" factor for this coming season.

Pique: It seems like a lot of changes are being made with beginner skiers in mind.

DF: In a lot of ways. One thing we’re really focusing on this year is speed control, which is continually a challenge for us.

(With the) Slow Zones we’ve seen an improvement, but we still find in the areas where we’re not monitoring that people are skiing or snowboarding too fast or inappropriately for the conditions or number of people.

We’re going to expand our Speed Control programs uphill… and get Ski Patrol more involved.

Our message is that you have to monitor yourself. There are still lots of places where you can ski fast, where it’s appropriate to do so. Just because the posted speed limit is 90, if there are cars on the road, or if it’s rainy or slippery you have to go slower – it’s just common sense.

Before we’ve just given people warnings, but we’re stepping that up a bit. We will be looking at passes and entering infractions into the computer, and we see that people aren’t getting the message and are ignoring the warnings, we’ll have to take stronger measures.

Pique: This is the first time that Whistler-Blackcomb and Tourism Whistler have worked together on the same branding and marketing.

DF: It’s a good thing. From our standpoint we’ve increased our marketing budget significantly over last year and previous years.

Pique: What is this year’s marketing program going to look like?

DF: We’re going to continue what we started last year with book/stay campaigns, and we’re working with partners in the U.K., the U.S. and Australia to help these operators to fill our beds and create energy and momentum within the resort. We also plan to increase our presence and campaigns in local markets. For one thing, we have an aggressive campaign to increase the sale of Edge Cards this year. We’ll also be celebrating the 40 th and 25 th anniversaries for Whistler and Blackcomb, and we’re hoping to leverage that to create more energy and excitement.

Pique: What about the rest of the village. Are we doing enough as far as offering recreation and attractions for people off the hill?

DF: I don’t think we are doing enough, and we need to do more. The tubing park is a step in the right direction for families, but one thing we don’t have right now is skating or other forms of outdoor recreation. Certain amenities are missing, and not just for when it’s raining but also after hours.

The pedestrian village is a very special amenity, but it’s obvious that other resorts are seeing this type of village that we have here as good for the overall experience, and they’re building villages that are competitive.

We have to realize that people who come here are on the mountain maybe six hours a day, and that’s a big day, so what else is there to do? The village is one of those things. But what makes it exciting? What’s different in this village than in the places where they come from?

If we can establish some more recreation, create more unique shopping experiences, the village will be a fun place for people to hang out.

Pique: Have demographics changed, or did last season change the way we market to customers?

DF: We did a poll on that a year ago, which we talked about at the presentation of the Peak to Peak gondola. It’s also within our Whistler-Blackcomb 2014 plan – what did we look like 10 years ago and what are we going to look like in another 10 years, that kind of thing.

We found that there are a lot of guys like me who are getting older, and they’re having a tough time, and we’re not skiing as much as we used to. If that’s what’s happening, we’ve got a lot of baby boomers coming at us in the next 10 years. Some are going to retire with a little money and they’re going to want to ski more, which is just one of the reasons we’re focusing more on the beginner and intermediate terrain. Some will ski less, which is why we need to grow the market with new people. Typically new people don’t start by skiing the couloirs, which is another reason we’ve focused on the green and blue terrain.

We’ve increased the amount of low-end terrain for attracting new riders, and the Peak to Peak gondola will help to open up a lot of low-end terrain in the alpine. We’re also looking for new areas to open up, like Symphony Bowl. We groomed in there for the first time this year.

We’re also looking at the population. There are a quarter of a million new Canadians a year from off-shore… and of the 20 per cent who come to B.C. about 70 per cent are of Asian descent. Most of these aren’t really from the country or from the mountains, and we need to know what it’s going to take to get them involved. More low-end terrain? Lessons? Different foods at our restaurants? If we can get them to enjoy coming here, then we have helped to secure our future.

Pique: How has the response to the Peak to Peak gondola been?

DF: It’s been really good, in all aspects. We have the support from the municipality, which we needed as part of the approval process of the B.C. government. Right now we’re focused on finding a great venture partner. We expect that we have about another six weeks or so before we have to make the big decisions for bringing a partner on board. It’s still quite doable.

We had about 700 people at the open house, and it was very positive. We have endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Whistler, One Whistler, they’ve all stepped up to support this process.

Pique: What big projects are you working on these days.

DF: It’s premature to go into the half-done major projects we’re working on. What’s important for people to realize about Peak to Peak is that we’re not spending money there that we could be spending on something else. I think some people are of the idea that this is the last big project for us, when that’s not the case. We will continue to grow the resort infrastructure and facilities, and that includes new lifts, restaurants and terrain. It’s all part of our 2014 plan.

Pique: I guess with last year’s weather, there will be twice as much new stuff for people. Peak to Creek and the new halfpipe opened were only good for a few weeks.

DF: I didn’t do Peak to Creek once last year, but I’m looking forward to skiing that this year. For a lot of people, even our residents, there is going to be a lot of new stuff out there this year.

The night halfpipe is going to be huge. We had really good traffic in there when we had the weather to keep it open, and with snowmaking we expect to get three, three and a half months of that this year.

The Tube Park should be huge as well. We’re going to be running the gondola up from the village for people to enjoy that, and it will be open all day until 8 p.m.

There’s also a lot coming. In the next two to three years we will be prepping for the Olympics, and from a skiers’ standpoint you’re going to see a lot of changes there. Next summer we’ll be doing the first stages of the new course development and snowmaking development. We need to get a delivery system of water in place, but the women’s (downhill and super-G) course is going to be cut… through Pony Trail, Jimmy’s Joker and Lower Franz’s. People will be able to ski that for the first time next year.

Pique: Last question: This seems like an expensive year for Whistler-Blackcomb, what was your budget for all the grooming and terrain improvements.

DF: It was around $15 million. Believe me, people are going to notice the changes this year in a big way.



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