Well, blimey, you wouldn't move from Ireland to Vancouver to get away from the rain, would you? In Vancouver, it's the damp that'll kill ya.

These were taken on weekends (not main vacation times.) Even during the main vacation times the line ups are only a fraction of what they are in Whistler or Revelstoke. Mount Baldy down in Oliver is pretty much this quiet all of the time.

I don't know who was left looking after Vancouver while we were away but I left it at 30c.


High points

Guinness in Stillorgan Park Hotel, Dublin
Doombar in the Northcote, Battersea.


Pattern forming here.

there a good reason why some slopes are empty and some are always busy

in part it's location

and also the quality of the skiing

Oops - these are the ice fishing photos!

You obviously haven't skied here then? These resorts are famous for their champagne powder snow and some are award winning resorts and are recognized by Ski Canada as best small destination ski resorts in Canada with World cup level mogul and aerial facilities. I have skied many places and the likes of Big White, Sun Peaks, Silver Star and Apex are among the best.

Many resorts aren't in rude financial health though. Great skiing there may be, but if the volume of skiers isn't there the champagne powder is irrelevant. Empty slopes are bad news.

Manning Park closed temporarily with multi-million dollar debts until a new buyer was found, Intrawest sold the last of their shares in Whistler a couple of years ago, Hemlock went into receivership and several other provincial resorts are looking for buyers to help them out of financial mire.

I look at it the other way. When I don't have to wait in long line ups and I am skiing on the champagne powder the financial health of the resort is not for me to be concerned about. I will leave that to the company that owns the resort. We buy 5 season passes each year and have our youngest in ski school as well as spend money in the shops and restaurants there so enjoy the white powder I will and worry about their financial health I won't. That's what the resort GM and board of directors are paid to do

Would you prefer to pay more to ski, or have busier slopes?

So these are the only 2 choices now according to who? I choose neither - I like it just the way it is and has been for the past 6 years - Thanks

The standard ski resort economic model offers those choices. Low revenues require more $. One way or the other the slopes have to become busier or the burden of overhead met by existing visitor numbers.

Diversification and extending the resort's appeal into the summer (Sun Peaks has been very active in this market) helps bring in greater revenue, but of course that in itself requires investment and a ROI, which someone has to pay for.

Boasting about empty slopes merely highlights the precarious nature of a business that is reliant on mother nature for it's income. Award winning skiing comes at a price - you the consumer has to be willing to pay for it. As an example, Silver Star trades on the 'boutique' image it's trying to cultivate. IMO, boutique is code for slightly scruffy and down at heel. The skiing might be ok, but the amenities and ambiance are hardly world class. They've recently appointed a new marketing director since separating the business from Big White (both hills are owned by the same family) - his remit is to increase visitor numbers. The slopes need to be busier to generate more revenue for the resort to grow/improve/compete/survive.

Save your Walmartization of beautiful quaint ski resorts marketing patter for someone else. These resorts were fine many years ago with way less population and membership and I am sure they will continue to be fine for many years to come. Happy skiing

Walmartization? Improvements to remain competitive and achieve financial sustainability are Walmartization? Who'd have thunked it.

Beautiful and quaint doesn't make them viable, hence the number of resorts in receivership and looking for buyers recently. Your assurance that 'they will continue to be fine' isn't borne out by any factual evidence.

Enjoy ostrich life

Yup. Ski hills need skiers, and ideally skiers who are happy to spend on food and beverage too. Quaintness doesn't enter into, other than to attract custom.

These Ski resorts have skiers. I was just pointing out that in comparison to the big resorts they are much quieter which is part of their appeal. We lived across the street from the GM of Apex for the first few years our here and still see him from time to time and the head maintenance engineer from Apex who has worked at many of the BC resorts including Whistler is married to one of my staff members so I have some first hand information. As usual you go on about factual evidence and supply none - Are you in Marketing and Sales by any chance? I wonder? Also there are other ways to make a business viable without growing it into a global giant. Increasing margins due to efficiency improvements compared to throwing more revenue at a poor business model is commonplace these days.