Plenty of recent snow, sunny days following Christmas, a low Canadian dollar and more than $40 million in recent investments have drawn steady crowds to Whistler and Blackcomb mountains so far this year.
The result is that shares of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. (TSX:WB) hit an all-time high December 30.
At press time, shares were trading up 1.22% at $24.99, which is down from the intra-day and all-time high of $25.12. A year ago, shares traded at $20.59.
“We had strong early-season snow and that definitely got the energy in the marketplace,” Whistler Blackcomb CEO Dave Brownlie told Business in Vancouver when reached on December 30.
“We’ve been growing our destination visits year over year over year for some time now. That’s been good, and the Canadian dollar, I would say, is a tail wind for us.”
Whistler Blackcomb has invested heavily in upgrading operations in recent years. For example, it replaced 160 gondola cars with new eight-passenger cabins. It also improved technology by having a new radio-frequency identification (RFID) system, which means that skiers can put an RFID tag in their pocket and are automatically scanned as they pass through gates. If they don’t have the tag, the gates will not open.
The major investment for Whistler Blackcomb in 2015 was a $5.4 million upgrade to its Rendezvous Lounge to improve the restaurant and increase capacity.
Private sector investment near the mountain has come from ventures such as Burrard International, which owns the Crystal Lodge & Suites.
Burrard spent $1.3 million to complete renovations of that hotel’s south wing in June.
“We continue to improve the quality and we’ve got a great product,” Brownlie said.
He said that he has been tracking skier visits but would not reveal exact numbers because his is a public company.
“We don’t talk about numbers until we’re ready to release them but I will say that we’re very pleased with the holiday season.”
