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Photos:Whistler Blackcomb Operating Company – Dave Brownlie, President and CEO, Whistler Blackcomb ISR: What prompted your company to launch this exciting project? D. Brownlie: We asked ourselves many questions and challenged our current business model by asking the following: Who is our customer today and who will our customer be in the future? How will we grow our business beyond the 2010 Games? How do we leverage our unique assets? How will we differentiate ourselves in the market place? How can we drive our business all year round? As we answered those questions, we started to get very excited about the opportunity of joining our two mountains with the Peak 2Peak Gondola. What makes Peak 2 Peak so special for you as the operator? The Peak 2 Peak will dramatically enhance the guest experience on our mountains both in winter and summer. With Peak 2 Peak more will be accessible to all of our guests every day, including variety, snow, glaciers, bowls and restaurants. The Peak 2 Peak will be one more reason that Whistler Blackcomb is the No. 1 resort in the world. On a professional basis, the planning, development, construction and operation of a lift of this size and scale is a wonderful opportunity. And what makes it special for the user? In the winter time it is about the experience on the mountain, and Peak 2 Peak joins all of what Whistler Blackcomb have to offer every day in an 11-minute ride. In the summer, the Peak 2 Peak will be a must see must do attraction with its unsurpassed views of both rugged alpine rock and ice on one side and a resort village nestled between the two mountains on the other. At 4.4 kilometres in length and a 3 km free span the Gondola breaks three world records; an engineering feat in itself. Whistler Blackcomb Interviews Stuart Rempel, Senior VP of Marketing and Sales, Whistler Blackcomb ISR: Peak2Peak is already being touted as the new hallmark of Whistler Blackcomb. What impacts do you think the new installation will have on tourism in the region as a whole? S. Rempel: Whistler Blackcomb’s new Peak 2 Peak Gondola will become a year-round attraction for Whistler and will become Canada’s and British Columbia’s newest tourism icon. It will clearly differentiate Whistler from any other resort in North America. Whistler is already one of the most popular mountain resort destinations. Awareness of Whistler and the Peak 2 Peak Gondola will benefit greatly from international exposure from the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Photo:Whistler Blackcomb Arthur DeJong, Mountain Planning and Environmental Resource Manager, Whistler Blackcomb ISR: The ecological footprint of a project is now a decisive factor in the field of leisure amenities. What environmental impact did the Peak to Peak Gondola have on your resort? A. Dejong: Clearly the most significant portion of the Peak 2 Peak footprint is the terminals. Both terminals were placed in a preexisting development area, dramatically reducing the net impact. Lift line width ranged from 10 to 20 meters, facilitating the lay-out and placement of cable. The overall footprint of Peak 2 Peak is very comparable to a typical detachable quad placement on Whistler Blackcomb.
Doug Forseth, Senior VP of Operations for Whistler Blackcomb ISR: Can you tell us something about the planning process and the financial side? How long did the planning phase last? Were there any special problems? And what level of capital spending are we talking about? D. Forseth: The general idea was born in the late 1990s when Hugh Smythe (Senior VP of Mountain Resorts, Intrawest) was in Europe looking at ski areas with Paul Mathews, president of Ecosign Mountain Planners. Intrawest had recently purchased Whistler Mountain and Hugh was dreaming about connecting Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains at the alpine elevations. More formal planning got underway in 2005 when discussions started with Doppelmayr and Ecosign about what type of lift(s) might be used to connect the two mountains from the restaurant elevations of Whistler and Blackcomb. Envisioning sessions were conducted with numerous Intrawest/Whistler Blackcomb entities to brainstorm what we thought the project might look like and to vet all possible options. Several Whistler Blackcomb and Doppelmayr people did a field trip to Kitzbuhel, Austria to see first hand a similar 3S gondola in operation. Terminal locations and various combinations of lift equipment were considered but ultimately the jig-back tram (like Grouse Mountain) was the chosen solution and today’s location of the terminals on each mountain was determined. Numerous activities were undertaken in the summer of 2005: a) Geotechnical studies were completed. b) Initial business plans were drafted to make the business case for this investment. One of the outcomes was that the jig-back tram concept would very quickly prove to have inadequate capacity and therefore was not a good response to this opportunity. Doppelmayr then proposed their 3S Gondola technology, which more than doubled the capacity. The decision to go for a different type of ropeway was a $20 million change. So it was back to the business case for consideration of what the additional cost and increased capacity meant for the viability of the project. But it still penciled out and we continued to plan and seek Intrawest’s final approval for the project. c) Doppelmayr was funded to carry out the preliminary technical design of the newly selected 3S Gondola. Their work included foundation designs, ground profile surveys, code issues, cabin configuration, airplane warning systems, transportation of the ropes and lift components from Europe to Whistler, evacuation systems and production/installation schedules. Applications for the project were lodged with the British Columbia Provincial government early in the fall of 2005, with approvals received about four months later. In 2006 a selection was made to choose Cannon Designs as the architects of the terminal structures. and the initial concepts were developed. Community consultation was performed in late 2005 and early 2006 to explain the project to the citizens of Whistler, BC. Presentations were also made to the local municipal government in order to get their approval and support. During 2006, Intrawest Corporation had launched a review of where the company was best positioned to move ahead. All options were being considered, and by late summer it was becoming obvious that in fact Intrawest Corporation was likely to be sold. Commitment to a $51 million project would obviously have a material effect on the sale, and it was decided to suspend the project until the future direction of Intrawest Corporation was settled. Discussions were undertaken with the prospective buyer Fortress to advise them of the Peak 2 Peak project and the possibilities/commitments that would come with the project. Business plans were shared with Fortress in an attempt to bring them into the picture and provide them with essential information. With a possible construction start in May 2007, it was essential that no time be lost. Design work still needed to be completed on the lift equipment as well as the terminal structures. The sale of Intrawest was completed in late October 2006 and Fortress as the new owners immediately put their minds to seriously reviewing the Peak 2 Peak business plan. After about 90 days of review, Fortress gave their approval to continue the project. Construction commenced in May 2007 and Phase One was wrapped up in early November of that year. The primary goal of Phase One was to have all of the concrete poured for both terminals and all four towers as well as erecting towers 2 and 3. Tough early winter conditions hampered the construction schedule in September and October 2007. Roads had to be plowed, and moving concrete to the alpine was a difficult task. However, all but three concrete pours were completed and that left us in a good position to resume construction in April 2008. Construction was completed by fall 2008. 5
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