Company type | Private |
---|---|
NYSE: SNOW | |
Founded | 1976 |
Defunct | 2017 |
Fate | Merged |
Successor | Alterra Mountain Company |
Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Key people | Tom Marano, CEO |
Number of employees | 13,900 |
Website | www.intrawest.com |
Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc was a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in 1976 as a privately funded real estate development company. In 2006, Intrawest was purchased by Fortress Investment Group, a private equity investment company, [1] which resulted in the company being delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. Fortress was under financial pressure related to the Intrawest debt, but a new loan with a single lender was completed in April 2010 and all prior lenders were repaid in full. [2]
In recent years, Intrawest has strengthened its cash flows, despite 2012 proving to be a challenging year for the American ski industry with warmer than normal temperatures and snowfall at 50% of historical averages. [3] Western Canada experienced above average and record snowfall amounts in some areas.
In May 2017, it was announced that Intrawest would no longer exist as a public company after its acquisition by Henry Crown and Company and KSL Capital Partners. Intrawest resorts are now operated by Alterra Mountain Company, which announced its new name at the 2018 Outdoor Retailer show in Denver, Colorado. [4]
In 1986, Intrawest acquired Blackcomb Mountain from the Federal Business Development Bank, a Canadian Crown Corporation, and Fortress Mountain of Alberta (no relation to Fortress Investments LLC), a wholly owned division of Aspen Skiing Company. The company later went public, listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges and, in 1996, merged with Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation to form Whistler-Blackcomb resort, a venue of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Intrawest eventually spun off Whistler-Blackcomb and sold the last of its shares in that company in 2012.
Today,[ when? ] the Intrawest network includes mountain resorts. Intrawest also operates Club Intrawest, a private resort club with nine locations in North America. The company is the largest developer and operator of resort properties in North America offering skiing, snowboarding, golf, mountain biking, lodging, and real estate opportunities at each of its resorts. Intrawest develops real estate at its resorts and at other locations across North America. The company owns Canadian Mountain Holidays, the largest heli-skiing operation in the world. [5]
On November 12, 2013, Intrawest filed an initial public offering (IPO) with the New York Stock Exchange to raise up to $100 Million. The filing states that the money is being raised, "for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which may include potential investments in, and acquisitions of, ski and adventure travel businesses and assets." [6]
In 2016, Intrawest initiated significant reductions in full time staff to achieve rapid cost reductions. [7] Numerous key staff positions have been eliminated at its corporate headquarters and resort locations. This follows the sale [8] of the Club Intrawest time share lodging operation to Diamond Resorts International at the end of 2015. It is unclear regarding the company's longer term strategies as it continues to display inconsistent approaches in its business and staffing model. In 2017, Intrawest was sold to Henry Crown and Company (which owns Aspen Skiing Company [9] ) and KSL Capital Partners for $1.5 billion. [10] In May 2017, it was announced that Intrawest would no longer exist as public company. The newly formed company is called Alterra Mountain Company, which was announced at the 2018 Outdoor Retailer Show in Denver, Colorado. [11]
Resorts owned at least in part by Intrawest included:
Whistler Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. By many measures, it is the largest ski resort in North America and has the greatest uphill lift capacity. It features the Peak 2 Peak Gondola for moving between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains at the top. With its capacity, Whistler Blackcomb is a busy ski resort, often surpassing two million visitors a year.
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort in the western United States, located in eastern California along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest.
Mont Tremblant Ski Resort is a year-round resort in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, located about 130 km (80 mi) northwest of Montreal. It is best known as a ski destination, but also features Lake Tremblant suitable for swimming and two golf courses in the summer months. The name of the mountain, Mont Tremblant, was derived from the Algonquin indigenous people, who called it the "trembling mountain." The summit is at an elevation of 875 m (2,871 ft), which makes it one of the tallest peaks in the Laurentians. One km north of the principal down hill area is the Edge, an area of glade skiing and 2.8 km (1.7 mi) north of that is the true summit, Pic Johanssen, which has a trail over the top and is Black Diamond for skiers and boarders. The resort is owned by Alterra Mountain Company.
Snowshoe Mountain is a ski resort in the eastern United States, located in Snowshoe, West Virginia. The resort has skiable terrain across 244 acres (99 ha) and covers a total area of 11,000 acres (44.5 km2) in the Allegheny Mountains, which are a part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range. It is positioned in the bowl shaped convergence of two mountains, Cheat and Back Allegheny, at the head of the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River.
Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 42 mountain resorts in four countries. Vail Resorts Hospitality owns or manages hotels, lodging, condominiums, and golf courses, and the Vail Resorts Development Company oversees property development and real estate holdings.
Panorama Mountain Resort is a ski and golf resort in Canada, located in the Purcell Mountains of southeastern British Columbia. Part of the Columbia Valley sub-region of the East Kootenay region, it is a tourist destination known for its rolling cliffs and views of the Rocky Mountains. It is privately owned by Panorama Mountain Village Inc.
Lift accessed mountain biking or Mountain bike park is a summer activity that is spreading all over the world. Using the chairlifts or gondola lifts at a ski area, mountain bikers can get up to higher altitudes quickly. The bikers don't have to ride up, and the ski area operators can keep the hill more profitable during the summer. Most bike parks have a mix of dirtjumping, downhill, enduro and freeride terrain on the trails.
Steamboat Resort is a major ski area in the western United States, located in northwestern Colorado at Steamboat Springs. Operated by the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, it is located on Mount Werner, a mountain in the Park Range in the Routt National Forest. Originally named Storm Mountain ski area, it opened on January 12, 1963.
Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Winter Park. Located in Grand County just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about a ninety-minute drive from Denver.
Blue Mountain is an alpine ski resort in Ontario, Canada, 10 km west of Collingwood. It is situated on a section of the Niagara Escarpment about 1 km (0.6 mi.) from Nottawasaga Bay, and is a major destination for skiers from southern Ontario. The local area forms the newly incorporated town of The Blue Mountains, Ontario. On average, Blue Mountain sells more than 750,000 lift tickets per year, making it the third-busiest ski resort in Canada, after Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia and Mont Tremblant in Quebec. It is one of the largest resorts in Ontario and has been extensively built out, featuring 42 runs, 16 chairlifts and three freestyle terrains.
Solitude Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in the Big Cottonwood Canyon of the Wasatch Mountains, thirty miles southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. With 66 trails, 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) and 2,047 feet (624 m) vertical, Solitude is one of the smaller ski resorts near Salt Lake City, along with its neighbor Brighton. It is a family-oriented mountain, with a wider range of beginner and intermediate slopes than other nearby ski resorts; 50% of its slopes are graded "beginner" or "intermediate," the highest such ratio in the Salt Lake City area. Solitude was one of the first major US resorts to adopt an RFID lift ticket system, allowing lift lines to move more efficiently. It was followed by Alta Ski Area in 2007. Solitude is adjacent to Brighton Ski Resort near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Solitude and Brighton offer a common "Solbright Pass" which provides access to both resorts for a nominal surcharge.
June Mountain ski area is a winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park.
Snow Summit is a ski resort that was established in 1952 and is in the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. It is located by Big Bear Lake along with its sister resort Bear Mountain; these two resorts which operate under the same management are collectively known as Big Bear Mountain Resorts (BBMR).
James Niehues is an American landscape artist and cartographer best known for painting ski trail maps for ski resorts. He has painted 255 maps for 175 ski resorts around the world.
Bear Mountain, formerly known as the Moonridge Ski Area (1943-1969), Goldmine Mountain (1970-1987), and Big Bear Mountain (1988-2001) is a ski area originally established in 1941 in the San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California, United States. It is located in the city of Big Bear Lake, approximately 2.4 miles east of Snow Summit and 14.8 miles east from Snow Valley. Together, the three ski areas are known as Big Bear Mountain Resort, which is part of Alterra Mountain Company.
Mont Ste. Marie is a privately owned ski resort 1 hour north of Ottawa in Lac-Sainte-Marie, Quebec, Canada. Between 1997 and 2002, Mont Ste. Marie was owned by Intrawest, a real estate development corporation, known for such places as Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, and Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
White Wolf Mountain is a 460-acre (190 ha) private ski area located in the Lake Tahoe area of California. The property is named after a large white dog rescued from a cliff on the property.
Andrew "Andy" Wirth is an American businessman and philanthropist who works in the mountain resort and hotel industry. He was most recently the president and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, the parent company of Palisades Tahoe and Alpine Meadows ski resorts in Olympic Valley, CA until 2018. He is also the grandson of former US National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth and the great grandson of Theodore Wirth.
Alterra Mountain Company is an American hospitality company established in 2018 with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. It is privately owned by KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company, the owners of Aspen/Snowmass. It is a conglomerate of several ski resorts that offers a combined season pass.
Intrawest Resorts Holdings, which operates Steamboat Ski & Resort, Winter Park Resort and other ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada, has registered for an initial public offering seeking to raise as much $100 million
Intrawest Corp. has sold its Mont Ste-Marie, Que., ski resort and golf course to Camp Fortune Resorts for an undisclosed amount. Vancouver-based Intrawest said it will retain about 2,000 acres of land at the base of the mountain for future development. The company acquired the resort in 1996.
Intrawest announced the finalization of the sale of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area