Powdr Corp is finally climbing out from wreckage of the implosion that rocked Park City, Utah in 2014. The sale to Vail Resorts forever changed the course of ski history in Utah and the Powdr path. The former owners of the iconic Utah ski area are rebranding themselves after the epic loss. Powdr Corp is now an “experiential adventure lifestyle company.”

“The new POWDR brand image more accurately and authentically represents who POWDR is today,” explained John Cumming, founder and CEO. “Our company has gone through a significant transformation and diversification over the years, and we’re excited to have our brand identity aligned with our growth and the company we are now.”

POWDR’s adventure lifestyle platform includes a diverse portfolio of “experiential” businesses like the Woodward sports action camps in California, Colorado and soon Utah. They also run the Gorgoza Tubing Park in Park City, several mountain resorts including Copper Mountain and Killington, Outside TV for media production and distribution, and Human Movement Management for festival and event activations.

Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

“Any company hoping to have a long track record of success needs to evolve to remain relevant in today’s fast changing marketplace,” continued Cumming. “We’re not only jazzed about the new POWDR image, we’re thrilled with the transformation the company has undertaken, and pleased to offer experiences that are in line with today’s adventure lifestyle seeking customer.”

More recent examples of POWDR’s transformation include several major acquisition announcements made last June, such as the expansion of Woodward with plans for Woodward Park City, Woodward Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Riviera Maya, Mexico; and Woodward Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; the purchase of Adventure Outfitter Sun Country Tours based in central Oregon; and the purchase of Eldora Mountain Resort in Colorado. Visit www.POWDR.com for a peek at the rebrand.

Photos courtesy @marseille

In an age where everything feels crowdfunded- from frat parties to feature films- it was only a matter of time before the ski biz opened the wagon gate and asked us to climb aboard. RED Mountain, the oldest ski resort in Western Canada, and the first stop on B.C.’s famous Powder Highway is using the StartEngine funding website to seek an injection for their next capital investment. The goal is set at $10 million with a minimum buy-in of $1000.

You Don’t Have To Pay To Play Just Yet

Red Mountain’s platform is simple- help keep us from being swallowed by Evil Corp. According to the Canadian resort’s website close to 40 ski resorts are owned by just three corporations and nearly 75 percent of those acquisitions happened in the last 14 years. Red is using Vail Resort’s latest engulfment of Whistler/Blackcomb to highlight the eclipsing need to keep local hills out of the hands of “The Man.” But because this is a first of its kind, RED wants to gauge the public’s interest. All you have to do is log on and imply that you might want to invest. There’s no legal commitment whatsoever. After 90 days, if it looks like enough people could fund the campaign, then it goes live and you can chip in or not.

Selling Points Of A Ski Resort

With the advent of new crowdfunding rules that now allow for equity in exchange for ‘donations,’ an entity like a ski area can offer perks beyond a lift ticket or T-shirt. Those who help to raise the $10 million goal will have an equity stake/shares in the company.

Last year was the best financial year in RED’s history and they want to keep the momentum going in “a way that supports our beliefs of community and sustainability for a place that we believe is special within the ski resort world. We are doing this by bringing forward an extremely unique opportunity to like-minded individuals and adventurists that believe places like RED are important to keep around,” states the resort on their website.

“We have the snowfall, vertical drop, world-class terrain and 4-season fun to go boot-to-boot with the BigGuys, but have consciously maintained our mom ’n’pop/weird uncle feel for over 100 years. We’re tired of seeing families priced out of a premier ski vacation by Mega Resorts. It’s time for a change.”

If you do want to buy the bridge, er resort, you’ll have a chance at a piece of one of the largest ski areas in North America- ahead of Jackson Hole; ahead of Snowbird and Copper.

You Want In

The “Test The Waters Phase” involves six investment tiers. Amounts range from $1000 to $25,000 with potential investors not only getting equity shares but “perks” like season passes, custom-designed skis and buddy lift tickets. It’s an interesting idea that might just work or perhaps Red gets the money they need, makes a few improvements then flips and sells to VR and all of the equity partners make out like bandits.

In a landscape where local independent areas are getting Pac-manned by giants that would rather stick a Starbucks at every base than let the local roasters woo guests, and who see no issue with $150 lift tickets and $1000 ski lessons, core skiers might want to ask themselves, “Why not try to invest your ski dollars rather than spike it across the bottomline of some corporate entity? What’s to lose?”

photo courtesy Whistler Blackcomb Resort

Vail Resorts just got more “epic”. In its march for (ski) world domination, the ski industry giant today announced they are buying Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia. They will pay $513 million cash and $543 million in stock when the deal closes this fall. When it’s all said and done this will be one of the most expensive resort purchases of all time.
“Combining Whistler Blackcomb with Vail Resorts’ portfolio of outstanding resorts provides Whistler Blackcomb with increased financial strength, marketing exposure, guest relationships. It broadens the geographic diversity of our company with resorts across the United States, as well as in Australia and Canada,” said Dave Brownlie, Whistler Blackcomb’s chief executive officer.

The VR Portfolio

VR’s mountain collection is now up to 13- Colorado’s Vail and Beaver Creek, Breckenridge (second in skier visits to Vail), Keystone; California’s Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood, and Utah’s Park City/Canyons, the nation’s largest ski resort. VR also owns Perisher ski resort in Australia, Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin, Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan, operates the RockResorts hotel brand, and a number of golf icourses in the U.S. and Caribbean.

With this latest acquisition, VR is the largest ski resort operator in the world. The move could put a chink in the armor that is Liftopia’s popular Mountain Collective. The MC sprouted as an alternative to the astronomically rising costs of both lift tickets and season passes. It became a direct competitor of VR’s Epic Pass; offering skiers and boarders an affordable way to ski several resorts in a season. Whistler/Blackcomb was part of the MC roster. “We just learned about the sale an hour ago so we are waiting for communication as to what this means for our customers,” said an MC rep. It’s doubtful that Whistler will straddle both pass offerings.

Vail Is Psyched

“Whistler Blackcomb is one of the most iconic mountain resorts in the world with an incredible history, passionate employees and a strong community. With our combined experience and expertise, together we will build upon the guest experience at Whistler Blackcomb. We will preserve the unique brand and character of the resort as an iconic Canadian destination for guests around the world. We are delighted to add such a renowned resort to Vail Resorts and look forward to expanding our relationships in the Sea-to-Sky community, British Columbia and Canada,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts.

Mr. Brownlie added, “We will also continue our discussions with the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations, on whose traditional lands we operate. The business partnership will benefit our communities, our province and our company for decades to come. Our board of directors has also been monitoring the unique challenges facing the broader ski industry due to the unpredictability of year-to-year regional weather patterns. Whistler Blackcomb, with its unprecedented acreage of high alpine terrain and Glacier bowls, is well positioned, but by no means immune to these challenges.”

Whistler, by joining VR and its geographically diverse group of ski areas, should be insulated from the “red”. If one area suffers from a bad snow year, the others will pick up the slack; an attractive proposition for stock holders and Epic Pass holders.

VR says they intend to maintain the majority of Whistler Blackcomb employees. They say this transaction won’t affect the day-to-day operations at the resort, however, that wasn’t the case with Park City and Canyons. VR called nearly all of the upper level management into one room and summarily dismissed them.

Whistler Season Passes

The 2016/17 season pass options remain unaffected by the news but look for big changes for next season. Whistler Blackcomb will become part of the Epic Season Pass and other season pass products for 2017-18.