Despite the recent dump of snow that blanketed much of Ontario, downhill skiers are flocking to Western Canadian slopes as resort operators here continue to recover from poor early-season snow conditions.

Colin Chedore, president of the Mississauga-based Canadian Ski Council, which serves as an umbrella group for industry associations across the country, says booming western resorts will help keep Canadawide skier visits near last year's total of 19 million.

Exact, audited numbers won't be compiled until the end of the season.

"Western Canada is definitely way up," says Chedore. "They've had an early season and they've had a great season. (But) we're going to be down in the East."

Photo courtesy of Travel Alberta
Deep powder has made for great skiing and snowboarding

Chedore expects Western Canadian hills, which currently have an abundance of snow, to keep total skier visits in Canada high, despite a late start to the season in Ontario and Quebec.

Ontario is expected to see a reduction in the total number of skier visits from the 3.5 million recorded in both 2006 and 2005.

Quebec and Atlantic Canada will also experience declines, while Saskatchewan and Manitoba are expected to maintain their combined average of 215,000. The record for skier visits in Canada was 19.5 million in 2003-04.

"With record numbers at Whistler and all the other ski areas in the West, we're hoping that those numbers make up for the ones we lost in the East," says Chedore.

From the Manitoba-Ontario boundary east, a lack of natural snow and warm temperatures, which prevented artificial snow-making, spelled an unprecedented "double whammy."

"Not only did we not get snow in the East, we didn't get the cold weather (early in the season)," says Chedore. "It was balmy, like going south for a vacation."

As a result, more Eastern Canadians are heading west to ski or snowboard. Poor snow conditions in the Eastern U.S. and Europe, the lower loonie, and an "incredible" effort by B.C. and Alberta to market to Americans within driving distance have also prompted international skiers to head to popular resorts such as Whistler/Blackcomb, Sun Peaks, Panorama and Big White in B.C., as well as Mount Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise in the Alberta Rockies.

The strong season in the West is making up for difficulties in B.C. between 2003-2005, when the high dollar and bad conditions resulted in a decline of 1.5 million skier visits.

Two years ago, Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island did not open until April.

But Chedore predicts B.C. skier visits this year will be "way up, over six million" from 5.8 million in 2005-06.

Some small Greater Toronto Area hills did not open at all during the traditional Christmas skiing period, while the number of skiers making the trek to major resorts such as Blue Mountain near Collingwood was down substantially from the season before.

Chedore says major resorts have been "back on track" since temperatures and more snow fell in mid-January and early February, but he predicts resort operators will not make up for what they lost earlier in the season.

"I'm up in Collingwood (at Blue Mountain) now and, I'll tell you, I've never seen this much snow," says Chedore.

"It's unbelievable. It's a little late, but they've got it."

Snow has not been a problem for Alberta's resorts. Mount Norquay in Banff opened Nov. 1 - earlier than any other ski area in Canada.

Dan Markham, marketing director for Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine, a joint-venture company that markets Norquay and Sunshine Village near Banff and the Lake Louise ski hill, expects the three ski areas will see a 10-per-cent rise in skier visits this season.

"We're having a really good year," says Markham.

The increase is not about the amount of snow in the Alberta Rockies - it's about the lack of snow everywhere else. The firm advertised in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal publications in a bid to woo drydocked skiers west.

Norquay, Louise and Sunshine benefit from their high elevation, low reliance on snow-making, relative absence of lift lineups and proximity to 125 hotels and motels in Banff that are linked to infrastructure and a transportation system that consists of several shuttle buses.

Many skiers also stay in Calgary, about an hour away by car. Several shuttle buses also run to ski areas from the airport and major hotels.

Travel Alberta spokesman Don Boynton says skiing accounts for $400 million worth of the province's $6 billion in tourism revenues.

Although he doesn't have specific numbers, he says anecdotal evidence shows the absence of snow in Europe and Ontario has sent many skiers to the Rockies.

"People like skiing," he says. "If they can't ski at home, they'll chase the snow continentwide."

And many are chasing it right into B.C. Darcy Alexander, vice-president and general manager of Sun Peaks near Kamloops, expects skier traffic at the resort to increase by five per cent by season's end, to 335,000 from 318,000. In mid February, the total was approximately 170,000.

"The weather is playing a part," says Alexander.

Visits from Australians and New Zealanders to Sun Peak are up 17 per cent, while 12 to 15 per cent more United Kingdom skiers have ventured there. The U.S. still represents the largest market.

Consistency over time and a good reputation are ultimately what drive skier traffic, adds Alexander. "A single (high) snow year won't do it for you."

Sun Peaks, whose majority owner is Nippon Cable of Japan, attempts to boost its visitor traffic by offering year-round activities, including golf.

Like many other resorts, it also stages several real estate developments, which range from $99,000 quarter ownerships in the Delta Sun Peaks Residence, managed by Delta Hotels, to single-family homes worth more than $1 million.

But ski traffic at Sun Peaks pales in comparison to Whistler/Blackcomb.

The popular West Coast resort, which this season has a 2.5-metre snowbase, is expected to handily surpass its usual target of two million skiers this year, says Whistler/ Blackcomb spokeswoman Christina Moore.

Whistler had its best Christmas week ever.

"We had a huge amount of traffic from overseas," says Moore. "We believe that the lack of snow in Europe and other places really helps people make a decision to come to Whistler."

She declines to disclose actual figures, but adds, "it's been an amazing season - the best in a while."

IntraWest ULC of Vancouver, which operates resorts across North America, offered season-pass holders from Ontario and the eastern U.S. free mid-week skiing at Whistler and its other western Canadian properties.

"Certainly, I think it had an impact," says Moore. "Part of it was also a goodwill offering - to provide value to those who had already purchased a pass at some of our sister resorts back east."

Blue Mountain spokeswoman Kelly O'Neil says the since-expired deal, made available to its 45,000 passholders, helped Ontario's largest resort cope with its late opening Jan. 19. "Being under an umbrella, which is Intrawest, it seems that we received a lot of support that way," says O'Neil.

The mountain is not expected to hit its average of 700,000 annual skier visits this year. But O'Neil says the resort's hotel rooms are still a popular ticket.

"We just are booking (hotel rooms) at 100 per cent right now for the month of February, so we are back on track in terms of visits to the resort," says O'Neil.

Unlike previous years, Intrawest, which has privatized since being taken over by Fortress Investment Group LLC, will not make its final season figures public.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)