A Canadian Update
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| Marmot Basin |
And here’s an indepth Q & A with Lake Louise’s Robin Locke about how COVID-19 has impacted operations this season:
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| Philip Forsey - Powder Day Feb 23 2021 at Lake Louise |
When you were prepping for this winter, did you expect to open - and then stay open - this season?
Robin: “In any given year, predictions regarding the outcome of a season are merely best guesses supported by the best data available, but in the middle of a global pandemic it is impossible to forecast what the circumstances will be even one week to the next. All we can do is prepare and operate as best as possible with an eye to ensuring we have absolutely stringent procedures and protocols in place with regards to health and safety, while recognizing that government regulations and business decisions must adapt according to evolving science and circumstances.”
How much time and money has it cost you to create COVID-safe codes and infrastructure at Lake Louise?
Robin: “Since spring 2020, we have been working with industry partners and governments to ensure there is a suite of best practices to help keep our teams, communities and guests as safe as possible. We were able to practice our health and safety procedures over the summer when we were less busy, which helped us open smoothly this winter. It certainly requires significant capital in an already capital-intensive business to operate in a COVID world. Additional staff, changes to the layout of the resort indoors and outdoors, modifications to employee housing and expenditures relating to new equipment, testing and contact tracing, are all extremely expensive. This along with significant loss of revenue from a lack of international visitors and impacts to such traditional key revenue streams, such as food and beverage, ski school and rentals, impact the bottom line negatively and significantly.”
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| Lake Louise by Sarah Magyar |
Do you think you are safe now to stay open until the typical end of season? On what does this depend?
Robin: “See question 1. As new COVID variants are emerging, it is impossible to predict when life will get back to normal and whether we will see a regression or a progression towards same in the coming months. A lot of people in the industry (and generally) are banking on vaccines as the key to restoring our ability to travel and recreate the way that we used to, and we are certainly hopeful, as well, that vaccines can be rolled out as quickly as possible and prove to be potent and effective against new and emerging variants. At the same time, we must all continue to be diligent with regards to health and safety protocols to help contain the spread and guard against potential outbreaks.”
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| New Summit Chairlift at Lake Louise by Philip Forsey |
Has Lake Louise village had many COVID cases? How well have you done compared to other ski towns? Have the cases derived from the ski hill or from activities outside of winter sports?
Robin: “What we hear from infectious disease experts is that skiing and snowboarding are relatively low risk activities for COVID-19 transmission and outdoor settings are far safer than indoors. The sport is a naturally spaced out activity that provides room to roam on the slopes safely at most resorts (this is certainly the case at Lake Louise). These sports also support significant mental and physical well-being, generally.
The Lake Louise Ski Resort has an enormous amount of terrain and is able to handle thousands of skiers a day. Our challenge is getting guests dispersed during the 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. rush on weekends, so for that reason, we have implemented a reservation system to help keep visitors safe, which is working quite effectively.
While skiers will generally be safe, experts advise, those who wish to hit the slopes still need to be mindful of safety precautions; the threat is never zero during a global pandemic. Spread is more likely to happen before or after people are enjoying the mountains, such as when they are gearing up or warming up in a crowded indoor area; masks should be worn and physical distancing must be maintained.
We are fortunate at the Lake Louise Ski Resort to have more indoor space than some of our neighbours do, but we have nevertheless reduced capacity in our lodges, on our lifts, and erected additional tents to ensure visitors have room to spread out safely.
Staff members at ski resorts are more likely than visitors to become infected and this is usually due to staff living in close quarters and activities that occur in the evenings outside of the ski areas. In November, six cases were identified over four different staff accommodations at Lake Louise Ski Resort. Pro-active testing was the most effective way to contain the transmission. Positive cases eventually grew to less than 20, but fortunately no one became seriously ill or hospitalized. About 85 to 90 per cent of resort staff were swiftly tested after the initial cases were identified, in part to try to catch all asymptomatic cases, and this was likely one of the best measures that could have been taken to help curtail the spread.
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| View of the lake at the Lake Louise Ski Resort |
Also fortunately, staff accommodations at the Lake Louise Ski Resort are not overcrowded. In the past, almost half of our staff were international young people from Australia, New Zealand and other countries. But since the pandemic shut down international borders, most staff this season are university students who are choosing not to go back to school, as well as seniors who aren’t travelling – as such, most of them are staying at their own homes in the area. Additionally, we built two new staff housing complexes this summer which has helped create more room.
Europe and the U.S. have seen more COVID cases than ski towns in Canada, though there have been outbreaks in ski towns in B.C. as well as smaller clusters in Alberta. As of February 17th, 2021, there are zero active cases in Lake Louise.
Lake Louise, because of its location in the heart of a World Heritage Site and in the middle of a group of National Parks as large as Switzerland, has features that are unique in the world. For example, our comfortable carrying capacity is designed around a National Park sense of place which means nature and wilderness take centre stage, and the facilities and terrain are purposely designed and built such that there is room to spread out more than virtually any other resort on the planet. On a busy day, one can often ski many of our runs without seeing another skier. Because of the above, the threat of catching COVID from another skier is remote.”
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| Fresh Tracks in West Bowl Lake Louise |
Can you tell us about your new territory - it's been compared to Revelstoke.
Robin: “West Bowl is a vast area (480 acres of new terrain) capped by the summit of Whitehorn Mountain, on the front face of the resort. It offers breathtaking views of the majestic Canadian Rockies, overlooking the Bow Valley and the scenic backdrop of Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier. Located west of the ski resort’s base, this new area of wilderness ski and snowboard terrain will carry on the reputation of Lake Louise’s back bowls, but in this case on the front side.
To facilitate this grand opening, a two-kilometer long ski-out has been constructed from the bottom of the various chutes, gullies and bowls comprising West Bowl, to the junction of Men’s Downhill and Juniper Jungle.
A new quad chairlift has also been installed, which starts from the saddle below the top station of the Top of the World chairlift. In just four minutes, the new Summit Chair can whisk skiers and riders up the ridge of Whitehorn Mountain, giving easy access to the new West Bowl terrain as well as the back bowls, and the existing runs previously accessed by the Summit Platter.
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| Lake Louise West Bowl |
The natural landscape of West Bowl lends itself well to some of the best advanced-intermediate through expert terrain in Canada. Many would consider the newly opened terrain as “side-country,” with naturally gladed ski routes giving endless options of fall lines. Sections of West Bowl are divided into zones, with no precise runs, letting skiers and snowboarders chart their course and explore the bowl and newly gladed terrain in their own way. This authentic wilderness skiing and snowboarding experience is enhanced with natural snow conditions and no machine grooming. However, since West Bowl is now in-bounds terrain, this allows us to provide snow control, avalanche safety and ski patrol services. This is wilderness skiing at its best, and areas will open in stages throughout the season as Mother Nature allows. Skiers and boarders are advised to carry avalanche safety gear and know how to use it.”
No-one has a crystal ball, but what are your hopes for the summer season and then next winter? Do you expect to host Winterstart World Cup again?
Robin: “The ability to operate in four seasons is absolutely imperative from a profitability standpoint, so we certainly hope that we will be able to run our popular Lake Louise Sightseeing Gondola from May to October, where guests often get a rare chance to see Grizzly Bears from the safety of the lift, that we can to continue to offer our interpretive programs, which educate and inspire about Banff National Park wilderness, wildlife and values, and that we can host guests who wish to dine amid our spectacular alpine setting this summer and fall.
Last summer, our visitor numbers - and thus profitability - were significantly reduced, due to not being able to welcome international visitors, so we are hoping the borders open as soon as possible (though there is no indication as yet as to when borders will open to international visitors). We will regardless operate as long as we are able to.
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| Lake Louise Sightseeing Gondola - Photo by Chris Moseley |
The Lake Louise World Cup Winterstart is traditionally held in November and December. The races began at the resort in 1980 and ran consecutively from 1993 to 2020, with over 100 races having been successfully held here. While the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 races to be cancelled, we certainly hope that they can return in 2021.
The race is one of the select few that hold both the men’s and ladies speed events on the World Cup circuit. It is Canada's premiere alpine ski race, inviting the world's best skiers to the majestic Canadian Rocky Mountains each year to start the World Cup speed season; the only Canadian stop on the FIS world cup tour.
Usually, the world’s best alpine racers, hundreds of volunteers, media and support staff descend on Lake Louise to ensure a successful event and at the same time stimulate the local and provincial economy during what would ordinarily be a relatively slow period.
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| Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup - Photo by Alpin Canada courtesy of Banff Lake Louise |
The races have historical, cultural, athletic and economic importance, so we will be extremely disappointed if the pandemic continues so as to preclude the hosting of the event for another year.
For next winter, providing we are able to open and operate safely, we are very excited about a new chairlift we are planning to install this summer and the opening of new ski terrain to dramatically improve the experience for novice skiers. The new Juniper chairlift will be installed at the West Side of the base area and meet a need that has existed for many years to provide an area that is more advanced than the Sunny Side learning area, yet less daunting than the green runs which are accessed from the existing chairlifts at the resort.”
And don't forget to check out this article: https://www.stylealtitude.com/ski-resorts-canada-coronavirus.html
