Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, the owner of one of Canada's biggest and most popular ski resorts, is being sold to Colorado-based Vail Resorts under a friendly deal the two companies announced Monday.
Here's a look at the two companies in six charts and a brief history:
- LATEST NEWS: Vail Resorts strikes $1.4-billion deal to buy Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb
- STREETWISE: $1.4-billion Whistler takeover proves IPO critics wrong (subscribers only)
Five day stock charts
Shares of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings jumped to a new all-time high when markets opened Monday, rising above C$36 per share in Toronto. In New York, Vail Resorts stock was also trading at the highest in at least a decade, trading at about US$150 shortly after the open.
Net incomes compared
Number of skiers per year by resort
Skier visits to Whistler Blackcomb Holdings decreased in 2015, but as of February 2016, the company reported visits there were up 21 per cent from the year before.
Skier visits at Vail Resorts dipped a bit in 2012, but have increased overall since 2011.
A skier and a snow boarder check out the view on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler.
JOHN LEHMANN/The Globe and Mail
About Whistler Blackcomb Holdings
Whistler Blackcomb Holdings owns an interest in each of Whistler Mountain Resort Limited Partnership and Blackcomb Skiing Enterprises Limited Partnership, which, together, carry on the four season mountain resort business, Whistler Blackcomb.
The Company operates through the Resort segment, which comprises the four season mountain resort operations and related ancillary activities.
Its Whistler Blackcomb features two adjacent and integrated mountains, Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain, with over 200 marked runs, and approximately 8,170 acres of skiable terrain, over 10 alpine bowls and three glaciers.
About Vail Resorts Inc.
Vail Resorts operates nine mountain resorts and two ski areas in Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Australia.
A skier makes his way down Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler Dec. 7, 2013.
John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Whistler's growth
The Whistler valley had for centuries been a primary route for First Nations to traverse the dense Coast Mountains to reach the Pacific Ocean from the British Columbia interior.
In 1914, the railway came through, to connect the mining and timber resources of the interior with the port at Squamish, 60 kilometres south of Whistler. The same year, a fishing lodge was opened on Alta Lake in the Whistler area.
A group of businessmen from Vancouver led by Franz Wilhelmsen established Garibaldi Lifts Limited in 1960 in the hopes of developing an alpine ski area on London Mountain. That mountain was later renamed Whistler Mountain in tribute to a local marmot that whistled.
When it opened in 1966, the Whistler resort featured a four-person gondola, a double chairlift and a day lodge.
It has since grown to become one of the premier ski destinations in North America, serving as a host site for the Olympic Winter Games in 2010.
The resort now features more than 100 marked runs, a mile-high vertical drop and 1,925 hectares of skiable area — about five times the size of Vancouver's Stanley Park.
Previous Globe coverage
View from the top – and how Whistler got there
Fifty years ago, Whistler opened for business and began its transformation into a top skiing destination. Generations of skiers and snowboarders have pushed the boundaries on its mountains – carving careers and sparking innovations in the sport. But, as
David Ebner reports, the resort is in the middle of its latest test: climate change.
Warm winter causes headaches for seasonal businesses
Poor ski conditions in Ontario and Quebec – another effect of the warm winter – boosted business in the West. The low dollar didn't hurt either. In Whistler, B.C., the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort reported that, as of early February, visits there were up 21 per cent from the year before.
Whistler's fortunes rise with falling loonie
Shares in the company touched a high of $27.42 at the end of March 2016, pushing the company's market value more than $1-billion and making it one of the largest publicly traded ski-hill operators in the world. The stock gained 40 per cent in the 12 months prior, exceeding the performance of global peers including Vail Resorts Inc. and Sweden's Skistar AB.
Whistler resort to loosen its ties to snow with redevelopment plan
The Whistler Blackcomb resort north of Vancouver announced $345-million in redevelopment plans in April, with about a third of that aimed at making the venerable operation more "weather independent" by offering activities that aren't tied to snow.
The redevelopment proposal, which has been in the works for about four years, includes, in its first $90-million-to-$100-million phase, a year-round indoor centre called the Watershed. The $105-million-to-$115-million second phase includes a new day lodge and snow-school facility within the Watershed. The $140-million-to-$150-million third phase includes a luxury real estate development at Blackcomb's base area.
With files from David Ebner, Canadian Press, and the Globe and Mail investor pages.
Correction: An earlier version of this report included an inaccurate chart about Whistler Blackcomb's skier visits by season. The chart has since been replaced.