Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, March 28, 2024
President Jackie chaired the meeting.
Guests at the meeting Jennifer Crane, Patti Ricketts, Diana Alteen from Corporate member Poole Althouse Law Offices and Xavier House volunteer Gerard Duffney were welcomed.
Club Business
The Toonie Quest West 50-50 draw had a winner this week.
Guest Speaker
Program-chair Elaine introduced the guest speakers Bruce Hollett and Richard Wells who gave a presentation on Marble Mountain Ski Resort giving an update on the 2024 ski season and future plans.
The professional presentation in which both Bruce and Richard spoke began by introducing the two speakers showing their backgrounds, experiences, and qualifications before working at Marble Mountain. Bruce is the CEO; Executive Chair of the Marble Mountain Development Corporation (MMCC)and Richard is the general manager since 2021 of Marble Mountain Ski Resort.
They continued by giving a brief history of the resort noting that skiing with lift service began in 1962, The current lodge which was built for the 1999 Canada Winter Games opened in 1995 and in 1988 the Marble Mountain Development Corporation came into being.
Bruce and Richard continued by looking at what has been accomplished since 2021. The focus has been on revitalizing aging infrastructure, real progress has been made in transitioning to a 4-season resort, two collective agreements have been signed for staff, new services such as weddings and conferences are being offered, summer and fall lift tours are to be offered, mountain biking trails and usage will be expanded, and more entertainment experiences will be planned.
They continued by looking at the economic impact that Marble Mountain Resort has locally and provincially. The resort is a major tourism draw, over 150 people are employed in the peak of the season and the annual budget is around 5 million dollars.
They went on to look at the different challenges faced by the resort. One was the local demographic with a small and aging population. This means the resort relies on visitors from outside the region. Another factor is climate change which is resulting in shorter winters and adverse weather conditions. The infrastructure whether buildings, lift systems or equipment is all aging. Overall, this is a massive operation to run on a small budget.
The resort plans to focus on operational continuity through asset renewal, strengthening of existing local partnerships, and to look for new product and partnership development. This is happening with summer lift tours, cruise ship and bus tour visitors, involving of the mountain bike community, to have hiking and guided tours as well as weddings, conferences and special events and entertainment.
The Marble Mountain Resort is a major regional and provincial asset that is open to new ideas and partnerships as it realizes its potential to transition into a 4-season resort.
The presentation finished with Bruce and Richard answering several questions including the recent devastating mud slide and how the 1000 tons of debris was cleared. Jim thanked them on behalf of the club before the meeting adjourned.