Dec. 14, 2011 - Issue #843: New Year’s Eve Style

A piece of Paradise

Symbiotic relations make town and resort feel like home

It's  seldom spoken of but, like surfers who are notoriously protective of their turf, some folks who live and work in ski towns feel  entitled to the first and best lines. I once made the mistake of  cutting a line on a powder day at Marmot Basin in front of one of the town's most famous locals. Pulling a fistful of seasons passes—dating back to the '80s—out of his pocket and shoving them in my face, he argued his right to first tracks over mine.

Of my many experiences skiing in Jasper, that's one that has stuck with me, specifically because I can't reconcile it with my broader experiences of the place. I'm not a Jasper local, but in the last eight years I've spent literally hundreds of days there. I may not have property or voting rights but I feel as though I belong; above anywhere else, it's my home away from home.

There are many reasons. One, as I've already stated, is familiarity; another is size—with just 5236 permanent residents living within the municipality , there's a closeness to the community. It doesn't take much to figure out where everything is and before long, you start recognizing familiar faces on the chairlifts and streets of Jasper.

Naturally, community is  a factor  in your choice of where to reside. Right at the heart of town, Whistlers Inn puts visitors in close proximity to everything, while the pulse of the town throbs at the Whistle Stop Pub—the kind of place where everybody knows your name. But two floors up on the hotel patio, surrounded by mountain views, the hot tubs are reserved for guests alone. Visitors inhabit a cozy middle ground—both outside and part of the community fabric.

Bridging that gap, and perhaps the single biggest factor in creating that feeling of home, is  local character. Jasper is an unpretentious, unassuming place where most people—with the exception of the odd territorial local in a surly mood on a powder day—are friendly, welcoming and earnest.
Despite what you'll hear about transient work, drug use and  sexual promiscuity in mountain communities, the bedrock of these towns  is mostly formed from decent, hardworking people who choose to live in the mountains because it suits their lifestyle and ideals. It's hard not to admire that. If, on the rare occasion, friction arises between visitors and locals, it's because the growth pressures that come with being a tourist destination often place a strain on the community.
 

Yet despite over $25 million in improvements at Marmot Basin since the current ownership group took over in 2003, there have been very few, if any, growing pains. If anything, community sentiment towards the hill has improved apace.

"The old owners were taking money out of the resort," explains Matt Doig, Marmot Basin communications. "The new shareholders have been reinvesting."

That's meant only good things for skiers and boarders living in Jasper. This season, Marmot Basin opened two new lifts, substantially increasing its lift capacity on the hill. The new Paradise Chair in particular  enhances the skiing experience. It's a quicker ride to some of the best stashes on the mountain, and the extended length of the chair means longer runs between flips,  improving that all-important lift-to-ski ratio.

The improvements represent a huge capital investment. Unlike most other resorts outside national parks, Marmot Basin doesn't draw any of its revenue from condo sales or accommodations;it has to rely solely on the day skier visit. Based on the standard resort model, it's pretty hard to recoup costs on major infrastructure projects through lift tickets alone. It's a long term investment, Doig admits, but one that should pay off for the owners because they are not only invested in the hill but in the town as well.

While the ownership group remains largely anonymous, its primary shareholders also own prominent hotels in town. In this way, business on the ski hill and business in town feed off one another, unlike some other developments  where the resort and neighbouring community compete fiercely for tourism dollars.

"Winter is not nearly as busy for tourism as summer," says Doig. "The ski hill is a big draw. It keeps the community going in winter, providing the opportunity for year-round work. Without that, there wouldn't be that community."
 

There will be those resistant to change in their community. Change can be scary. It's no different for skiers than  for the rest of the world. When the hill removed the old Kiefer T-Bar in 2009, several locals protested. On the last day of operations of the old T, one guy went so far as to chain himself to the first tower, wearing a sign reading, "You must be smoking more than reefer to be tearing down the Kiefer."

Two seasons later, that incident has passed into ski lore and the old T-bar is largely forgotten, although it will live on in local and pseudo-local memories. But from the top of the new Paradise Chair, the mountain  looks much  the same. The contours and vegetation spread out in mostly the same pattern as before, with a minor variation along the east side where the towers of the new chair spring up.

From this vantage point, what captures your interest isn't the long, gloried past, but a bold new future on the horizon. As Doig puts it, "We can go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights now."
That may be true. Certainly, over eight seasons the hill has improved dramatically. Following the Ridge Chair, snowmaking upgrades, the Canadian Rockies Express, lodge improvements and the School House chairlift, the opening of Paradise is like the final piece of a puzzle being slotted into place.

The new lift layout creates a more efficient experience of the mountain, swiftly whisking skiers where they want to go, but to fully appreciate that you have to know what it was like back before the Ridge went in and the Tranquilizer  and Kiefer T came out, before they decommissioned the 'Boo. Sure,  there's been a lot of change over the years—but it still feels like home to me. V

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