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Not only government, european resorts in general, especially ones at lower altitudes (like Les Gets and Chatel), are working heavily towards the summer season as winters are becoming problematic due to the lack of snow. There were multiple occasions in the past years when Les Gets bikepark was running in December simply because there was no snow. Maribor lift is currently closed as they are building new middle station for the gondola with the idea of running bikepark open year around as winter has not actually been profitable in years... This is the reality and they either do something or perish
Big question is what are they gonna do with the upper section of that track. I rode in the PDS a few years back and we did a day on the Swiss tracks. The upper section of the Champery WC track was steep, but pretty easy and smooth berms. Not a world cup level challenge any more
That upper part is just the bikepark track, DH WC starts on the gravel road next to the chairlift station a bit down the mountain, if you check trailforks its clearly marked which is which.
I know what you mean, and in my opinion al of the world cup track, right down to the asphalt road at the bottom is too easy for current level.
I rode in Champery a month ago, the day after it rained and I can't agree with you
but its called mountain biking, not hill biking…
As an American, it bothers me greatly that Euros fell for the Harley rally trope.
I somehow pictured Euro 2 wheel events being either trials competitions or Ducati Monster conventions.
Muscular, intense, but somehow more civilized & less cigarette smoke.
Narrow, mainly berms, very steep, some line options not many. The kind of stuff the the best riders in the world will go fast on very easily.
We only did two runs on that track though so maybe I missed something?
Its very weird, weird crowd in the mtb safe spot haha
This sucks!
No hate just being honest. It's also a logistical nightmare for everyone.
Literally what I just said but somehow I am mostly right...I was speaking specifically about the town of Les Gets...not the entire valley...If you were there you would understand. The entire town is basically shut down which is a major inconvenience for the locals. No way that would happen in the US.
It used to be much harder to ride ten or so years ago. There were no chicken lines, and barely any berms to support you mid track. It's been groomed a lot.
Still a great racing track even now, by any standard it's great.
perhaps I live in the 74 zipcode of haute savoie ?.. hm.. I can tell you the towns dont shut down during WC week..not replying to any of your arguments though, the narrative that whistler "does not need a WC" (coming from the keyboard warriors), just shows the difference on how the view on many things separates europe (most of it) and America.
This was posted several days ago:
Google maps (2023 images) clearly shows they have done work on the last section in Champery, the one that was closed to public. They need to do some work on the top par as well, it has been groomed and banked considerably over the years. Such an Iconic track:
2007 (Sam Hill's masterpiece run in the wet)
Champery in 2011 (Freecaster era commentary style
)
Champery today (actual track starts at 2.46)
I lived in Whistler for quite a while, it doesn't 'need' a world Cup, the town is busy and grinds to a halt for many non-mtb events every summer and is a nightmare to try to navigate if your trying to make a living there. Most tourism based businesses (including Whistler Blackcomb itself) do better numbers $$$ wise in summer compared to winter. It would be cool to have a world Cup there though, it's the mecca!
Sorry to break it to ya Stew. Its was said for the Windham announcement and I'll say it for Whistler//Blackcomb. Summer revenue does not come close to winter revenue. not even close.
Got some numbers? I worked in a few different industries and the owners said otherwise.
This tool shows occupancy summer to winter, it doesn't show dollars spent, but heads in beds generally equals higher revenue.
https://performance.whistler.ca/community-monitoring/visitation-total/
(Bringing this back on track) if what you say is correct that is great news for developing resorts or those struggling with low snow totals. Maybe perhaps if they host a race and do a good job they can put themselves on the map as mtb destinations of choice.
Some data from Vail Resorts report which owns Whistler (overall data for all the resorts so probably a bit rough to truly determine which season brings more money but I think it is a bit clear here?):
Summer - Resort net revenue was $279.3 million for the three months ended October 31, 2022
Winter - Resort net revenue $1,094.0 million for the three months ended January 31, 2023.
Winter - Resort net revenue $1,238.3 million for the three months ended April 30, 2023.
Summer - Resort net revenue was $2,881.3 million for fiscal 2023 (overall, so around $250.0 million for that last period ending July 31, 2023)
If I see it right, that's around $2,300.0 million for winter and $500.0 million for summer. But again, not purely Whistler numbers but all resorts.
it appears that only 2 of Vail's 8 resorts have a bike park, Whistler and Northstar. Northstar is my home resort and I can definitely say the summer bike park dollars wouldn't be even close to winter dollars.
Sorry to continue the thread derail, but...
When people are talking about summer revenue being higher than winter revenue, it's likely they're also including the restaurants, hotels, and other biz that fall outside of Vail Resorts' purview. The first time I heard of Whistler's summer business eclipsing winter was in 2016, and I don't see any reason for that trend to change. Winter ops are huge [$299 lift tix, amirite?], but likely more heads in beds when it warms up, with a concomitant increase in revenue.
There is a huge difference between lift revenue and resort revenue. lift revenue in most resorts is around 80-90% winter. resort revenue is around 50-60% winter.
trend with the lousy winters, winter being to expensive and climate change (for those not "believing" in it, it's ok) obviously is tending towards summer but for now: winter it is! this for europe at least
working in the touri industry since multiple years and having the numbers. as much as we want summer to be the "winner" it's not yet.
speaking of racing again: it seems noone covers the transierra norte? was otherwise in the last years? this in my eyes is still one of the "true" enduro races. what if all those trans races (madeira, france, mexico, etc.) get together and meet up as a series? would this be something to follow?
I like that you showed net revenues in your post. I've always assumed summer operations (moving earth as opposed to blowing/grooming snow) are more cost prohibitive & consumer expenditures during summer operations are lower because skis are cheaper to buy AND rent.
Consumers at a summer bike park have to buy or rent very expensive bikes & riding gear.
Can't bring a church group on a bus of 30, rent bikes, boards, bibs, boots & lift passes to a bus of 30 downhillers.
Because of the costs per individual, you gotta assume there's a lot less disposable income being dropped while people are at the bike park vs skiing.
I used to be part of crew that put on DH races in the Southeast US. We don't get snow for crap. But when I got to know operations managers, they ALL told me to talk the resort owners in February.
Why? Because they had several million cash burning a hole in their pocket from winter & would be more prone to agree to lose money on a race in the summer.
Even with no snow here, the ski resorts make so much money in the short winter months.
I think another thing that shouldn't be ignored with the summer vs winter thing is that skiing has been around much longer than mountain biking, so it has a lot more momentum from that alone for the time being. Mountain town summer sports before MTB were mainly hiking, climbing, trail running, and rafting and most towns probably only had 2 or 3 of those 4. I would guess those sports brought in some money in to hospitality businesses and guiding businesses, but not much to the resorts and much less to the towns overall compared to skiing. I think as mountain biking gets more mature and popular, resort management will see the financial incentive to run summer operations and aim to be MTB destinations too. This will also have to be weighed against the significant time and effort required to get the mountain ready for winter operations which goes on for a decent part of summer and fall (at least here in Colorado).
Aaron Gwin PLOT TWIST.
He just bought WindRock from Sean Leader
Just had a thought, anyone know what Henry Fitzgerald was up to this year? Obviously without a ride after the norco change up at the end of last season but just wondering if he raced any world cups self supported or anything like that.
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