Intrawest Look At Cost Saving Measures

Intrawest, the company which owns 10 leading North American ski areas including next winter's joint winter-Olympic venue, Whistler Blackcomb, is reported to be looking at ways to reduce its debts according to Canadian media reports in the past week.

The media reports speculate that this may involve selling one or more of its resorts, although the company itself has made no comment on this suggestion.

Intrawest is reported to have approximately $1.7-billion (US) in loans, and last autumn during the low point of the global financial collapse, managed to re-finance the debt at the 11th hour to save needing to seek creditor protection.

Intrawest was established in the 1970s and has gradually grown over three decades acquiring Blackcomb Mountain in 1986 and then many other famous resorts including Tremblant in Quebec and Copper Mountain, Winter Park and Steamboat in Colorado.

The company has made its name and had much of its financial success on the basis of well designed, pedestrianised resort base villages generating income more from real estate than from ski area operations. It is a model subsequently copied by many other ski area operators and which Intrawest brought to Europe with ski resort developments at Les Arcs and Flaine in France.

The original owners sold the company at the peak of its financial success to date in 2006 to Fortress Investment Group LLC for $2.8-billion.
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