CLUBWEST CANADA INC.

Jack Trevino is a visionary and a risk taker who has a reputation for turning his dreams into reality. Together with four wealthy golfing buddies, he turned his passion into a business and formed ClubWest Canada Inc. (CWC) in 2001. The Company initially bought a series of unsuccessful daily-fee public golf courses, upgraded the courses and clubhouses, and then converted the courses to private, member-only clubs. Jack, who is also the president and CEO, is the driving force behind CWCs aggressive growth strategy. The other founders are active members of the board of directors, but are not involved in the dayto-day operations of the business. They also tend to be more risk averse than their friend. As indicated at the recent March 2012 board retreat, the other founders are interested in pursuing continued growth but only if the related risks can be properly managed. INTRODUCTION As the business grew, CWC began acquiring strategically located land, which it refers to as greenfield sites, and building new courses from scratch. This approach allowed the Company to expand its inventory of courses and acquire adjoining land for luxury residential development. In recent years, the Companys growth has been driven by: (a) the acquisition of private member-only clubs; (b) the acquisition and conversion of daily-fee golf clubs into member or hybrid golf clubs; and (c) the development of greenfield sites into member golf clubs. Hybrid golf clubs are available to the general public for daily-fee play and provide a semi-private home club for CWC members. CWC aims to attract members who are business professionals between 30 and 60 years of age, with annual incomes exceeding $100,000, and whose employers will pay for the memberships. These people are looking for top quality courses that are immaculately maintained, high quality clubhouse facilities for entertainment, and exclusive membership lists, which deliver a prestigious experience for the members and their guests. CWC's golf clubs are strategically organized in clusters that are located in densely populated metropolitan areas and resort destinations frequented by those who live and work in these areas. By operating in these areas, CWC is able to offer golfers a wide variety of golf membership, corporate event, and resort services. Further, clustering allows the group of courses to act as a market leader on green fee pricing. Characteristically, the cluster organization can drive fees up and the competition is likely to follow. On average, green fees have risen 10 to 15% over the last year. By clustering, CWC is also able to obtain the benefit of operating synergies to achieve economies of scale and reduce the costs of management, purchasing, and labour. CWCs overall goal is to provide every member and guest with the best possible experience each and every time they visit a CWC club, leading to the Company being perceived as the provider of the highest quality golf facilities in Canada. Key elements of achieving this goal are the quality of its golf courses and clubhouses, and its employees' commitment to exemplify the Company motto of inspiring lifelong relationships. Achieving this goal pays benefits yearround, not only in membership growth, retention, and satisfaction, but also in many other ways, such as attracting an enviable list of corporate partners. By accomplishing this overall goal,

CWC hopes to achieve 30% annual growth in revenues in each of the next five years and maintain a minimum 15% return on equity. CWC has also leveraged its facilities to offer an impressive corporate events service. CWC clubs play host to more than 1,600 charity and corporate tournaments annually. Having conducted almost 12,000 corporate and charity events over the years, it has become the most trusted name in tournament organization. In 2011, CWC also hosted more than 350 weddings and approximately 2,100 seminars, business meetings (with and without a golf component), charity banquets, and parties for many of Canada's largest companies, as well as individual clients. CURRENT OPERATIONS CWC currently owns and operates 25 private, member-only golf courses in three quality categories (Prestige, Platinum, and Gold) and four hybrid courses in three categories (Prestige, Gold, and Silver), primarily in the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton areas. It also owns two daily-fee courses in the Vancouver area. It is actively working on expansion into the Toronto market, but is finding that it will have to buy or develop new courses a minimum of 50 km north of the downtown core due to the high number of quality courses in the Greater Toronto Area. Jack believes that the target market will pay "top dollar" for premium memberships. He has acted on this belief: non-refundable initiation fees (2011 average of $25,000) and annual dues (2011 average of $3,000) were increased by 25% in 2011, and further increases are budgeted. A member is committed to pay annual dues for unlimited access to CWC golf courses and consume a food and beverage minimum to maintain their membership. Although most acquisitions to date have been very successful, two or three properties are not performing to expectations. One is about 60 km outside Calgary and is experiencing low membership numbers due to its location. The other two are recent acquisitions in the Edmonton area. They are also experiencing low membership, but the cause appears to be the poor quality of the courses and facilities. CWC plans to upgrade both properties, but making this investment would mean using financing capacity that is earmarked for the acquisition of two premium courses in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). CWC spends significant amounts on advertising and promotional programs to market its facilities to potential members. Jack says, "When new members join the CWC family, they know they will enjoy the service and prestige associated with belonging to the very best." The total number of members at CWC clubs in 2011 increased by 0.9% over 2010, with an 8.2% increase in new membership sales being mostly offset by resignations and terminations totalling 7.3% of the closing 2010 membership figure. The high resignation rate is due to stronger competition in the golf and leisure sector. REVENUES Membership revenue is earned by the sale of flexible personal and corporate memberships that offer reciprocal playing privileges at CWC Golf Clubs, meaning that a member joins one CWC club but may play at all CWC clubs. On payment of an additional fee, CWC members also gain reciprocal access at networks of affiliated clubs around the world. Daily-fee golf revenue is

generated primarily at the hybrid and daily-fee golf courses and through guest fees at the member-only and hybrid golf courses. The pricing of memberships is dependant on the level of golf club (i.e. prestige, platinum, gold or silver). This is further broken down into different levels of pricing depending upon the number of pre-existing memberships held by a Company or family. For instance, first-level pricing applies for the first membership owned by a Company or family and extends to fourthlevel pricing for the sixth or higher person to join from a Company or family. Fourth-level pricing is typically about 50% to 60% of first level-pricing for a golf club. The pricing of other items such as banquets, guest fees, and corporate events is dependant on factors such as the property, time of day, volume, time of year and availability. CWC revenue patterns reflect the highly seasonal nature of the golf and leisure segments. The majority of revenue and earnings from these businesses occurs during the second and third quarters of the year. Accordingly, the quarterly net earnings of the Company will fluctuate with those of the underlying business sectors. Membership Sales CWC advertises extensively in the regions it operates in and believes that it has created strong brand recognition in these golfing communities. The marketing program highlights the value of the Company's innovative and flexible membership pricing structure and the reciprocal play privileges granted to CWC members. The Company's membership sales program is executed by professional sales personnel whose compensation is primarily commission-based. Proactive membership sales efforts are targeted at a broad range of potential members, particularly corporations and their employees. To enhance its appeal to existing and prospective members, the Company upgrades acquired facilities and provides new value-added services to its members, such as access to affiliated networks of golf clubs around the world and CWC's ClubLine reservation system. A single phone call to the ClubLine reservation system allows a member to reserve a tee-time at any CWC golf club. This system provides members with greater accessibility to available tee times. Almost all CWC member golf clubs have a membership base that generates sufficient operating revenue to sustain profitable operations at that property. Yield Management of Operating Revenue CWC schedules corporate and charitable events at its golf clubs to generate revenue during nonpeak times. CWC's multiple golf clubs allow an event to change its venue each year while minimizing event-day preparations through the continuity of having CWC as the event host. CWC is able to offer corporate events at its golf courses because normal play can be accommodated at another nearby CWC golf course. As a result of its efforts to manage playing patterns, CWC is generally able to offer less congested golf courses and faster playing times. The number of rounds that can be played on a golf course is CWC's primary saleable inventory. CWC looks to optimize the number of rounds played and revenue generated per round at each

golf club by considering member and daily-fee golfer playing patterns. CWC creates marketing programs to generate rounds during non-peak playing times at its hybrid and daily-fee golf clubs. Non-Golf Revenues CWC actively solicits non-golf functions such as weddings, bat/bar mitzvahs, Christmas parties, meetings and other functions to increase utilization of its clubhouse facilities. CWC's brand name recognition has facilitated a number of cross-promotional programs with corporations that have similar target consumers. These programs have contributed to increased exposure of CWC golf clubs. Many of CWC's members are owners and senior managers of companies. These members use CWC's golf clubs and resorts for relationship management, team building, management seminars and other business needs. CWC is constantly reviewing opportunities to generate ancillary revenue, such as corporate event sponsorship, renting advertising space on tournament scoreboards, and at other discrete locations at its golf clubs and resorts and in its member communications. OPERATING ACTIVITIES Central Administration Golf club operating costs include substantial fixed costs and, accordingly, once break-even revenue has been achieved, a substantial portion of incremental revenue less cost of goods sold flows directly to net operating income. The golf club operations are managed by a centralized administrative system. All administrative, accounting, information systems, marketing, finance, human resource and payroll functions are performed at the corporate office in Calgary. As a multi-golf club operator, the Company is able to achieve overhead and operating efficiencies not possible by owners of individual golf clubs or resorts. For example, the Company employs a centralized marketing staff to serve all of its golf clubs and resorts. Insurance policies for the Company's portfolio of properties are consolidated under a master insurance policy. The Company's volume purchasing power also enables it to achieve savings not available to smaller buyers in the purchase of most merchandise, food and beverage supplies, turf and clubhouse supplies and maintenance equipment. Beneficial terms include volume discounts and extended payment terms. The centralized administration system also permits a golf club to be operated with fewer employees, resulting in CWC's golf clubs having lower operating costs than clubs managed by a single golf-club owner. This also allows employees at each golf club to focus on providing optimal member and guest experiences. The Company has an ongoing commitment to the development of management information systems that will increase its operating effectiveness. Accordingly, resources continue to be expended on the development of management information systems that support efficient management of the Company's business. Integration of New Clubs The Company can usually acquire a golf club without proportionately increasing its corporate office staff. Therefore, each future golf club addition will decrease the average cost of

administration per golf club. CWC believes that its average cost of administration per golf club is significantly below that experienced by many of its smaller competitors. Integration activities include the review and alignment of accounting policies, employee transfers and moves, information systems, optimization of service offerings, and establishment of control over new operations. CWC has a team that performs the integration function. This team applies an integration model, based on experiences from numerous previous integrations, which enhances and accelerates the standardization of CWC's business processes and strives to preserve the unique qualities of acquired operations. The integration process begins with strategic, preclosing analysis and planning, and continues after closing with the execution of a plan. Integrated operations are re-evaluated and assessed regularly, based on timely feedback received from the integration team. Member Services It is CWC's objective to ensure that all members enjoy enhanced experiences when using CWC's facilities. This is achieved by ensuring that employees are properly trained in providing this level of service and by hiring qualified employees. CWC has been able to attract employees that are highly qualified in managing a business many times larger than the business constituted by a single golf course property. CWC's current size and its future growth potential have contributed significantly to CWC's ability to attract highly qualified and motivated employees. Member services initiatives in recent years included enhancement of member surveys and the creation of a dedicated member service department. BRAND CWC has grown to become one of Canadas most successful golf club operators. This has been accomplished by providing services and conditions that deliver a superior golf experience. CWC believes that its operating history, profile and reputation in the golf industry have contributed to advantages in the following areas, which are material to its operations: the Company is often the preferred choice among owners looking to sell golf course properties; the Company's brand is enhanced by cross-promotional programs with other high-end brand names that recognize the value of the Company's brand; and CWC's brand and reputation is strengthened by an enhanced Company-wide focus on member services.

FINANCING Initially, the business was financed by the personal investments of the owners and the cash generated from initiation fees and annual dues, clubhouse and pro shop sales, and daily green fees charged for members guests. However, as CWC continued its aggressive expansion strategy, the owners found it impossible to fund acquisitions independently. CWC now finances its operations and expansion primarily through a combination of operating cash flows, revolving

and non-revolving secured debt, notes payable, and finance lease obligations. Wherever possible, expansion activities are financed through secured long-term debt with repayment obligations corresponding to the expected cash flows. Early last year, CWC secured a $20M operating line of credit and a $175M term loan to provide financing capacity for entry into the GTA golf market. The Company has occasionally issued shares to private investors to facilitate acquisitions and to provide working capital, but Jack and his four friends retain control of CWC. The owners are, however, contemplating a public offering in the near future to finance additional acquisitions and developments. THE GOLF MARKET Trends Golf has experienced tremendous growth over the past two decades. According to an authoritative study in 2010, the golfing population in Canada has increased by 36.7% since 2001. This growth has been fuelled largely by the increase in the participation of women, as well as growth in the number of younger golfers. Continued growth is expected during the next 10-15 years, but the demographic mix will become skewed, as the number of retired baby boomers will increase significantly. One of the trends in the golfing industry has been towards the development of high quality, private courses with fewer members. There are concerns that the average player is being priced out of this private club market. Public, daily-fee courses are attempting to compete by using creative semi-private arrangements and by partnering with other public courses to provide reciprocal golfing privileges. Tastes in golf are changing and will continue to do so as baby boomers continue to mature. Private club members are b e c o m i n g less attracted by extravagant clubhouses and dining facilities than in the past. New golfers are more concerned with the condition of the course and the availability of tee times. Competition The Company operates in a competitive marketplace. Although CWC believes it is the largest market participant in Canada that actively pursues a clustering and reciprocal-play strategy, it is possible for a competitor to enter this market at any time and develop greater name recognition and have more extensive financial, marketing and personnel resources than CWC. In addition, CWC competes with individual golf and country clubs in those areas in which it operates its golf clubs. The Company also competes with resorts in the markets in which it operates golf resorts as well as other vacation destinations. Historically, the ownership and operation of golf clubs in Canada has been highly fragmented, with few multi-club companies in the industry. Recently, however, the golfing industry has been going through a period of consolidation, with Canadian and US companies developing significant property holdings. The market is very competitive, and premium prices have

been paid for many of these acquisitions. Prices have far exceeded those that would have been paid under normal methods of valuation. The Company believes that, as the owner of a network of golf clubs with experienced management and a demonstrated ability to execute transactions, one of its strengths is its ability to acquire well located, well designed member golf clubs and operate them in a cost-efficient manner. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the supply of golf product in the urban regions of Ontario and Western Canada, which has impacted demand and price negatively. Market observers believe that this may not be a short-term condition. While CWCs market leadership position will offset, in part, the impact of this increased competition, it has been affected by these trends, particularly in the corporate event market. ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP The golfing industry faces constant challenges from environmentalists regarding the use of water and pesticides, and the environmental impact of golf course development on the local vegetation. These lobbying groups are becoming increasingly powerful and are gaining the attention of local, provincial, and federal governments, which are beginning to look more closely at regulating the industry. Water use is an especially sensitive issue in the Oak Ridges Moraine area, which is located in the northern region of the Greater Toronto Area. In response to regulatory requirements concerning the quality of water and quantity of water usage in the environment, CWC has developed practices and procedures regarding its golf course water use which allow each property to be more self-sustaining. These practices include the construction of reservoirs and waterways that allow CWC to store and re-use rain water and runoff. CWC has also established acceptable practices for the monitoring of water quality standards at its golf courses. The Company believes that it has adopted appropriate practices and procedures and maintains adequate insurance to address environmental contingencies. As part of its environmental policies, CWC monitors, controls and manages environmental issues by way of measures for waste prevention, minimization and recycling of any waste products. A committee of the Board of Directors has been established to ensure appropriate policies and standards are maintained for environmental stewardship. CWC's golf courses are constructed and managed with a high level of environmental awareness. In addition, CWC's turf management team is highly knowledgeable and receives extensive training regarding the proper use of pesticides and chemicals required to promote healthy golf course conditions and comply with applicable regulations. OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH The opportunity to convert daily-fee golf clubs has diminished because CWC has only two remaining daily-fee golf clubs, which could be converted into member-only courses if market demand warrants. CWC has six additional greenfield sites on which six 18-hole championshipequivalent golf courses could be built if demand warrants. The development of a greenfield site

would require an investment of approximately $15 to $18 million to open an 18-hole championship-equivalent golf club for play, including a clubhouse and furniture, fixtures and equipment. A key long-term component of Jacks vision for CWC is the development of residential and resort properties on lands adjacent to its golf courses. In most cases, the land is commercial or agricultural and therefore must be re-zoned before development can commence. Jack believes that CWC has a lot of experience in dealing with the government on environmental stewardship issues, so he does not see the n e e d f o r re-zoning as a major concern. In order to maintain the desired level of growth, last year CWC entered into a commitment to purchase two well-established ski resorts in British Columbia and property for development into a third ski resort outside Calgary. The deadline to complete the purchase is now only months away and Jack does not want to lose the initial payment CWC made to establish the deal. T o f u r t h e r i t s m o v e i n t o O n t a r i o , t he Company is also considering the acquisition of a ski resort in Collingwood. Jack is very excited about these potential ventures and believes he can use the same strategies he used for CWCs golf investments to build up this new line of business. THE RETREAT The board recently held a strategic retreat at which Jack reviewed CWC performance (see Exhibit 1) and detailed the opportunities and his recommendation for the next stage of CWCs growth. The board withheld its endorsement until it had more time to review background material on the growth opportunities (Exhibit 2) and to consider the related risks. The board meets next week, and Jack is eagerly anticipating its approval so he can start work on CWCs second decade of growth. But he also knows he needs to be ready to answer the boards question: what can CWC really do?

Exhibit 1
CWC Financial Performance Summary Income Statement ($ millions) Revenue Operating Expenses Operating Income Non-operating items and taxes Net Income Balance Sheet ($ millions) Total cash and short-term investments Accounts receivable Inventories Other current assets Total current assets Net property, plant and equipment Goodwill and other intangible assets Other long-term assets Total assets Total current liabilities Long-term debt Other long-term liabilities Total liabilities Stockholders' equity Total liabilities and stockholders' equity Select Information and Ratios Return on Assets (Average) Net Margin (Profit/Revenue) Asset Turnover (Average) Return on Equity Revenue Growth (Year over Year) Revenue Growth (3-Year Average) Operating Cash Flow ($ millions) Capital Spending ($ millions) Free Cash Flow ($ millions) Current Ratio Days Sales Outstanding Days Inventory Fixed Assets Turnover 31 Dec 2008 31 Dec 2009 31 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2011 $ 169.0 $ 210.0 $ 205.0 $ 205.0 111.5 143.0 140.8 141.4 57.5 67.0 64.2 63.6 48.6 60.9 53.0 51.8 $ 8.9 $ 6.1 $ 11.2 $ 11.8 31 Dec 2008 31 Dec 2009 31 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2011 $ 6.0 $ 14.0 $ 11.0 $ 1.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 8.0 6.0 6.0 7.0 4.0 6.0 9.0 21.0 28.0 28.0 11.0 557.0 570.0 537.0 541.0 37.0 37.0 51.0 51.0 13.0 7.0 12.0 7.0 $ 628.0 $ 642.0 $ 628.0 $ 610.0 $ 110.0 293.0 119.0 522.0 106.0 628.0 $ 78.0 328.0 126.0 532.0 110.0 642.0 $ 80.0 316.0 77.0 473.0 155.0 628.0 $ 49.0 332.0 75.0 456.0 154.0 610.0

31 Dec 2008 31 Dec 2009 31 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2011 2.27% 0.97% 1.76% 1.91% 5.27% 2.90% 5.46% 5.76% 0.43 0.33 0.32 0.33 8.19% 5.73% 8.44% 7.63% 316.68% 24.72% -2.61% 0.32% 59.39% 71.77% 71.69% 6.81% $ -$ 11.0 $ 22.0 11.0 $ 0.18 3.48 19.55 0.54 29.0 $ 17.0 12.0 $ 0.35 4.46 16.78 0.37 31.0 $ 17.0 14.0 $ 0.36 4.35 15.60 0.37 34.0 14.0 20.0 0.24 5.03 17.06 0.38

Exhibit 2

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW General The North American ski resort industry is a mature, stable industry with significant barriers to entry. New industry trends, such as high-speed lifts, resort village development, innovations in ski equipment and the growing popularity of snowboarding, have supported growth in the ski resort industry resulting in increased skier visits across North America since the late 1990s. One of the principal measures of ski resort industry performance is the skier visit, which represents a person utilizing a ski ticket or ski pass to access a ski mountain for any part of one day, and includes both paid and complimentary access (but excludes sightseeing visits, mountain biking and summer glacier skiing). The 2009/2010 ski season generated 78.0 million skier visits to ski resorts in North America, the third highest total ever reported, despite well below average early and mid-season snowfall in Colorado and the lingering effects of the global economic downturn. The three years with the highest number of skier visits in North America have occurred in the past five years. Skier visits in North America have been stable, having grown at a compound annual growth rate of 1.1% since the 1998/1999 ski season. Total North American Ski Resort Visits (millions)
Skiers (in millions) 69.5 69.6 75.9 73.3 76.5 76.6 75.3 78.1 73.1 81.2 76.1 78.0
Average: 75.3

52.1

52.2

57.3

54.4

57.6

57.1

56.9

58.9

55.1

60.5

57.4

59.7

17.4 98/99

17.4 99/00

18.6 00/01

18.9 01/02

18.9 02/03

19.5 03/04

18.4 04/05

19.2 05/06

18.0 06/07

20.7 07/08

18.7 08/09

18.3 09/10

Canada

U.S.

Source: National Ski Areas Association: Kottke Report & Canadian Ski Council: Annual Facts & Stats Publication

The ski resort industry in North America consists of resorts ranging from small ski area operations that service local and regional guests to large resorts that attract both local and regional guests, as well as destination guests in search of a comprehensive resort experience. Destination guests typically generate a higher ticket yield, or effective ticket price (ETP), as well as higher total revenue per skier visit than local or regional guests. ETP is calculated by dividing skirelated lift ticket revenue by total skier visits. The pricing for various lift ticket products is such that single-day or multi-day tickets, which are typically purchased for a holiday or weekend of skiing, generate a higher ETP than season passes or discounted frequency cards. Destination guests generally buy these single-day or multi-day tickets, generating a higher ETP. Destination guests also have a longer length of stay per trip and are greater consumers of non-ticket amenities and services, such as ski school, equipment rental and food and beverage services. While generating lower ETP and revenue per skier visit, local and regional guests provide a consistent visitor base across ski seasons and are more frequent buyers of season pass or frequent skier card sales, an important source of stable annual revenues. From the 1998/1999 ski season to 2009/2010 ski season, the average ETP of ski resorts in the United States has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2%. Ski resorts in the United States had an average ETP of US$36.08 during the 2009/2010 ski season, the second highest on record despite the impact of the global economic downturn. Management believes that the compound annual growth rate of lift ticket prices at ski resorts in Western Canada since 2000 is comparable to that of the United States.

20
Source: Extract from Prospectus, Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, 2 November 2010 10

Exhibit 2

Average Effective Ticket Price of Ski Resorts in the United States (US$)
Effective Ticket Price

$25.38

$26.51

$27.15

$28.27

$27.69

$29.10

$31.47

$32.59

$35.12

$36.04

$36.11

$36.08

98/99

99/00

00/01

01/02

02/03

03/04

04/05

05/06

06/07

07/08

08/09

09/10

Source: National Ski Areas Association: Kottke Report & Canadian Ski Council: Annual Facts & Stats Publication

Ski resort consolidation and attrition have reduced the number of operating North American ski areas from 1,025 during the 1984/1985 winter season to 760 during the 2008/2009 season. Management attributes this consolidation and attrition to the differentiation between those ski resorts that have been able to fund significant infrastructure costs, such as the installation of state-of-the-art lifts, and offer an array of non-skiing services and amenities, and those ski resorts that have been unable to fund such improvements and provide such services and amenities. Management believes that continued consolidation and attrition in the ski resort industry will allow the larger ski resorts, which offer superior facilities and services, to increase skier visits and continue to gain market share. Industry Trends High-speed lifts, resort village development, innovations in ski equipment, the growing popularity of snowboarding, improved snowmaking capabilities and changes in industry demographics have all played a significant role in the growth, stability and long-term sustainability of the ski industry. High-Speed Lifts and Increased Terrain In the 1980s, the introduction of high-speed detachable lifts shortened lift lines and increased uphill capacity throughout the ski resort industry. By travelling slower at loading and exit points, these lifts have also contributed to making the ski experience more pleasant for all skiers, especially beginners. Many ski resorts have also invested significant capital to both upgrade existing lifts and expand their lift networks thereby increasing lift capacity. The ski resort industry has taken other steps, such as expanding trail offerings and developing terrain parks that are attracting a new generation of skiers while retaining the existing active skier base. These developments have improved the lift ride comfort, reduced wait and up-hill travel times and increased the variety of terrain available. These factors combine to create a better overall experience and allow guests to ski more on a given day. Resort Village Development By the 1990s, consumers created a growing demand for a ski resort experience beyond just skiing activities. Many larger ski resorts responded to this demand with the development of nightlife, entertainment, shopping, dining and spa amenities which created an overall high-end resort village experience. In addition, many resorts pursued growth through real estate development, from the sale of raw land to the building and operation of luxury lodges, condos, golf courses and base villages with retail shops, restaurants and hotels. Today, many large destination ski resorts such as Whistler Blackcomb provide a premier four season experience, attracting visitors with varied interests throughout the entire year. Ski Innovations A major innovation in alpine ski design in the 1990s was the shaped ski, also known as the parabolic ski. These skis are specifically designed to make it easier for users to turn. Although originally designed for beginner and intermediate skiers, virtually all skiers and racers today use shaped skis. For older skiers, the less physically demanding shaped skis have added years of active skiing while maintaining the full ski experience. For the beginner, the parabolic ski allows faster skill progression and results in less fatigue at the end of the day. With the emergence of parabolic skis, the ski resort industry is able to both attract an incremental number of new skiers and retain older skiers who might otherwise take up a less physically demanding activity. 21
Source: Extract from Prospectus, Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, 2 November 2010 11