Stephen Ross
Devonian Properties
Mount Norquay has never really lived up to its true potential. Most Calgarians don’t even know the ski hill exists in Banff National Park. So what was Stephen Ross, a savvy Canmore-based land developer, thinking when he decided to take over the business this fall with his partners Ken Reid, Jeff Kohn, Scott Hutchenson and Peter, Robert and Leonard Suderman?
First of, the investment has emotional appeal for Ross, also the owner of Devonian Properties, a residential and commercial development company. Ross grew up skiing at Norquay and even learned how to ski there as a kid. Secondly, the ski business runs through his blood; his father was a minority owner of the Lake Louise ski hill.
Things have gotten off to a good start with a huge dump of snow early in the season. And the hill, which features a spectacular timber frame lodge, has picked up new business from area hotel operators. Will Ross and his partners give the other area ski hills a serious run for their money?
Q: Mount Norquay hasn’t been able to pack skiers in for a long time. Why do you think people have stayed away?
A: We don’t know why they didn’t come out. We think it’s largely due to marketing so we’ve already increased our marketing efforts to Calgary. Norquay has been here for 80-plus years and there are people in Calgary that have no idea it exists. There were only 84,000 ski visits last season and that’s woeful. We need some decent numbers, around 110,000.
What’s your plan to turn things around?
This asset is only being used for eight hours a day. It needs to be used for another five or six hours at night. We want to turn it into a venue for hotels like the Banff Springs and the Banff Lodging Company.
So this property was underutilized?
Totally. When you buy real estate you want to get the maximum and best use out of it. You look for ways to improve the existing asset. One of the classic ways to do this is to increase marketing, organize special events and offer specials on ski passes. All of the partners hit on the idea of night skiing to get the maximum use out of the hill.
Many of the hills in the United States are extremely successful. Why can’t you just borrow their business model?
It’s very difficult to recapitalize in Banff National Park. When you are in Vail, Aspen or even Whistler, you can mow down 10 acres of trees and throw up 100 condos and use the profits from accommodations to recapatilize. Here, we don’t have that ability which is why we’ve come up with a different model, utilizing the lodge in a more aggressive way and going for summer business. Plus, we have to find a way to keep our staff employed during the summer and find another source of revenue. It has to be self-sustaining.
Is there an opportunity to operate the facility during the summer?
Summer business will be crucial for the longevity of the ski hill. You have to offer things for people to do other than skiing. We want to open in the summer and have a nature centre. We have to negotiate with Parks Canada and everyone else to go through that process. Even though it’s in our lease, we have to present long-term plans that show that Mount Norquay will have a zero negative impact on the environment.
Are you prepared to lose your investment?
Oh, yeah. You don’t go into an investment without knowing that there’s a chance that you could lose everything. It’s a risk. We are going to do our best to make it work.
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