Building Bridges

On the streets of every ski town, you hear the same refrain about the ski area, “They don’t care about town. They just want to keep everyone on the hill�. The tune in Fernie is no different than in any of the other 100’s of ski areas in North America. Usually there is a second chorus, “When (insert old owner’s name here) owned the area, they sure cared about the locals�. If you took Doc’s De Lorean back in time, you’d hear the same two refrains owner before owner before owner.

Ski areas and the towns are in a locked symbiotic relationship. They both need each other to some degree. The best relationships are built on respect, awareness and working together successfully on mutually beneficial projects

Sometimes the ski area doesn’t realize what the town brings to the table. When I lived in Breckenridge Colorado in the 70’s, this was certainly true. It changed in only a couple of years. Two distinct events brought about the change. The ski area expanded onto Peak 9 and added a lift based in town. A long time ski patrol member moved into the top slot on the mountain, bringing a community connection with the town to the mountain. These two changes created a foothold for the area in the town. The mountain, owned by Aspen, had not thought much about the town.  While the town/area debate turned nasty in Aspen, in Breckenridge, we began working well together. (As a note, with Pat O’Donnell as the CEO of Aspen, the town and area now work extremely well together. Pat created a strong community bond between the ski area and the town.)

Our situation in Fernie is not unique. The mountain is slightly removed from town. Quite a bit of infrastructure lies at the base of the mountain. Enough that many folks come down for the weekend, spend their time on the mountain and drive on back to Calgary. That’s it.

Randal MacNair tells the story of skiing on the mountain a couple years ago and meeting a guy who’d owned a house at the base for 6 years. In that six years, he’d never been to Fernie’s Historic Downtown. Didn’t even know it existed. On that chairlift ride, he got clued in, educated in the ways of Historic Fernie and now visits downtown with regularity.

On Friday, RCR and Fernie Alpine Resort (FAR) announced the establishment of the Summit Fund, an initiative to financially support Fernie community needs. FAR dedicated $150,000 to community projects in the coming five years. This formalized program gives organizations without a connection to the ski area an application process to access much-needed funds. The effort will fund roughly 12 community program needs a year. There is no requirement for matching funds. Just a perceived need and one that could benefit from the financial support of FAR.

FAR will continue funding their current programs, like the Pee Wee hockey and so on. The summit Fund will be in addition to those current commitments.

Programs like the Summit Fund are not new. Often as they grow, communities partner with the ski area and increase the funding pot. Historically, these partnerships benefit both the community and the ski area. The benefits are both financial and social. In the long run, the social aspect provides the most benefit for the town and the ski area. With the interaction, the town and the ski gain a working relationship that will move them together to bigger and better projects. The Summit Fund is the start. And a great bridge that FAR is building into the city of Fernie.

(For details on the summit fund, visit the FAR web site. The first applications will be accepted in June 2007.)