Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.
I have been told by some of you that when I write about snowboarding, you tune out on those days. If you are one of these people, then today is a good day to skip over on the blog. See you tomorrow.
However, if you’re not one of these people, and you enjoy exceedingly cool things, then you’re going to want to take 6 minutes and — at the very least — watch Part III of the above video. Travis Rice is one of the best. And in this Red Bull video he goes from BC to Wyoming. (If for whatever reason it doesn’t start in the right place, click here and fast forward to 7:22 for Part III.)
I once heard Quentin Tarantino say that if you choose the right song for the right scene in a movie, you’ll never be able to listen to that song ever again without thinking of the movie. (Think Pulp Fiction.) Now, this isn’t a movie per se, but it definitely feels like one of those cases. This techno song will forever remind me of this psycho “pillow” run.
Delta: “Ooohh, everyone is going to Jackson today!”
Me: “That’s because they’ve been getting a lot of snow.”
It’s that time of year again. I’m at the airport right now about to leave for my annual retreat to the mountains.
If you know me or you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I’ve been doing this every year at roughly the same time for almost a decade. Next year will be our 10th “annual”, so that likely means we’ll have to ratchet things up a bit.
Jackson Hole received 6″ of fresh powder last night and the weather forecast for this week is filled with even more snow. However, I think we may stay off Corbet’s Couloir. (Whatever you do, don’t click-through.)
Regular scheduled programming will resume tomorrow. If you need to reach me, you know how. There never seems to be a good time to be out of the office, but traditions are traditions, right?
Today was a snowboarding day. It was also the first day that I used my new (totally obnoxious) 40″ selfie stick. Note: It wasn’t fully extended for the above photo.
Internet access and time has been pretty scarce, so there won’t be much of a post today, which actually seems appropriate given yesterday’s post about being so busy.
Despite being rainy and unusually warm, I had a great time in Revelstoke, BC. I first heard about the city a few years ago when I told a close friend of mine (who is an avid snowboarder) that I was going to Whistler. He told me: “Forget Whistler. Go to Revelstoke.”
Revelstoke has been on the map for skiers and snowboarders for decades. Some consider it to be the helicopter skiing capital of the world. But there are only so many people who can afford $1,000+ per day skiing, so it wasn’t until 2007 when the first gondola opened up on Mount Mackenzie that people started calling Revelstoke the next Whistler, the next Jackson Hole, the next Zermatt, and so on.
As both a snowboarder and a real estate developer, this is of course exciting. Everybody wants to be a part of the next big thing and they want to call it before anyone else. That’s how you make money – by being right about things before the masses catch on and/or when everyone else thinks you’re wrong.
But 2007 happens to come before 2008. And 2008 wasn’t a kind year to the real estate community. Revelstoke was no exception.
The condos at the base of the mountain weren’t selling (about half of the ones that did sell were sold to Canadians I was told). Expansion plans to become the largest ski resort in the world were scaled back. And the resort teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. But since then, new ownership has taken over the resort and the sentiment on the ground seems to be that Revelstoke – as a real estate play – is somewhere near the bottom.
But something even more interesting is happening in Revelstoke, beyond just luxury condos at the base of a mountain. And since I was on the disabled list for the second half of my vacation, I had time to explore.
I was fortunate enough to meet a local entrepreneur (who happened to also be from Toronto) and his message to me was clear: Ontario is moving in. Both talent and capital from Ontario are starting to flock to this small mountain town of almost 8,000 full-time residents (it’s technically classified as a city). And from my experience at the bars and restaurants in town, he appears to be right.
Now, you might be thinking these people are just ski bums looking for an excuse to live in a mountain town. But is that such a unique and bad thing? Today’s up and coming generation is looking for lifestyle + career. And so if your city or community can offer both, you have a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting talent.
Revelstoke knows they have the outdoor amenities and the “epic pow”, so now all they need to do is bring the businesses. And that’s exactly what Revelstoke wants to do. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner, Revelstoke wants you to move there. I’m serious. The vision is to create a sustainable live, work, and play mountain community in the BC interior.
I hope that happens.
Drop me a line if you want to talk mountains and business.
Post Update: The beautiful photo of Revelstoke at the top of this post was taken by Ian Houghton out of BC. This is his business website and this is his Facebook page.
I’m off this evening to Banff (and then Revelstoke) for a 10 day snowboarding trip. If you’ve been reading Architect This City since this time last year, you’ll know that this is an annual tradition that I started with a group of close friends from grad school. It’s our annual retreat to the mountains and it’s our 6th year doing. I hope we never stop.
So what happens to ATC?
Regular scheduled programming will continue as usual. But don’t be surprised if I change things up and make the content a bit more personal on some of the days. I’ve also decided to try out something new and video blog throughout the trip using Snapchat Stories. If you’d like to follow along, my username is donnelly_b. There will also be a more traditional video to follow.
Finally, if you happen to know Banff and/or Revelstoke well, or happen to be from out west, I’d love to hear from you. It’s always great to get local insights.
