Tag: winter

• Western resort real estate is in very high demand

  

  People like ski and snowboard towns. Here’s an excerpt from a recent WSJ article talking about Park City:

  Prices continued to rise in most luxury ski towns this past year, but none grew as much as Park City, a former silver mining town 32 miles east of Salt Lake City. The average home sale price there grew 35% in 2023 from 2022, compared with a 9.4% increase at Vail and Beaver Creek and 3.2% at Aspen, according to the resort report by Summit Sotheby’s International Realty. 

  The main point of the article is this: Park City has gotten really expensive, and so people are now looking and buying homes further out in places like Heber City, Midway, and Kamas. Here’s how expensive expensive is:

  Over the last four years, Covid has stoked demand for western resort real estate. In Park City, single-family homes have sold for a median price of $4 million year-to-date, up from $1.996 million in 2019, according to Redfin, which averaged the monthly median sales prices weighted for the number of homes sold. One home was listed in September for $65 million, which could set a record for the state. It’s now under contract, according to listing agent Paul Benson of Engel & Völkers, who declined to disclose the sale price.

  This, of course, isn’t a novel phenomenon. It’s the whole “drive until you qualify” thing. But what’s interesting about this particular mountain example is that it’s not centered around access to a CBD or downtown; it’s centered around “how fast can I get to a ski and snowboard resort?”

  For example, Deer Valley has a new East Village that is expected to open up in 2025. This brings the cities mentioned above closer in. And buyers seem to be doing that math: “It’s a 25-minute drive today, but next year I’ll be able to get on a lift in 15 minutes. Score.”

  Given that Deer Valley also doesn’t allow snowboarders, it’s interesting to think about how these trends could be bifurcating the region between skiers and snowboarders. I don’t have any data on this, but I bet if you mapped it out, there would be some sort of clustering happen.

  The article also goes on to talk about transportation. Because you can’t talk about new development and real estate without talking about traffic. But I think Bill Ciraco (Park City Council) gets it exactly right in the article: This is a car problem, and less of a people problem.

  In my mind, the Wasatch Range is destined for something like this ONE Wasatch concept, which is/was a proposal to link seven resorts through a handful of new skiable connections. This is similar to what you’ll find in Europe, and it means less driving and more time on the mountain.

  That’s what everyone wants to be doing anyway.

  Photo by Lauren Pandolfi on Unsplash

  2024.10.11

• How the ski industry price discriminates

  Snowboarding in Europe, of course, sounds really fancy. And don’t get me wrong, it can be fancy if you want it to be. But the reality is that it’s also a cheaper option. And that’s because the price of a single day lift ticket at most resorts in America is now many multiples of what it costs in Europe. Think $250 vs. €50.

  North America has become the expensive destination.

  According to a recent Economist article titled “the economics of skiing in America,” resorts in Europe are often owned by local or national governments. This is not the case in America, and it’s why the lift tickets in Europe seem, by comparison, cheap. But this price differential is also the result of an evolving business model.

  Historically, owning a ski resort has never been a stable business in the US. And this makes sense. Most resorts make their money on lift ticket sales. However, sales are dependent on snowfall. If you get a lot of snow, then you make a lot of money. If the planet starts warming up and you don’t get a lot of snow, then you don’t make a lot of money. Vail has since changed this.

  What they have done is made it so punitive to buy a single day lift ticket in North America, that even if you’re an occasional skier, the only sensible thing to do is buy a subscription-like pass in the spring — well before the next season starts.

  This is what I have started doing and it gives you unlimited skiing for less than the price of a few days. It also gives Vail a source of revenue that isn’t so dependent snowfall. Season passes now make up about 61% of their lift-ticket revenue, according to The Economist. At the same time, it is a model that relies on being able to price discriminate against single-day, non-pass users:

  In basic economic theory, excessive market power reduces the efficiency of an industry. Firms reduce output so as to be able to charge more. There is, however, an exception: if a monopolistic firm can charge different prices to different customers, it need not reduce output to increase its profit. The skiing industry shows the truth of this. As the industry has consolidated, daily prices have soared, extracting more cash from price-insensitive skiers.

  But this isn’t the only way to do it. There’s also the whole real estate thing. Last year, Reed Hastings, cofounder of Netflix, became the majority owner of Powder Mountain. And here, they’re trying out a different business model:

  This December, Powder Mountain in Utah announced that it would be moving to a model where only local property-owners are allowed to ski certain chairlifts. The idea is to profit from real-estate sales, by offering private skiing without the crowds. “To stay independent and uncrowded, we needed to change,” says Reed Hastings, the firm’s boss.

  Even still, neither of these approaches is making snowboarding and skiing more accessible. Which is why it’s not uncommon to come across stickers and t-shirts at local ski shops that say, “Vail — ruining ski towns since 1966.” People are missing the old days when lift tickets were cheap and the lines on powder days weren’t so long.

  What skiing needs is in fact much of what the economy more generally needs: supply-side reform, and especially the construction of new housing and transport in the most popular spots. Though there are more skiers than ever, there are in fact fewer resorts than there were a few decades ago.

  This sounds familiar.

  All quotes are from The Economist.

  2024.04.06

• The Enchanting Village

  

  The story of Avoriaz 1800 starts in the 1960s.

  Downhill skier Jean Vuarnet, whose name is today found on cool sunglasses, had just become an Olympic Champion at Squaw Valley in California. He returned to his home in Morzine, France (located in Haute-Savoie) and was asked to help build a new resort on the empty plateau above the town.

  So he, and whoever else, raised some money, got the necessary approvals, and managed to successfully get the first lifts operational. But the resort quickly ran into financial difficulties and, apparently, bankruptcy became a possibility.

  The turning point came when he met Paris-based developer Robert Brémond. He had the capital and the experience, and so Vuarnet eventually ceded the project to him in 1962. In 1964, Robert then asked his son, Gérard, who was only 27 at the time, to lead the project. Supposedly he said to him, “the mountains are for the younger generation.”

  Gérard then went out and hired a young architect named Jacques Labro. He was also in his 20s at the time; 26 to be exact. The mandate he gave Labro was clear: design the ideal recreational resort. At the same time, he was asked to build upon Vuarnet’s original vision for Avoriaz. The result was an audacious masterplan designed around three guiding principles.

  First, it was to be a completely car-free resort, which was/is a big deal and an accomplishment that remains true today. To access Avoriaz by car you either need to park below in Morzine and take a gondola up, or park at the entrance to the resort.

  Two, it was to be an ideal place for skiing (snowboarding didn’t exist just yet). This meant that the entire resort had to be sloped correctly so that everything would be ski in and ski out.

  Finally, it was to have decidedly modern architecture that fit sensitively within the landscape. They didn’t want it to look like some ideal Swiss mountain village. What they wanted was bold, different, and highly sustainable. The result is some of the most unique mountain architecture to be found anywhere.

  For a preview of the village’s architecture, check out these photos by Alastair Philip Wiper. They were part of an exhibition called “Avoriaz: The Enchanting Village.” Along with this story, they will probably make you want to visit the place. That’s certainly the case for me.

  Photo by Rémi Bertogliati on Unsplash

  2024.02.11

• 13th annual+

  

  It’s that time of year again: the annual ski and snowboard trip.

  Regular readers of this blog will know that this happens each and every year, provided a global pandemic isn’t currently underway. Last year we went to Park City and this year we’re off to Lyon and Les 3 Vallées. Is there anything better than urban + mountain? I don’t think so.

  This year’s is also unique in that I selfishly upgraded it into a slash bachelor party for myself. And that’s why I’m calling it the 13th annual, plus.

  So what should you expect on this blog for the next 10 days or so?

  You should expect more travel, food, and snowboarding-related content, as well as more photos. I generally never travel without my Fujifilm. I’m also thinking about experimenting with more real-time posts, and possibly even multiple posts per day. Basically something more akin to a social feed. We’ll see if that happens.

  Regardless, if beautiful European cities and sublime mountains aren’t your thing, you may want to check back in early February for our regularly scheduled city building programming.

  Photo by Inés Álvarez Fdez on Unsplash

  2024.01.24

• Winter Wonderland (and 3 things to read)

  This is what it looks like in Mont-Tremblant right now:

  

  It’s currently -11 degrees celsius and it’s expected to snow for most of the day. It’s starting to come down right now. But this evening it’s supposed to warm up to +1 degrees celsius, which means it may turn into (freezing) rain. I hope we see a lot more snow than rain. Nobody wants an icy mountain.

  If you’re looking for things to read this morning, here are 3 pieces:

  1. In American Towns, Private Profits From Public Works. It’s a NY Times article talking about how cash-strapped towns are turning to private equity firms to pay for their infrastructure. 

  2. How Zoning Laws Shaped New York City Over the Last Century. This is about an exhibition being held at The Museum of the City of New York right now. The rules we make shape our built environment. Thanks John for the link.

  3. Authenticity, and how Snapchat is banking on it. I am very fascinated by Snap Inc.’s ability to think differently and adopt counterintuitive business strategies. There’s also a cultural dimension to all of this.

  2016.12.26

• Fun Friday: How Montreal makes winter awesome

  //player.vimeo.com/video/113321361

  It’s wintertime in Canada and that means people complaining about the cold and/or the fact that in our climate there are certain things that simply can’t (or shouldn’t) be done when it comes to city building.

  But I don’t buy that.

  A great counter example is Igloofest in Montreal. Unless you’re into electronic music (OK, fine, young people call it EDM today), you probably haven’t heard of it. But it’s basically an outdoor dance party on Montreal’s waterfront in the middle of the winter.

  The opening night is tonight and the overnight low is expected to hit -27 degrees celsius. Take a look at the video at the top of this post though (click here if you can’t see it). That’s how many people are going to crowd outside in the cold and dance their hearts out this evening.

  And so whether you’ve got harsh winters or summers, there are always creative ways to make it work for you. You just have to own it.

  If anyone would like to take a trip to Montreal this winter, I promise to stand by my words and dance outside in the cold. Have a great weekend everyone.

  2015.01.16

• Life below zero and underground

  

  A few years ago, I was touring a friend from the US around Toronto’s Financial District and the first thing he said to me was: “You have no retail.” And that’s certainly what it might look like at first glance.

  But there’s actually lots of retail. It’s just all underground in an over 30 kilometer long network of walkways called the PATH.

  Initially conceived of as the antidote to Canadian winters, “underground cities” are a kind of uniquely Canadian form of urbanism. Toronto and Montreal have the largest ones in the world and they continue to grow. As new towers are built, new connections are added.

  But the downside to all of this is that it pulls street life down underground. And it can conceal a lot of the urban vibrancy that is actually take place. So maybe we need to come up with design solutions to better connect these subterranean cities back to street level and also not forget about the street.

  I’m thinking about this today because of a CBC documentary I watched this morning called Life Below Zero. It basically argues that – unlike other cold climate cities and countries – the vast majority of Canadians actually hate winter. And underground cities are our way of trying to ignore it.

  Well, I don’t hate winter. In fact, I love it because it signals snowboarding season for me. But I may be in the minority. What’s your position on winter?

  Image: Flickr

  2014.12.28