“It was a good summer,” said Karen Bonell, Director of Marketing at Mount Washington. “Obviously, the weather was stellar. We had many days where the view was spectacular.”
Mountain biking grew by 25% over last year; the strong trend in this summer activity was evident when the Resort hosted a Canada Cup mountain bike race. They also hosted a B.C. Cup event, which they’ve done for a couple of years, and this year added a slope-style event, the Bearclaw Invitational. “We had 2,000 people come out to view that,” Bonell said.
The Resort conducted a lot more lessons this year; consequently they had more mountain bikes to rent out – about 35 in all – “and there were days we had rented them all,” Bonell said. “Which is a lot when you consider each bike cost us $3,000.”
Food and beverage service was a great success over the summer, too. “Our revenues for it were quite a bit higher than in previous years,” Bonell said. “We feel the quality was better this year.” This was Food and Beverage Manager Tim Defert’s first summer season, she added.
Raven Lodge opened up its front patio this past summer, which was licensed. Brunch at Raven Lodge was a hit, as was the catering for weddings and conferences. Speaking of weddings, Raven Lodge hosted a wedding almost every weekend and it’s booked into next year already.
All the Resort’s festivals – from beer and wine to chocolate – were sold out or close to being sold out and more than 25,000 visitors rode the chairlift. “In the summertime we have probably 100,000 visitors,” Bonell said, but they only track people who ride the chairlift.
Are all these successes signs that Mount Washington is ready to become an all-season resort? Not quite, Bonell said during a quiet autumn season. “I don’t think we’re year-round yet. We have a good overall summer operation, which has room to grow, and so does winter,” she said. “We’re definitely heading in the right direction.”