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The British Are Coming - Back!

By J.D. O'Connor
May 15, 2006

Their mission: "Take that (North American) hill, guv!"

And they came well equipped; with plenty of new gear, the support afforded by a strong national currency, and their reputation as curious, intelligent travelers with a passion for new places.

UK tour operators said more of the 1.23 million skiers and riders in Great Britain visited North American ski destinations than ever before in 2005/06, with peak season dates and the ever-thrifty English taking advantage of last minute deals contributing to the spike.

And where did they go? It seems Whistler has been ranked North America's number one ski resort for several years now and "Ought Six," as the past season has been dubbed, was no exception.

"Great terrain, the most snow, great lifts and apres ski," said Bob Hale of Bristol. "I made it over twice. Hope to do it again."

Daily direct flights from London to Vancouver; commonality of language and bargain travel package all contributed to the influx of English to Whistler and, by extension, a favored few U.S. resorts.

"They could make it to Whistler and back for under a $1,000US," said Fiona Bowles, a travel advisor for a London tour operator. "Early on, many of the resorts were not getting a lot of snow. They offered incentives on rooms, shopping discounts in their villages, meals. That made it very affordable for a lot of people."

Hale agreed.

"The village at Whistler was great, everything from American style steak houses to Irish Pubs to Japanese sushi shops. But the best thing was that the weak Canadian dollar made everything dirt cheap," he said. "We were going to holiday in the Alps but the exchange rate made North America more palatable."

Crystal Ski Holidays, a premier UK ski tour company, won't release its annual research report on the British ski market for another month but insiders say the evidence is clear: there was a small increase in the numbers of UK skiers in the traditional countries - France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria - but the main growth is elsewhere.

Trips to the U.S. were boosted by additional direct flights to Denver, with roughly twice the number of British skiers visiting the Rockies over the prior year. Tougher immigration and travel requirements have done nothing to stem demand. Canada has seen a fall in UK visitors this year, despite a sharp recovery by Whistler. So the ease of getting to a resort does matter, according to a Crystal spokesman.

Some tour operators said it will be interesting to see how much "pond-jumping" grows, especially after the British get a taste of American powder. They also suspect the adventuresome English will also want to ski lesser known and equally challenging hills. Look for even more British accents in your cafeterias should the dollar weaken against the Euro.

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Comments

	Interesting article, but you seem to be confusing English and British - don't forget that plenty of Welsh, Irish and particularly Scottish skiers make it over to North America as well.
	Posted by: Chris Bowler | May 15, 2006 10:45 PM

	I've been skiing in North America for about 6 years, at resorts that host women's camps. Few resorts in Europe offer women-specific instruction :-(
	Posted by: Yvonne Kidd | May 16, 2006 05:36 AM

	Quite right, Chris. And with my last name, you'd think I would have known!
	Posted by: J.D. O'Connor Mountain News | May 16, 2006 08:36 AM

	Apologies for comment by nationalist celt above. As an Irishman I can safely say that I hear thousands more english accents than celtic ones when I go skiing in the states. The reason being that the southeast of England is one one of the richest places on earth while Wales and Scotland are poor with high death rates from fatty foods. The Irish are marginally richer than our celtic cousins.
	Posted by: | August 2, 2006 02:39 AM