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Intrawest

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Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc.
Company typePrivate
NYSE: SNOW
Founded1976; 49 years ago (1976)
Defunct2017 (2017)
FateMerged
SuccessorAlterra Mountain Company
HeadquartersDenver, Colorado, U.S.
Key people
Tom Marano (CEO)
Number of employees
13,900
Websitewww.intrawest.com

Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. was a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1976 as a privately funded real estate development company. In 2006, Intrawest was purchased by Fortress Investment Group, a private equity investment company, and in 2011 relocated to Denver, Colorado. Fortress was under financial pressure related to the Intrawest debt, but a new loan with a single lender was completed in April 2010 and all prior lenders were repaid in full.[1]

In May 2017, it was announced that Intrawest would no longer exist as a public company after its acquisition by Henry Crown and Company and KSL Capital Partners. Intrawest resorts are now operated by Alterra Mountain Company, which announced its new name at the 2018 Outdoor Retailer show in Denver, Colorado.[2]

History

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Intrawest was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Joe Houssain.[3]

In 1986, Intrawest acquired Blackcomb Mountain from the Federal Business Development Bank, a Canadian Crown Corporation, and Fortress Mountain of Alberta (no relation to Fortress Investments LLC), a wholly owned division of Aspen Skiing Company. The company later went public, listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges and, in 1996, merged with Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation to form Whistler-Blackcomb resort, a venue of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Intrawest eventually spun off Whistler-Blackcomb and sold the last of its shares in that company in 2012.

The Intrawest network included mountain resorts, the Club Intrawest private resort club with nine locations in North America, and Canadian Mountain Holidays, the largest heli-skiing operation in the world.[4]

Intrawest was acquired by Fortress Investment Group in 2006,[5] at which time CEO Houssain stepped down,[6] and the company was delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. In 2011, the company relocated from Vancouver to Denver, Colorado.[7]

On November 12, 2013, Intrawest filed an initial public offering with the New York Stock Exchange to raise up to $100 Million.[8]

In 2016, Intrawest initiated significant reductions in full time staff to achieve rapid cost reductions.[9] Numerous key staff positions have been eliminated at its corporate headquarters and resort locations. This follows the sale[10] of the Club Intrawest time share lodging operation to Diamond Resorts International at the end of 2015. It is unclear regarding the company's longer term strategies as it continues to display inconsistent approaches in its business and staffing model. In 2017, Intrawest was sold to Henry Crown and Company (which owns Aspen Skiing Company[11]) and KSL Capital Partners for $1.5 billion.[12] In May 2017, it was announced that Intrawest would no longer exist as public company. The newly formed company is called Alterra Mountain Company, which was announced at the 2018 Outdoor Retailer Show in Denver, Colorado.[2][13]

Latest resorts

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Resorts owned at least in part by Intrawest included:

Former resorts

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References

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  1. ^ "Intrawest strikes refinancing deal with lenders". Reuters. April 27, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Blevins, Jason (May 10, 2017). "Inside look at the $1.7 billion deal that weds Aspen, Steamboat, Winter Park and Canadian Mountain heliskiing operation". The Denver Post.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Peter (August 12, 2006). "New Intrawest owner could break up firm". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  4. ^ "Canadian Mountain Holidays: Our Story".
  5. ^ "A lot has been happening at Intrawest...and Snowshoe Mountain". SkiSoutheast News. August 14, 2006. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011.
  6. ^ Barnett, Bob (November 3, 2006). "Intrawest founder retires". Pique Newsmagazine. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  7. ^ Blevins, Jason (January 26, 2011). "Intrawest moving headquarters to Denver area". The Denver Post. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  8. ^ Pankratz, Howard (November 12, 2013). "Denver's Intrawest Resorts files $100 million IPO". Vail Daily. Swift Communications. Retrieved November 12, 2013. Intrawest Resorts Holdings, which operates Steamboat Ski & Resort, Winter Park Resort and other ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada, has registered for an initial public offering seeking to raise as much $100 million
  9. ^ Transcripts, SA (November 3, 2016). "Intrawest Resorts' (SNOW) CEO Tom Marano on Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  10. ^ "Diamond Resorts International to Acquire Intrawest Resort Club Group | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com (Press release). November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  11. ^ Blevins, Jason (January 11, 2018). "The new name in ski resorts you need to know: Alterra Mountain". The Denver Post.
  12. ^ "Intrawest ski resort firm to be sold for $1.5B US". CBC News. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  13. ^ Blevins, Jason (April 11, 2017). "Details are scant, but big investments in Steamboat and Winter Park are coming". The Denver Post.
  14. ^ Blevins, Jason (April 10, 2017). "$1.5 billion deal rocks Colorado ski industry as Aspen Skiing Co. acquires Steamboat and operator of Winter Park resort". The Denver Post.
  15. ^ "Intrawest sells Mont Ste-Marie resort". The Globe and Mail. 2002. Intrawest Corp. has sold its Mont Ste-Marie, Que., ski resort and golf course to Camp Fortune Resorts for an undisclosed amount. Vancouver-based Intrawest said it will retain about 2,000 acres of land at the base of the mountain for future development. The company acquired the resort in 1996.
  16. ^ Hayes, Duffy (October 5, 2005). "Intrawest sells off Mammoth". Summit Daily News. Retrieved November 12, 2013. Intrawest announced the finalization of the sale of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
  17. ^ "KSL Capital Partners Acquires 24% Interest in Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).
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