Winning Powder Mag contest should increase exposure, awareness and tourism in West Kootenay
By Bruce Fuhr
There was no million-dollar first prize or feature magazine story for the winner.
But that doesn’t seem to be a concern to anyone in the Kootenays after the Whitewater/Red Mountain tag team captured bragging rights in the recent Powder Magazine Ski Town Throwdown contest to find the best ski towns in North America.
“It validates what we locals all ready knew and have been pounding the pavement trying to tell the rest of North America for years,” Anne Pigeon, GM Indoor Operations and Marketingfor Whitewater Ski Resort Ltd, explained.
“Actually, it’s more than that,” Pigeon adds.
“It validates why most of us have given up the big careers and the pay cheques that went with them to live in this hard to get to place where nearly 40 percent of the population has a ski pass hanging from their jacket.
“It’s where the 20 centimeters rule trumps all and makes it okay to close the office, skip school and head to the mountain to catch the first fresh turns . . . and little towns can still win.”
The contest started in October to find the best ski town in North America.
Powder Magazine ranked the top 32 towns in North America, similar to the NCAA Basketball March Madness tournament draw.
Whitewater/Red Mountain was the top seed in the Back Scratcher Region.
Whitewater/Red first dusted off Sugarloaf from the East Coast of the United States before beating Whitefish, Montana and Crested Butte in Colorado to advance to the Final Four.
Sandpoint was the next victim before Rossland/Nelson topped Bozeman, Montana in the contest finale by a 11,426 to 10,572 margin.
“We we’re a little bit surprised,” Heather Hansman, online editor at Powder Magazine told The Nelson Daily from her office in San Clemente, CA.
“We kind of thought a place like Jacksons (Hole) would win because of the population so we’re a little surprised but impressed.”
Hansman heard Nelson Mayor John Dooley was going door to door to promote voting in the contest.
But she realizes there was a lot more to Nelson/Rossland’s win than political promotion.
“I think there was that local support, but I also think there’s a little mythical community up there,” Hansman said. “People know when you go to Canada there’s always good snow and cool people.”
It’s been more than a week since Rossland/Nelson topped Bozeman, Montana in the contest finale.
And according to Dianna Ducs Executive Directorof Kootenay Lake Tourism, a notoriety like this can only benefit the region.
“(Winning this contest) means exposure, awareness, increased tourism, increased economic impacts, recognition and an award we can all be proud of because it was a community effort,” Ducs said.
“The engagement was quite amazing – who would have thought we would win?”
“I think (Nelson Mayor) John Dooley knew we could do it all along – his positive words and efforts were one of the drivers amongst the businesses,” Ducs added.
“A big thank you goes out to everyone and their family and friends that participated in helping make Nelson and Whitewater a more prominent destination for potential tourists.”
While great press is all the resorts receive, one lucky voter will receive compliments of Powder Magazine an all-expense paid trip to Rossland and Nelson.
No doubt when the person arrives that snow, and there’s a lot of it for this time in the ski season, Hansman was talking about will be waiting.
Along with all those cool people, of course.
