Behind the Brand®

Jeff Adamson [00:00:08] Welcome to Behind the Brand presented by Neo. We take an inside look at the leaders behind today's most influential brands. I'm your host, Jeff Adamson. As co-founder of Neo Financial and SkipTheDishes, I'm fascinated by what it takes to build great companies. On this podcast, we'll learn from leaders that are reimagining, transforming, and innovating in the financial and retail industries across Canada. Let's get going!

I am excited to introduce Kendra Scurfield, Brand and Communications Director at Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort. Over the last decade, Kendra has been instrumental in promoting the unique features and experiences offered by the resort.

Founded in 1928, Sunshine Village is a premier ski and snowboard resort located 7,500 feet above sea level in Banff, Canada. They are known for their innovative snow farming techniques and boast Canada's longest non-glacier ski season.

It’s great to have you on the show, Kendra!

Jeff Adamson [00:01:12] Kendra, first question. Skiing or snowboarding?

Kendra Scurfield [00:01:16] Definitely snowboarding.

Jeff [00:01:17] I figured someone who grew up on a ski hill would be, by far, a skier.

Kendra [00:01:21] For me, I think, I don't remember learning to ski. I just always knew that I could ski and I could ski well, and I never had to work for it, so I didn't value it as a skill set.

Jeff [00:01:32] So it was, it was too easy?

Kendra [00:01:33] It was too easy. And then snowboarding, I fell a lot. I struggled with it at the beginning, and I think I fell in love with the process of getting good and becoming an expert. So now I identify as a snowboarder, predominantly.

Jeff [00:01:45] Man, I'm like, half heartbroken because I feel like we're not growing up. Well, I grew up in Saskatchewan, so it was not exactly like we had mountains. But that was when snowboarding became popular and it was like, a cool thing to do. But then after like wiping out enough and like being annoyed with having to take my boot out and everything, then I was like, I'm just gonna go back to skiing cuz it's easier. But it seemed like the cool people wanted to do snowboarding. What is it now? Like what's more in vogue right now?

Kendra [00:02:12] I think it's about doing what fits with you and who you are. And yes, snowboarding can be annoying when you have to skate, but if you read the mountain and you read where kind of the undulations are, you can really avoid ever skating. So, it's fun once you get to know the mountain really well and be able to ride by braille.

And I think people are really starting to identify more with the things that catch them, whether it's going super fast or the terrain parks and, I think there's a lot more freedom to just express yourself on either one plank or two plank.

Jeff [00:02:45] Okay ride by braille, is that your way of saying kind of riding by feel? Just like feeling the mountain?

Kendra [00:02:51] Yeah. So on a day when it is completely white out and you can't see anywhere and you've got a bit of vertigo because you're trying to get your bearings, and I usually wear bright colors so I can put that visual sight in my line.

I call it riding by braille because you can't see any of the bumps and you're really out of your element. And I think so often, I know that I forget how fortunate I am to be fully able-bodied, able-sighted, and when you take away a sense like sight, you're really out of your element and it can mess with you. So it's sort of listening to your body and feeling when the mountain has a compression or….

Jeff [00:03:26] Hold on. When you say out of sight, you mean like, as in it's so much snow or…

Kendra [00:03:29] So much snow and so, um, clouded in that you can't really see. You can't see, like, I couldn't see you.

Jeff [00:03:36] Don't, normal people just stop when that happens?

Kendra [00:03:38] But sometimes you can't stop!

Jeff [00:03:39] [Laughing] So you just keep going.

Kendra [00:03:40] Yeah.

Jeff [00:03:41] Just by feel. Okay, so you grew up on a ski hill…

Kendra [00:03:45] Guilty.

Jeff [00:03:46] And I think that's an ex, I think that's an experience that many people have no idea about. Tell us a little bit about what it's like growing up at Sunshine.

Kendra [00:03:52] It was somewhat of a fairytale, if I'm being honest. It was a really magical early childhood. I think growing up at Sunshine to me, well it's all I know, but I remember waking up to the sounds of the cats as a little kid and…

Jeff [00:04:08] Cats as in not furry animals, you're talking about mechanical machines.

Kendra [00:04:12] Not the purring, meowing, yeah. And waking out to the sound of the beep, beep beep, beep beep. And the excitement of skiers and snowboarders. And for me it was just a winter wonderland that I got all the hot chocolate I could possibly drink. I could have Shirley Temples, I could eat maraschino cherries. I got to ride a gondola up and down to the office with my dad and go and ski lessons, and it was a really fun childhood.

I think as I got a bit older, obviously I realized that it wasn't that normal and well, what is normal? It was a lot more unusual than a lot of contemporaries and how they grew up. But for me, it's home. It's where I definitely feel most comfortable.

Jeff [00:04:52] So this is a family business.

Kendra [00:04:54] Family business since ‘81.

Jeff [00:04:56] So your great, or your grandfather purchased Sunshine in the eighties, but Sunshine started in the twenties, did it not?

Kendra [00:05:03] So Sunshine was originally discovered as part of Sir William Van Horne's big push to get tourism to Banff. And Sir William Van Horne was the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Pacific Railway when it was being built across Canada. And there's this…

Jeff [00:05:19] Back when they knighted CEOs.

Kendra [00:05:20] Right. You there are now CEO of this massive corporation and I shall pay you a princely fee.

Jeff [00:05:25] [Laughing] Why don't they do that anymore?

Kendra [00:05:27] I wish.

Jeff [00:05:29] Okay, so, so, Sir William, the CEO Knight, he came out, was trying to drive people to Banff.

Kendra [00:05:33] He got to Banff and he exclaimed. I imagined he had this very posh accent. “Well, if I can't export the scenery, I’ll import the tourists!”

So in 1886, he began construction on what is now the Banff Springs Hotel, and it opened in 1888 for its first paying guests. Obviously he was a master at courting the press. He got rich Bostonians and New Yorkers to take the train and summer in Banff.

And as he was looking for ways to expand the offerings for his visitors, they went on these little expeditions to find high alpine camps that they could use as a base camp. And that's when Sunshine was found by the Brewster brothers. And there's a quote of an early explorer to the area that basically says, “I've come to realize three things in life are certain. Death, taxes, and snow at this Alpine village.”

Jeff [00:06:21] Really?

Kendra [00:06:22] Yeah.

Jeff [00:06:22] That's how they describe sunshine?

Kendra [00:06:23] That's how they describe sunshine.

Jeff [00:06:25] What was Banff like at that time though? Because if, I'm just thinking if someone lives in New York or Boston coming to Banff, Alberta in the 1800s. It's not exactly a posh place though, is it?

Kendra [00:06:37] Well, it had the castle in the Rockies and it had the Banff Springs and the hot springs was touted for all of its medicinal benefits and the wonders and beauty, and it really caught on with that elite crowd wanting to get out of Dodge and see the mountains and emerge themself in nature. And it was just such a different sense of scenery that they'd ever seen.

And I think about it so often, I'm told by visitors that the drive from Calgary to Banff is the most beautiful drive they've ever done. And I’m like really? Like, have you not taken the parkway to Jasper?

Jeff [00:07:12] [Laughing] Yeah.

Kendra [00:07:13] But it, they describe it as like you come outta the prairies, then you've got these rolling foothills, and then all of a sudden the mountains hit you in the face and it's just shockingly beautiful.

And I think that was really the draw for so many of those early tourists who would spend three months at a time and yes, there wasn't Lululemon on Main Street or a popcorn shop, but there were probably other things and activities and horse riding that they would really go and do in their summers.

Jeff [00:07:37] I'm always blown away by hearing stories about explorers and I mean, these are tourists in the 1800s that sound more rugged than some of the most rugged people that live today because like, what was life like back then? Like if you wanted to go to Sunshine back then, like you're taking a horse….

Kendra [00:07:55] You're taking a horse, yeah.

Jeff [00:07:56] Presumably, and going through like waist deep snow. Like how are they even enjoying the mountains at that stage?

Kendra [00:08:03] I think there's such a wild west mentality. And you think back about what makes Alberta great and I'm proud to be an Albertan because we're built by hard workers, those with vision and resiliency and grit and determination. And we had this province with all these various environmental changes, yet we got out and discovered it and made it something. And I think there was that hunger for adventure or, or a taming of the wild.

Jeff [00:08:34] There is something totally unique about going into, you know, [the] Banff-Lake Louise area. Going down to Yoho…

Kendra [00:08:40] Mm-hmm.

Jeff [00:08:41] The Kootenays. Like, it is like a remarkable place.

Kendra [00:08:43] It is!

Jeff [00:08:44] And for people who are listening…

Kendra [00:08:45] You can get lost!

Jeff [00:08:46] A couple friends and I actually went and did this amazing hike. I think it's in Yoho, called the Rockwall. Have you been to that one?

Kendra [00:08:52] I have, yeah.

Jeff [00:08:53] That is just unbelievable. It's almost like the land before time.

Kendra [00:08:56] It is the land before time!

Jeff [00:08:58] Like it's just extraordinary. And to think that it's literally like a couple hours away from…

Kendra [00:09:02] Us. From Calgary.

Jeff [00:09:03] And hardly anyone really knows about it. Yeah. We're just so lucky to have these types of things here. So not only did you grow up on the mountain, you grew up in a family business as well.

Kendra [00:09:11] Mm-hmm.

Jeff [00:09:12] What are, what are… A lot of people think, like they'll look at sunshine and be like, oh, this like massive business that just runs itself, you know? It must have been like really easy. What do you think people don't really understand about your early life growing up?

Kendra [00:09:23] There's a lot I don't think people understand, and my grandfather bought Sunshine in 1981. He bought Sunshine, I heard from an aunt, because he thought it was one of the most beautiful places he had ever been and he had ever skied and it was worthy of its location high in the Canadian Rockies.

And sadly, he passed away in 1985 in an avalanche. And my dad was the eldest of seven children, or is the eldest of seven children. When my grandpa bought sunshine, it was a way to diversify his assets. He'd been a very…

Jeff [00:09:57] He's an incredible businessman!

Kendra [00:09:58] He was an incredible businessman, a very successful entrepreneur, community builder, and his philosophy was that if I invest in community, everything else will follow through because community is your network. It's your customer, it's your base, it's, it's everything.

And when he passed away, my dad was only 28 years old, and so he became CEO of this incredible resort at 28 years old. And his leadership team walked from him because they didn't think he had the skill set set to do it.

Jeff [00:10:25] Wow.

Kendra [00:10:26] They didn't want him to succeed and my dad kind of put up his middle finger and said, “Look at me now! I can build an incredible resort and I'll make skiing more accessible and I will do my best to change the industry and to make skiing a fun family sport for the masses in a way that is safe and enjoyable.” And so he's really infused his vision of fun, family, and guest-centric service into it. And through it, we've grown.

We didn't have Goat’s Eye when I was a kid. Goat’s Eye came to be in 1995, and that's something I'm incredibly proud of, my dad's contribution to the ski industry. Other things I’m incredibly proud of is that Sunshine had, with Angel Express, the first high speed quad in the Canadian Rockies, and we now have the most modern fleet and the most high speed lifts in the Rockies.

And that has changed how skiers skis. So I don't know if you were, you remember being a little kid and your parents being like, “So how many runs did you do today?” Nobody asks that anymore because you can literally ski more than you can do. You can do four or five runs in an hour.

Jeff [00:11:27] Maybe even just outline Sunshine cuz a lot of people listening may have never been to Sunshine or, or know really what Sunshine is. Maybe just give everyone the Coles Notes on what Sunshine is.

Kendra [00:11:37] Founded in 1928, Banff Sunshine Village is the premier ski destination and snowboard destination in the Canadian Rockies. We are located 90 minutes west of Calgary's International Airport, 15 miles west of Banff. When you get to Sunshine, you arrive in our Base Zone, our Bourgeau Zone. You'll take a 15 minute gondola that's five kilometers up to our Village area.

Once up at Sunshine, you have 3,358 acres of skiable terrain to explore. We don't make snow, so we have natural packed powder. We collect our snow, and it's really a difference of snow that you'll ski while at Sunshine. Our terrain of 134 runs is spread out across three different mountains as well.

Jeff [00:12:18] Wow. Okay so we're talking about a lot of space and you can't even get onto the ski lift, like how high does the gondola need to take you just to get to where the skiing starts?

Kendra [00:12:28] Our gondola is set at 5,600 feet above sea level, just over a mile high, and it will take you up to 7,200 feet above sea level in our village. But if you get off halfway, you can also ski our Goat’s Eye region.

Jeff [00:12:42] And that provides a bit of an advantage as well, does it not? Because we're starting to see the fact that climate change is making it so that some resorts are not getting as much snow. And the lower altitude you are, then the more susceptible you might be. Is that, is that a distinct advantage for Sunshine, that you guys are a little bit higher up and you get more snow?

Kendra [00:13:00] Definitely. So our location, high on the Continental Divide, we're actually on the border of Alberta and British Columbia, and we are Canada's highest ski resort. It does make us a magnet for all of the snow that comes in through the Pacific. Where at our location every last drop of precipitation is squeezed out of the clouds, and because we are so high, the snow of course, lasts longer than it would in other places. But, yes our…

Jeff [00:13:22] Yeah, you were skiing on Canada Day last year.

Kendra [00:13:23] We were skiing on Canada Day last year!

Jeff [00:13:25] I remember hearing about that and I saw some of the videos. It is just totally bizarre to think about. That might be like 30 degrees out and you've got enough skiing, like how many, uh, skiers and snowboarders did you have on Canada Day?

Kendra [00:13:35] We had over 2,500 skiers and snowboarders on Canada Day, and we did not have that much terrain open.

Jeff [00:13:40] How many other resorts in North America were skiing on that day?

Kendra [00:13:44] I think it was maybe us and one or two in the US.

Jeff [00:13:48] I know a lot of people, like I grew up in, in a family business, and there's always that decision of do you stay in the business? Do you go off and do your own thing? What made you decide, cuz you, you also went to, to university abroad, you went to Gonzaga and uh, so presumably there you would've been exposed to other things, but you chose to come back and work in the business. Walk us through that thought process of why, after getting exposed, did you make that choice to come back?

Kendra [00:14:11] I joke that Sunshine is my famous big brother, and being my famous big brother, obviously it's my favorite sibling. I have been in love with Sunshine since I can remember. Sunshine was just always something I wanted to be a part of.

And my first job was actually working in the rental shop at Sunshine before I got my ski instructor certification to become an instructor. And it was something I've always wanted to be involved in. And I went to university with the intent that I will get skills to come back to the business and my father made me work elsewhere. I worked for a home builder. I did some fitness studio stuff, but I always wanted to come back. I was allowed back after I got my MBA and it's been a dream come true working for the company.

Jeff [00:14:54] So what's that process like, though? I know what it's like to interview for a company. I also interview a lot of people to work here at Neo, but when you're basically having to convince your own dad to let you in, like how do you go about doing that? Because it's not just business. It's also family, it's personal. How does that go?

Kendra [00:15:10] I overworked the position, so I put in the hours I studied, I did whatever menial task, other duties as assigned he asked me for. Anytime there was something Sunshine related, I would jump and I would do it.

Jeff [00:15:24] So do you, do you feel like there's an unfair kind of standard that you're held to because of your last name?

Kendra [00:15:29] There will always be perceptions that my last name got me the job, or got me in the door. But this isn't about my last name being a hindrance, because in so many ways it's also a blessing. I think in a way, my challenge is how do I identify as Kendra? Not necessarily a Scurfield all the time, and that's where I really have to focus on.

I think some of the challenges that I do have is, people watch more closely. If I say something in jest that's taken the wrong way, or if I have an off day, I just have to be very careful on how I present myself because it's easy to say, “Oh, she's mean,” or “She's a bitch”.

Jeff [00:16:05] Well, and I know that like my relatives who are still working in the family business are always on, all the time putting in just crazy amounts of hours.

Kendra [00:16:13] But you must be on all the time.

Jeff [00:16:15] Of course, but I also run a company, and I have co-founders and founding team members. And I mean, we've got an incredible, committed team here at Neo and we're really, really fortunate and grateful to have those people who feel like this is something worth spending their time to. But it's very different than a family business…

Kendra [00:16:29] Very.

Jeff [00:16:30] I mean, most of Neo's employees are shareholders in the business. Well, I know that by working hard, I'm actually helping increase the upside of the person next to me and, and my teammates, and my colleagues. In a family business though, it's just, it's so, the dynamic is so much different because you, you know, have to be, because it's, it's part of your grandpa's legacy.

Kendra [00:16:50] Mm-hmm.

Jeff [00:16:51] And your father's legacy. And then perhaps you've got, you know, you've got a toddler at home, maybe their legacy as well. How do you manage that kind of pressure? Because it's also, Sunshine is such an iconic name. I'd say that there probably isn't many people in Western Canada for sure, but like a lot of people in North America know about Sunshine.

You guys bring so much happiness and joy to so many people. Like when you get up in the morning and you're like, Hey, like this is kind of like my family's legacy. How do you manage that pressure?

Kendra [00:17:17] For me, we're a family and I think of our team members as family members, and I was really surprised with how important it was for our team to meet my son and how much joy bringing my son to the mountains brought some of our long-term team members.

They see him as an extension of the family and the continuation of Sunshine and how we're run. And I think so much of my job is to be an advocate for winter sports, for winter, for snow business, and to encourage people in Alberta and elsewhere to get outside and explore this beautiful continent we have.

We're so lucky for the diversity, not just in our province, but in our country and our continent. And as cities grow, my job is to inspire people to think a little differently and say, “Hey, you know what? I wanna experience what that cold white stuff is. I wanna slide. I wanna see the Rockies.” And how do we be ambassadors for environmentalism without getting people onto our slopes?

Jeff [00:18:18] It's such a hard balance to strike because you want to be as inclusive as possible. You want as many people to come out there and ride the slopes, but at the same time, it's not available to everyone. It's a major operation to run. Whenever I've been to Sunshine, I've always been just in awe of the scale, the number of moving parts, and I, I actually have said this many times to myself, not out loud. This would be a very difficult business to run.

Kendra [00:18:42] It is, yeah.

Jeff [00:18:43] This would be very difficult. Like there's a lot of, I'm like, I'll stick to technology. It just seems a lot easier. If you're dealing with hundreds, potentially thousands of employees. You've got people coming in from all around the world to work there. I mean, you gotta deal with housing and logistics. You're dealing with government, environment and you've got, I mean, you manage a lot of the marketing side of things. I'm probably missing a whole bunch of them.

But I mean, how do you balance out profitability with inclusivity? How do you run a profitable business while also trying to make it affordable for people?

Kendra [00:19:14] We really diversify our product and our ticket offering for that affordability. One thing we did this year in light of the hyperinflation was we froze the price of our Sunshine Super Card at $99. And that Super Card gets you your first day free, your fourth day free and your seventh day free. And then grants you either $50 off your lift ticket or $30 off your lift ticket. So if you use it correctly, it will keep and cap every lift ticket at around a hundred dollars. Our ticket window price right now is $156.

We've also got a great Costco product that is probably our cheapest two day ticket pack available, and we've done a lot on keeping our passes at a relatively consistent price. As well as we've introduced an afternoon only seasons pass.

So if you are someone like me who is not great at waking up in the morning, is even slower trying to shower and dress a toddler, you're lucky if you leave the house by 10:00 AM. You can still get up, do a couple hours, and that afternoon pass is, I think it's roughly half the price of a full day pass.

So it's a considerable savings and we've really looked at seeing how we can use our product mix to attract both those high yielding lift ticket sales that keep our lifts running as well as cater to those of different economic means.

Jeff [00:20:33] Kind of on that same topic of balance. We were talking about this earlier, but just the, if you have lots of different stakeholders, you know, that balance we were just talking about in terms of profitability, inclusivity, and that's great that you have that, that option for people that can, yeah, like go and enjoy Sunshine and not have to pay as much.

There's also the balance of experience, environmentalism and dealing with the regulatory side. And is it really a trade off between experience and environmentalism? Like are there things that you guys are doing that are actually additive to the experience for skiers and snowboarders that in no way detract from the environment?

Kendra [00:21:08] Well, I think when we look at some of the government challenges, a frustration I have is sometimes I feel in Canada, we don't support our Canadian businesses and our Canadian families as much as we should from a government level, especially those that are investing in Canada, creating jobs in Canada, and focusing on bettering our country.

A frustration I have right now is foreign ownership of some of our key assets. Our key attractions like Whistler is now owned by Vail Corporation. Many hotels are being sold to other international groups. There's Japanese investors, there's other Asian investors, more American ownership. And when we see that American or foreign ownership into assets and attractions, it takes away good paying middle class jobs in those communities because a lot of the time those companies streamline them.

And I get frustrated when I feel as if the country is diminishing the contributions of families that want to proudly operate as Canadian and give making it easier for some of the foreign ownership enterprises to operate and to expand. At Sunshine, our goal is always to operate a resort worthy of our location in a national park, and my wish would be that we could develop and grow in a sustainable manner that betters our unique location, as well as betters the guest experience and continues to keep skiing and snowboarding more attainable as opposed to forcing a gentrification because we need to make certain numbers to stay in business.

Jeff [00:22:38] Mm-hmm.

Kendra [00:22:39] And those are definitely challenges.

Jeff [00:22:41] From your average skier/snowboarder perspective, why should they care about whether it's a Chinese company, Japanese, American company, or a family run business, and I'm…

Kendra [00:22:50] Because at the end of the day, that family owned Canadian business, they're going to invest the money back into the community. They're going to give to the community. They're going to listen to the community to create experiences that manifest and resonate with those community skiers and snowboarders. And they are going to create jobs and value and opportunities for the community to thrive.

Jeff [00:23:14] If you know the community and you're, you grew up in the community, I would assume that you guys would care a lot more about the community than some, you know, large corporation from another country.

But the other side of it is, if that company wants to get a return on their investment, presumably they're gonna need to make sure that they're investing back into the business, back into the community or else people aren't gonna go to their business?

Kendra [00:23:36] Well, we have a lot of choice in our region, not everyone has a lot of choice. And you look at some of the mass acquisitions that Vale has done, and they own so many resorts and so many mid-markets, and Whistler doesn't have another choice to ski, but Whistler. And the lift tickets are now well over the $200 mark and they're really pricing out the average, the average ma n’ pa, who just wants to take their kids skiing for a couple days.

I think sometimes those big corporations, they're so focused on what they have to mandate for their shareholders that they forget about the person running the lift or the people who move to a community to work a season and have the time of their life.

Jeff [00:24:17] You guys were given a bit of an ultimatum, if I remember, back in 2018/2019. I remember following this where the government kind of came back around Christmas time and said, you need to essentially sign a 42 year lease and then also sell the property back to the government at a dollar.

Kendra [00:24:33] Yeah, so…

Jeff [00:24:34] Where are you at with that now?

Kendra [00:24:36] It was definitely a very hard time for us. It felt in so many ways that we were, we were given an ultimatum and we were told by the Government of Canada that if we did not sign this, we would be put out to tender and it…

Jeff [00:24:49] So that would mean that anyone could just say, I want to have Sunshine?

Kendra [00:24:52] Basically. And whether it was empty threats or whether it was accurate, it was scary.

Jeff [00:24:57] Incredibly scary for, for like your own family business to be potentially put up on the auctioning block.

Kendra [00:25:02] And I felt that there was so much misunderstanding about who we are as a business. And Sunshine isn't like many of our peers or our competitors, because we are located outside of the town of Banff, we don't have a water reserve that we can easily pull from. We have a hotel, we have staff accommodation, we have our own fire department. We have our own sewage treatment plant because we kind of run like our own small municipality being so far removed from any other amenities.

And I think it's something that frustrated me was they really kind of took away a lot of our future by removing terrain from our leasehold that they cited for environmental gain to operate. Sunshine is different because how we were founded that all the best ski terrain was really hand picked off, and our leasehold kind of looks like the panhandle of Alaska.

So it starts small at the base and then opens up as you get into the Village. And I look at tourism to our province, as well as Banff. Calgary's grown exponentially in my lifetime. It's gone from a city of some, roughly 700,000 to what, 1.5 million? And tourism to Banff has really only grown from 3.8 million to 4.2 million.

Jeff [00:26:14] So that's, that's of the town itself?

Kendra [00:26:16] The visitors to the town that come in. That's only a 400,000 net gain when Calgary's population has almost doubled. Tourism, yes it has impacts on the planet, but it can also be done to inspire good. And skiing's kind of that gateway drug to caring about the environment.

If you get outside and you see what you can do and just how pristine the mountains are, how gorgeous the snow sparkles. It imprints on your soul and you want to protect that. You wanna share that with your future generations, with your friends and family. You want, for me, I care about the environment because I can ski.

Jeff [00:26:56] Yeah. I think, I think you're right, Kendra. Like so much of that inspiration to care about the environment comes from people who have actually been out there and experienced it. And that, those moments when you're on the hill and you're just completely gripped by the beauty and the experience that you have. And, and that you'll hear this from a lot of people who are outside a lot, that they just encourage more and more people to get outside and, and I think for a lot of people too, like you need an excuse.

You need an excuse to go out and do something. And not everyone is gonna be motivated to get out, just to kind of go out and go for a hike in the mountains. And certainly they should because even that in, in and of itself is an incredible experience.

Kendra [00:27:33] But not everyone has the fitness ability to do it. So start small. Start on a sightseeing gondola. Start on a chair lift. Start with hikes that you can do before you work up because it's about safety and you need to be while out, pushing yourself outta your comfort zone, you need to do so in a safe and respectful manner to both yourself and the environment.

Jeff [00:27:52] I love going out and spending time in the mountains. I run ultramarathons in the mountains. I love going hiking. Backcountry is something that I am still terrified to touch cuz I, I will see much more talented people than me get caught in really, really difficult situations, in the kind of backcountry. How do you guys like what, what's Sunshine's position on balancing out that fun? You know, give people as much terrain to ski on, but at the same time, how do you make sure that it's safe for them?

Kendra [00:28:21] At Sunshine, we actively mitigate all risks, including avalanche risks, trees, hazards, obstructions. We have our ski patrol team. We also have our trail crew team that are working the mountain to do their part, to keep it as safe as possible.

And it's our philosophy that you can't operate and offer a fun experience without providing a safe experience. So safety is at the forefront of everything we do, and I think there needs to be more knowledge that when you're riding a resort, it is all controlled. It has skier compaction, the snow is settled, it's groomed. It takes away the risk of persistent, weak layers in the snow because there's so much traffic on it.

But areas like Delirium Dive, The Shoulder, Southside Shoots, where it doesn't have that much, we actually will bomb regularly and control avalanche, [and] will perform avalanche testing to make sure that it is safe to open before we do open it.

However, as soon as you cross our boundary, you are in backcountry terrain. It's not “Slack Country". Slack Country is a term I wish people would remove and cancel from their vocabulary.

Jeff [00:29:30] What does that mean?

Kendra [00:29:31] There was this belief that if it was lift accessible backcountry, it was safer backcountry. That is not true.

Jeff [00:29:37] Who made up that term?

Kendra [00:29:39] Probably some ski bum.

Jeff [00:29:40] Have you found yourself in any scary situations? Like do you have any stories to share on, on where you maybe have pushed the envelope a little bit too far?

Kendra [00:29:47] I went to Strathcona Tweedsmuir School for high school, and I was there when the school had an avalanche in Rogers Pass, and seven students lost their life. I wasn't on the trip, but I had done the trip…

Jeff [00:30:00] Wow.

Kendra [00:30:01] In a previous year. Because my grandfather died in an avalanche. I refused to go on the day where those students went and I said they were asking…

Jeff [00:30:11] So you were supposed to go on that day?

Kendra [00:30:13] No, I did it the year before but conditions weren't great. They were considerable in certain areas, and I had just had this butterfly feeling in my stomach that I wasn't gonna go, I, I couldn't make myself go.

My group came back fine, but the following year there was an avalanche that killed seven students and I think I've held on to some of the guilt that I didn't use my voice more to say that I thought the school was asking for an accident. I think it's something that I go back to regularly and how could I have stood up? How could I have spoken up? How could I have been heard? I think I was just seen as a spoiled kid who didn't wanna go and work, and maybe I presented that way. It's definitely something I think about and I wonder what those kids would be doing if, if it hadn't ended the way it had. That's been something that's definitely had a hold on me as long as I can remember.

So I'm a little bit hyper cautious in the backcountry and on those zones. I can ride the terrain, but I definitely wanna make sure that I will ride as safely as possible and my injuries have come from the terrain park.

Jeff [00:31:18] Yeah. And it's absolutely heartbreaking that seven people lost their lives. And you know, in hindsight you can always look back and say like, “Whoa, well they should have done this and they should have done that.” And, but ultimately, even extremely experienced people sometimes lose their, lose their lives in the backcountry and…

Kendra [00:31:33] The mountains are in charge.

Jeff [00:31:34] Anyone who's been in an experience where they're kind of in the grip of Mother Nature. It's an incredibly small feeling. You realize…

Kendra [00:31:41] You're, you're an ant, you're minuscule.

Jeff [00:31:43] You realize how powerless you are to the environment. Mountains kind of have that ability to do that to us, where you kind of get out there and you, it puts things in perspective for you.

Kendra [00:31:51] Yeah.

Jeff [00:31:52] Where you kind of realize just how, how small you are. Do you still feel that, like even though you've been going to the mountains, you grew up there, when you go back, does it still have that same effect on you?

Kendra [00:32:01] Yes, it does. As a kid, I took it for granted and I didn't realize how fortunate I was to call Banff and Sunshine home. I didn't realize how beautiful our mountains were, and then I traveled and I went elsewhere and I realized most places don't look like we look, and most places aren't nearly as beautiful, nor as sunny, nor as perfectly winter. And it has made me fall in love with the mountains over and over again, just how majestic they truly are.

Marilyn Monroe filmed a movie, the River of No Return in Banff, and her quote about the movie was, “It's a B grade movie where I play background to the beautiful scenery that is the Canadian Rockies. No beauty can compete.” Once you see Banff, you won't think of another place the same again.

Jeff [00:32:45] Where do you wanna take sunshine? Like where do you see sunshine in 5 or 10 years?

Kendra [00:32:50] I want to continually better the experience and while growing our footprint might not be a possibility, I'd like to grow our experience offering. I'd like to see ways that we can bring more sense of play, whether it's to our hotel with perhaps murder mystery dinners or more wine tasting dinners and family activities that can get people engaged and connecting. As well as events that get people out to celebrate.

I think there's a magic in being able to be outside with those you love and to meet other people like-minded. So that's where I want to focus on growing the way in which we empower connections.

Jeff [00:32:31] Is there any, any message that you want to get out to, to skiers and snowboarders about Sunshine?

Kendra [00:33:36] We will be wide open this year until May 22nd when we close with our annual Slush Cup celebration! It's Slush Cup Monday, May 22nd.

Jeff [00:33:45] What is Slush Cup?

Kendra [00:33:46] Slush Cup is the best party in the world! It is my favorite day of the year. I look forward to it all year long.

Jeff [00:33:50] But what, what is it though?

Kendra [00:33:52] It is our end of year celebration where we build this gigantic ice-cold pool of water. It's like 110 feet long, and we build a pretty massive jump and skiers and snowboarders will dress in some wild costume. This year’s theme is “Under the Sea”.

And they'll try, they'll straight line, hopefully, to hit the jump, and then they try and either go as big as possible or land on the water and skim across it. There's usually just the ski racers [that] make it across, sometimes a few boarders. It's a ton of fun to watch and everyone just has a good time. It's kind of like, it's kind of like Snow-chella in a way.

Jeff [00:34:31] Snow-chella. That, I think I can see catching on. Is there like live music, is it a multi-day thing or a one day only?

Kendra [00:34:37] Well Slush Cup long weekend is three days, and we have two smaller events that kind of lead up to Slush Cup. So we'll have our Slushshine Rail Jam, which is all open 12 and ups. They'll hit rails that are over pools of water, and then we'll have a band on the weekend.

Then on the Sunday we'll have our Watergate Banked Slalom, and that is, I believe, open to kids 4 and up. And they'll kind of race down and get timed. Also, a band and some dancing, DJ, drink specials in the beer gardens. And then Slush Cup Monday is like the marquee event.

This year we will have Rachael Karker, who is an Olympic bronze medalist skier in halfpipe, as well as X Games medalist this year and her partner, Brendan Mackay who just won the world championships for freestyle skiing in halfpipe as two of our celebrity judges.

Jeff [00:35:27] Wow

Kendra [00:35:28] Slush Cup is the best day of the year.

Jeff [00:35:29] I have heard from many, many people…

Kendra [00:35:30] You should come!

Jeff [00:35:31] I've def I, I got two young kids at home. I feel like I've got a…

Kendra [00:35:35] They can come!

Jeff [00:35:36] I gotta get, uh, maybe some daycare or a babysitter place.

Kendra [00:35:39] We have a daycare at Sunshine!

Jeff [00:35:41] Okay, that is interesting. That's dangerous.

Kendra [00:35:43] 18 months and up!

Jeff [00:35:44] Okay, if my wife is listening to this, we're gonna talk. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming on. It's absolutely incredible. Just as, as a skier who's been to Sunshine, even as a kid growing up, it's such a magical place. I encourage you, everyone to get out, experience it, go there. Ski, snowboard, have fun. Go to Slush Cup. Kendra, thank you so much for coming on.

Kendra [00:36:05] Thank you, my pleasure! If you wanna see what Sunshine looks like, be sure to follow us on social media @Sunshine Village, and you can also find me @Kendra Sonia on Instagram, and you'll see a lot of magical snow photos.

Jeff [00:36:16] Awesome.

Jeff [00:36:23] Thank you for tuning into Behind the Brand. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you’re interested in learning more about Neo Financial, visit us at neofinancial.com.

Behind the Brand is a production of Neo Financial and MediaLab YYC. Hosted by Jeff Adamson. Strategy, research, and production by Keegan Sharp, Alana Tefledzuk, and Kyle Marshall.