Intrawest ULC, the venerable Vancouver-based ski-hill operator that owns Whistler Blackcomb and nine other ski resorts around North America, discovered in 2005 that it was beginning to feel the passage of time.
Having started out as a ski-resort real-estate developer, it had become a retailer of sports gear, a resort owner and manager, a housing developer and the operator of a luxury adventure travel agency. By 2006 it was a wide-ranging resort conglomerate employing 22,000 people.
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