THUNDER BAY — there may be rain and brown grass on the ground within city limits, but both Loch Lomond and Mount Baldy continue to operate during the holiday season.
Laura Woodbeck, the Office Manager with Loch Lomond, stated Wednesday that they are very optimistic that more winter-like conditions will be coming.
“We have an absolutely beautiful base on the south side, and we will be running [our first night ski session] tomorrow until 9:00 p.m.” Woodbeck added.
“We are looking forward to the temperatures dropping and hopefully we’ll have even a better south side and [be able to open] the north [side] for you for next week.”
Woodbeck added that the owner had a simple message when asked about any possibility of closing down operations in the face of warmer weather.
“As far as Jason Gerry says, we are scheduled to be open – we are open. We have the base to stay open and we’re still hoping for the temperatures to drop. We have been amazed with how well man-made snow had held up with Mother Nature’s temperament,” Woodbeck noted.
Mount Baldy co-owner Daniel Kardas hasn’t seen a winter like this in the six years that he’s been involved in the ownership group.
“It’s [been] lots of long hours and a really good crew around here making it happen, believe it or not,” Kardas told Dougall Media Wednesday. “When it comes to snow [mixed with] three days of rain, that doesn’t really work out so [well]. We’re powering through, and we just got to get that word out there to people that we do have a lot of snow.”
Mount Baldy has three runs open, and snowmakers are optimistic that cooler temperatures will allow them to fire up the snow-making machines.
“We do have to wait till temperatures [are] between eight and 10 degrees below zero consistently to start making snow,” mentioned Woodbeck.
“If it stays that cold during January and February, we will have the rest of the snow made and hopefully Mother Nature will top that up for us, and the season will last as long as the season will last.”
The optimism is contagious at Mount Baldy as the Port Arthur ski club enjoys the unseasonable weather.
“I have been in the business for 40-plus years and I have seen a lot of times in skiing when you have varying weather like this that creates these situations,” States Program Director and Head Coach David Bradley.
“These guys are coping with it really well; [I believe that] this surface that we have right now is going to be bulletproof when it gets cold and they’re going to put new snow on top of that, and we’re going to have a fantastic base for the rest of the season.”
It’s anything but optimism for the Kamview Nordic Centre and General Manager Dave Suttie, who expresses frustration with how things have changed since last year.
“In years past, we usually have some snow on the ground and a little bit of skiing going [on] but yeah, this year is definitely a little late,” said Suttie.
“[This isn’t] the first time this has happened, but we’re hoping we get a change in the weather here soon so we can get some skiing going for sure.”
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
