About

Over the past half-century, Ecosign has earned the reputation of being one of the most innovative and experienced mountain resort planning companies in the world. We have completed over 1,000 projects in 46 countries, gaining recognition not only for the design of new resorts in North America and Asia, but also for the redesign and renovation of some of Europe’s most iconic resorts. 

Based in Whistler, Canada, our head office is home to our five-person executive team and fifteen associates with expertise in landscape architecture, civil engineering, architecture, management, Geographic Information Systems and AutoCAD technology. To support our global projects, we have agents in the central Asian, Chinese and Japanese markets, and subcontractors in Italy. 

Ecosign’s employment culture is to encourage active lifestyles so that staff can immerse themselves in Whistler’s resort experience, instilling a genuine passion and interest in the work we do with our clients around the world.

Team
Mission
To contribute to sustainable mountain tourism through excellence in planning and design for mountain resorts worldwide.

Our History

Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners Ltd., was founded by Paul E. Mathews in July of 1975 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. A contraction of the words ‘ecological’ and ‘design’, the name Ecosign reflects the company’s purpose in contributing to sustainable mountain tourism through excellence in planning and design. 

The company has grown through the decades and has earned its reputation as one of the most innovative and experienced mountain resort planning companies in the world. Ecosign has worked on well over 1,000 different projects in 46 countries and has gained prominence, not only in the design of successful new resorts in Canada, the United States and Asia, but also for the redesign and renovation of some of Europe’s most iconic resorts such as Davos, Laax, Grindelwald, Verbier and Zermatt, Switzerland; Courchevel, France and St. Anton, Serfaus and Soelden in Austria.

Paul Mathews' Legacy

Paul Mathews first came to Whistler to ski in 1966, and he was instantly captivated; his affection for this place heavily influenced his ensuing educational pursuits and career. Over the next decade, Mathews balanced his studies at the University of Washington with visits to mountain resorts around the world. Through travel and study, he concluded there was an opportunity to change environmental practices at mountain resorts, particularly through education and design. 

Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Mathews moved to Whistler where he became active in community planning and environmental issues. Seeing an opportunity to assist BC municipalities implement the province’s new Commercial Alpine Ski Policy, Mathews founded Ecosign in 1975. In Ecosign’s nascent years, Mathews and his growing team contributed to the design and development of some of BC’s most iconic resorts: Mount Washington, Red Mountain, Silver Star, Panorama, Fernie, Troll Mountain, and most significantly Ecosign’s hometown mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb. 

Ecosign’s legacy of developing world class resorts is profound. Mathews particular work with creative designs made him sought after worldwide, giving Ecosign its global reputation of successfully fulfilling its client’s needs. Today, Ecosign’s team of professionals continue to provide practical, innovative designs that exceed client’s expectations and contribute to profitable, high-ranking resort developments worldwide.

Team

Testimonials

  • “Paul Mathews and his crew at Ecosign have been responsible for preparing the ski area master plans at Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains since 1978 and 1986 respectively. Ecosign has always been on the cutting edge of technology both in the skills and tools in their high tech office and in their knowledge of resort systems worldwide. Ecosign has designed one of the most efficient lift and trail systems in the world here at Whistler Blackcomb where in 2003 we enjoyed 2.3 million skiers on just 26 lifts. The 88,500 skier visits per lift has become a benchmark through the Intrawest organization where we use Ecosign exclusively to design our mountain resorts.”

    Hugh Smythe
    Hugh Smythe Past President Intrawest Resort Operations Group
  • "Ecosign has been a valuable resource for the Alta Ski Area. The collective knowledge that they can bring to a planning problem has always helped us. The size of Ecosign is comfortable for us – big enough to have all resources and small enough for a comfortable working relationship.”

    Onno e1421097107474
    Onno Wieringa Past President Alta Ski Area, Utah USA
  • “Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners Ltd. has prepared the Master Plans for Whistler Mountain since 1975 and Blackcomb Mountain since 1986. We are very satisfied with their ongoing commitment to making our mountains a world class resort.”

    Dave Brownlie
    Dave Brownlie Past Chief Operating Officer Whistler Blackcomb Canada
  • "Ecosign worked out different successful master plans in Zermatt. First for the former Matterhorn-Bahnen AG, then for the former Zermatter Rothornbahn AG and finally, after the fusion of the companies in Zermatt, for Zermatt Bergbahnen AG. This plan was the basis for a very successful relaunch of the Zermatt ski area with an investment of over 300 Million. CHF.

    Hans Peter Julen e1421097164970
    Hans Peter Julen Past President Zermatt Bergbahnen AG
  • “The Weisse Arena in Flims, Laax, Falera is Switzerland’s largest winter sports region in terms of area size and revenues. We have utilized Ecosign’s expertise in ski area planning, piste and lift terminal design and resort village design since 1989. As a result of our long term collaboration, we value Ecosign as a member of the Weisse Arena team.”

    Reto Gurtner
    Reto Gurtner President & CEO Weisse Arena Group Laax Switzerland
  • "It has been an absolute privilege to collaborate with Ryley (Paul, Don, Jill) and the entire Ecosign team over several decades both at Panorama Mountain Resort and during my tenure at several other resorts. Their ability to think strategically while remaining flexible to evolving needs makes them an invaluable resort planning partner. I wholeheartedly recommend Ecosign to any organization looking for expertise, dedication, and truly transformative results; their unparalleled experience in planning and problem solving has consistently been attributed to our success."

    Steve Paccagnan CEO & President at Panorama Mountain Resort
  • "We have had the pleasure of collaborating with Ecosign's team for Mont SUTTON's Resort Master Plan. Their expertise proved invaluable in shaping our vision of a four-season destination. Their understanding of our core values - creating meaningful outdoor experiences while preserving our natural landscape - has helped us successfully transform Mont SUTTON into a year-round destination where visitors connect with nature while challenging themselves."

    Jean-Michel Ryan Président directeur général Mont SUTTON
  • "The people at Ecosign are experts in their field - they are professional, responsive and are customer focused. I had a fabulous experience working with the entire Ecosign team, would work with them again and would recommend their services to other Mountain Resorts."

    Michael Cameron General Manager at Grouse Mountain
  • “Ecosign taught us how to unite technique, esthetic and functionality. Rarely is it possible to find a firm with such a professional qualification and dedication to a project. Sierra Nevada and the 1995/1996 Ski World Championships have a debt impossible to pay with Ecosign.”

    Jeronimo Paez
    Jerónimo Páez Past Chairman CETURSA, Granada Spain
  • "In 1990, I recognized the importance of establishing a relationship with Ecosign, the consultancy firm that was working for Laax, one of our competitors in the bid for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. Thanks to Ecosign, the World Championships project reached a very high standard, and the urban centre of Whistler was used as a model for Andalucía Square. In all the projects carried out in Sierra Nevada since then, Ecosign has participated and added tremendous value to our sometimes slightly chaotic ideas."

    Eduardo Valenzuela Mountain Manager at Cetursa Sierra Nevada S.A. (retired)
  • “I can truly recommend Ecosign as a reliable long time partner, delivering always the newest ideas and opinions of the resort business and changes in the market and working hard to achieve functioning, customers oriented business minded planning and problem solving.”

    Miia Porkkula
    Mia Porkkala CEO Rukakeskus Oy/Pyhatunturi Oy Finland
  • “As someone who has worked with Ecosign since the late 1980’s, I would strongly recommend them as a superior mountain resort planning company. Ecosign brings expertise that we feel is without equal. The group’s knowledge, library of information regarding standards and comparative set, and meticulous attention to detail has facilitated our development process. We have worked with a number of mountain and village planners and we consider Ecosign to be the best in the business.”

    Mike Goar
    Mike Goar Past Managing Director Canyons Resort, Park City, Utah
  • “Wanda strongly recommends Ecosign for planning and resort design, on-site inspection and consultation, follow-up consulting services and excellent customer service. We plan on using Ecosign for our future four-season resort planning efforts and look forward to the next opportunity of working with the Ecosign team.”

    Wang Yuan
    Yuan Wang Vice President Wanda Commercial Planning & Research Institute, China
  • “Trysilfjellet engaged Ecosign in 1997. The scope of work was to prepare an overall resort area mountain master plan, and design a world class pedestrian village to attract foreign ski markets. Trysilfjellet is the largest ski resort in Norway and we require the best possible quality on our production and consultants. No doubt Ecosign has brought us a big step forward in our product development and our effort to combine good business with a high degree of guest satisfaction.”

    Tor backe
    Tor Backe Past CEO Trysilfjellet AS Trysil, Norway
  • “In 1993, Ecosign prepared a master plan for the Sun Peaks Resort to transform the area into Canada’s next great mountain resort. A world class pedestrian village designed by Ecosign has been completed and skier visits have increased 3.5 times in six years. We are totally satisfied with Ecosign’s work on this project.”

    Masayoshi Ohkubo
    Masayoshi Ohkubo President Nippon Cable Co. Ltd. Tokyo, Japan
  • “How did the idea originate? In 2002, Austria held a Ski World Championship, which coincided with Vladimir Putin’s visit to the area. The Austrian President and Chancellor invited him to ski, and he, in turn, invited me and several other people to join him for leisure. The weather was nice, the resort was terrific, and the Austrians were very organized and hospitable. We started the conversation: why don’t we have such a resort? It would be great… Hence we started looking into the idea of creating the Rosa Khutor resort. We invited a famous Canadian firm (Ecosign), which helped us to put the project together. Consequently they told us that the Krasnaya Polyana area is the best in the world among undeveloped areas. Which meant it would be a sin not to develop it! When the project was planned, we were hoping to meet the 100 million dollar budget. We’ve ended up with 300-350 million. When the Olympics idea came up, the project became gigantic and increased in price up to 1.5 billion dollars. We’ve nurtured this project for quite a while, and it’s turned out well.”

    Vladimir Potanin Chairman Interros, Russia
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