Xanterra's man in C-Falls is up to the challenge

Brand new buses, vans and now compact cars have begun showing up at the former Pamida store parking lot on the U.S. 2 strip in Columbia Falls — the new home of Xanterra Parks and Resorts’ Glacier Division.

Xanterra took over the lodge and red bus concession at Glacier National Park this year and plans to call Columbia Falls home. A Hammerquist-Casalegno construction trailer is also parked at the site, as Xanterra prepares to remake the former grocery, hardware and mini-box store buildings into office, warehouse and laundry facilities.

In the meantime, Xanterra is gearing up for a busy summer in the Park, just a few months away. It’s a big challenge for Marc Ducharme, Glacier Division’s general manager, but it also comes with promising opportunities.

“It was a great career opportunity for me, a big step up,” Ducharme said. “The sky is the limit.”

In addition to concession services here and at Yellowstone and other national parks, Xanterra also operates Ohio State Parks facilities, golf courses, resorts, adventure tourism businesses and a cruise line.

“Our company is definitely on an aggressive acquisition path,” he said.

Ducharme, 38, was brought on board in December. Raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Ducharme graduated with a degree in hotel management from Cambrian College in Ontario.

He worked for 10 years with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in Banff and on Hawaii’s Big Island before going to work for the previous Glacier Park concessioner, Glacier Park Inc., in 2008. He managed Lake McDonald Lodge and other properties and then worked as GPI’s director of sales.

After joining Xanterra, Ducharme had a short time to accomplish a long to-do list.

“We’re a start-up essentially” he said. “We had no infrastructure, a small staff and a very tight deadline.”

Ducharme is still searching for property in the Columbia Falls area to build a storage and maintenance facility for Glacier Park’s historic red buses. The new building will have four lift bays and room for general engineering and maintenance operations.

“It will be very customized,” he said. “Our needs are very specific.”

A big task has been hiring — Xanterra’s Glacier Division will have about 35 full-time employees and 600 seasonal workers. Some are former GPI employees who understand the “very quirky” maintenance and engineering issues at Lake McDonald Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel.

“The institutional knowledge that some of the GPI people bring will be extremely helpful the first year,” Ducharme said.

A knowledgeable crew of red bus drivers, also called jammers, is likewise important.

“The entire group of them are returning,” Ducharme said. “Not only are they coming back every year, they want to drive the same bus every year.”

Ducharme has been working closely with both Glacier Park and GPI officials, holding regular meetings to coordinate reservations, red bus routes and other topics.

In his limited free time, Ducharme keeps occupied with his family — and playing on a local hockey team.

“It’s really great to have a healthy activity to look forward to every week just to get you through the winter,” he said. “It’s also good for networking. If you need anything done, someone from the hockey league does it.”