223: Joanna Yellowlees-Bound: From Erna Low to Antarctica

Joanna Yellowlees-Bound joins Iain for this special episode as we cover her 40-year career in the ski industry, graduating from resort rep to managing director of Erna Low - one of the oldest ski companies in the UK.
 
Joanna is one of the most experienced professionals in the UK ski industry, with a career that spans the first halcyon days of the ski business in the 80s to our post-Brexit world today, including a key role in the development of Arc 1950.

We also discuss her new role working with her husband, Mensun Bound, the marine archaeologist who discovered the wreck of Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’ under the Antarctic ice.

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SHOW NOTES 

Currency restrictions applied on foreign holidays (2:30)
Club Med beads are back! (3:00)
Joanna started working for Erna Low in 1982 (7:00)
It was the days of the Telex (12:45)
Erna Low’s original advert appeared in The Times in 1932 (15:00)
Erna Low represented La Plagne in the UK market in the 1980s (21:00)
Joanna became MD of the company in 1996 (23:30)
The ERM collapse led to large currency losses (24:30)
Joanna took over ownership of Erna Low in 2002 (27:00)
In 2003, Joanna founded Erna Low Property (27:30)
The Arc 1950 project was developed by Intrawest (29:45)
In 2023, Joanna sold Erna Low Property to Francois Marchand in a MBO (31:00)
2012 was the 80th anniversary of Erna Low (31:30)
Listen to our special podcast episode on Erna Low with Mark Frary (31:45)
Take a look at some of Erna Low's vintage film footage (34:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5B02thqhkQ
In 2019, Joanna sold Erna Low Travel to NUCO Travel (35:30)
Mensun is a marine archaeologist who found the ‘Endurance’ in March 2022 (37:30)
Look out for ‘Endurance’ coming out on Disney+ later this year (39:15)
Mensun’s book is called ‘The Ship Beneath The Ice’ (39:45)

Feedback (41:30)

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robsmith0179 (IG): “Listened to Episode 217 this morning...I’m now adding St Martin to my visit list!”

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Pat from Ireland (BMAC): “I really enjoy the podcasts. I mix current episodes with those from your back catalogue. As someone who found skiing in middle age I am completely hooked. Keep up the brilliant work and here's to winter.”

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