OWNERS OF JAY PEAK BUY BURKE
QBurke Mountain Resorts, LLC, a company headed by businessman Ariel Quiros, has acquired Burke Mountain Resort, Vt.

Quiros, along with Bill Stenger, president and co-owner of Jay Peak Resort, Vt., took ownership of Burke Mountain Resort May 22, 2012.


WINTERGREEN SOLD
Jim Justice, owner of The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, has agreed to purchase Wintergreen Resort, VA. At presstime, the purchase was expected to close by June 30, pending approvals.

Justice said the details of the deal are “very complicated,” but that the final purchase price will be between $12.5 million and $16.5 million.

ECHO GOES TO AUCTION
Echo Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado will be sold via a sealed-bid auction, with bids due by August 2. Racebrook and its auction affiliate, Sheldon Good & Company, are conducting the sale.

Echo, 35 miles west of downtown Denver, is situated entirely on private land. Owner Gerald Petitt paid $800,000 for the property in the early 2000s, and has invested more than $8 million in improvements over the past decade. Last season the area saw 32,000 visits.


NSAA GETS HELP WITH WATER RIGHTS SUIT
Several water districts and the Colorado petroleum industry have filed amicus briefs to support a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against a 2011 Forest Service regulation requiring winter resorts to grant certain water rights to the Service.

The original lawsuit, filed by the National Ski Areas Association, claimed that the Forest Service was trying to change decades of water rights practices across the West and failed to follow its own rules regarding any such changes.


OBITUARY
Herbert Schneider, one of the most important drivers of skiing in New Hampshire, died at the age of 92. Schneider served in WWII with the 10th Mountain Division before he went on to run, and was part owner of, Cranmore from 1963 to 1984.


PEOPLE
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame welcomed eight new inductees: Nick Badami, Mason Beekley, Dick Dorworth, Phil Gravink, Harry Leonard, Joe Pack, Tyler Palmer, and Eva Twardokens.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association named Michael Jaquet chief marketing officer.

Ski NH elected a new board of directors: Kris Blomback is chairperson; Ben Wilcox is vice chair; and Rick Kelley is treasurer. . . Carol Decker was named the new director of sales for Attitash and Wildcat Mountain.

At Ski Vermont, Sarah Neith is the new director of public affairs. Neith replaces Jen Butson who has become the new director of communications for The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. . . At Stowe, three instructors were honored with the PSIA-AASI Award for Educational Excellence: Linda Crockett, Katie Ertl and Dave Merriam.

Reuel Sheldon has retired from Ski Butternut, Mass., after 25 years as the operations manager.

Heavenly Mountain Resort, Calif., promoted James Grant to director of mountain operations. . .Over at Northstar, Jim Larmore is the new director of mountain operations. . . Chris Hargrave was named director at Boreal’s new Woodward Tahoe center. . . Homewood Mountain Resort announced that Kent Hoopingarner will take on the role of executive director of mountain development for owners, JMA Ventures, LLC. Kevin Mitchell will move into Hoopingarner’s role as GM of Homewood.

The Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association presented the Tower of Excellence Award to John Pucci, Schweitzer Mountain; John C. Ellis received the Ski Industry Service Award.

At Mt. Bachelor, Ore., Micah Holzhouser and Guy Henry were promoted to lift maintenance supervisors.

Stevens Pass, Wash., announced that John Gifford will step aside as GM.

Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing announced that Cindy Byrd was promoted to GM and Andrea Hopkins to lodge manager.


SUPPLIERS
Burton Snowboards announced that Jeff Boliba will become the company’s first VP of Global Resorts.

TransWorld Media announced the promotion of Adam Cozens to director of sales and marketing.

Trestle Bike Park at Winter Park Resort announced a new partnership with Specialized for the 2013 summer season.

American Lighting announced Jason Echols as the newest member of the sales team.