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Products include: Bio-stake (North American Green), the Powdermaker hand groomer, Prospeed professional sports radar (Decatur Electronics), the Carving Arena (Reliable Racing), RideScanner mobile access control gate (FCS Development), LiftStop remote control stop and slowdown (Mountain Technologies) and a lightweight generator/battery for outdoor a...

This expert says the ski industry's mode of consolidation is not the classic type seen in other industries, but a new way of doing business in today's market. ...

• Lift Maintenance

Doppelmayr provided Stratton, Vt., with a solution to prevent ice buildup from stopping their new six-passenger lift: an inch of clearance between the outer flange of the sheave wheel and the inner flange of the pair bar. ...

Some trends come and go while some turn into industry standards. Here's a look at a few of the recent alternative activities capturing public attention, including skiboards, mini-skis and the Teleboard. ...

• Rental

Wachusett Mountain, Mass., believing renters are their most important customers, leaves nothing to chance to keep them happy and the rental shop productive, from time/motion studies to plenty of well-trained staff. Includes diagram of shop layout. ...

• Marketing

An industry insider decided to find out what it was like to choose a destination for a family vacation from brochures ordered up from Ski magazine's reader response cards. What he found was a little disturbing. ...

• Environment
• Snowmaking

Sewage treatment was a growing problem at Sugarloaf/USA, Me., until they discovered Snowfluent, a process developed by Delta Engineering that uses snowmaking technology to treat wastewater. ...

• Resort Development

Lifts are more powerful, buildings are bigger, snowmaking increases. . .but some construction techniques are regressing. Projects covered include: Lake Louise, Alberta; Snowshoe, W.V.; Okemo, Vt.; Bromley, Vt.; Breckenridge, Colo.; Catedral, Bariloche, Argentina and Sun Peaks, B.C. ...

• Ski Area Profiles

A SAM "Profile in Profit," Ski Apache, N.M., has the highest lift capacity in the state, over 200,000 annual skier visits and operates in the black. Owned by the Mescalero tribe and run by Roy Parker, here's how they achieved their success. ...

• Miscellaneous

Creative ideas from ski areas include: Christmas tree fences from Powder Ridge, Minn., rubber walkways from Buttermilk Ski Area, Colo., and an adjustable handle tow modified for deep snow from Soda Springs, Calif. ...

• Marketing
• Ticketing

Three out of the four major Southern California ski areas are streamlining ticket prices and throwing out many discounts, but the biggest surprise of all came when the market leader, Snow Summit, adopted an "everyday low price" policy and wiped the discount slate clean. ...

• Miscellaneous

The New York Times sold off its tennis, ski and boating magazines--including Snow Country--to California-based Miller Publishing Group. ...

A survey of U.S. ski areas conducted by RRC Associates for NSAA and Transworld SNOWboarding Business examines the continuing gains in snowboarding visits, currently estimated by responding areas at 19 percent of total visits. Statistics are broken down by region and size of area and examine potential for future growth. ...

• Miscellaneous

A wry look at Vail's recent sale--mandated by the Department of Justice--of Arapahoe Basin, Colo., to Dundee Realty for four million dollars. ...

• People

An excerpt from Robert Frohlich's new book, Mountain Dreamers: Visionaries of Sierra Nevada Skiing. Photos by Carolyn Caddes. ...

Studies from the SIA Snowboard Studies show that snowboarders are a dominant force in the early season. Here are some tips to attracting them during the early season and keeping them happy. ...

It may seem like a small thing, but good coffee and specialty coffee drinks can show guests a ski area's concern for quality. Nowadays, it's easier and cheaper than ever for ski areas to improve this facet of food service operation. ...

• Miscellaneous

A firsthand account of how Mountain High Resort, Calif., ended a hectic summer by enduring a catastrophic forest fire. ...

• Legal
• Risk Management
• Safety
• Snowboarding

An examination of the first major court case in the United States involving the design of snowboard terrain parks, which ended in a victory for Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort, Calif. A sidebar outlines ways for ski area managers to defend themselves against lawsuits over snowboard terrain parks. ...

• Conferences / Trade Shows
• Tubing

A look at the explosive growth in the numbers of tubing areas and a summary of a panel discussion of tubing at the Ski Areas of New York fall meeting. Under the umbrella topic of "Tubing Safety Issues," discussion touched on everything from design to maintenance to operation of a tubing hill. ...

• Miscellaneous

During a trip to Korea, the author gets a whole new perspective on skiing as entertainment. ...

• Racing

An explanation of how ski areas can set up shop on the Internet without racking up huge bills for hardware and software. Examines a variety of software packages. Glossary of terms included. ...

• Miscellaneous

A tongue-in-cheek look at what happens to ski areas that get big and go public, like "Whale." ...

• Miscellaneous

A listing of products and services and their suppliers within the ski industry. ...

• Miscellaneous

Names, addresses and key contacts for suppliers of products and services to the ski industry. ...

• Regulation
• Tubing

Tubing is pushing the liability security envelope developed over the past 40 years by the ski industry. Though uphill safety requirements are similar, the downhill aspect of tubing requires a much higher level of oversight and control by the operator. As tubing grows in popularity, regulation needs to develop as well. ...

• Legal
• Risk Management
• Safety

Applying design standards for nordic and freestyle jumping competitions to terrain parks and terrain features at ski resorts is comparing apples and oranges. ...