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• Snowmaking
• Lift Maintenance

Nils explains how to estimate water flow, the amount of snow that can be made depending on water volume and how to locate a pipe leak using water pressure readings. ...

• Miscellaneous

Road, lift and lodge construction are featured in this installment of Construction Site. Areas annoted are Sugar Bowl, Calif., Gunstock, N.H., Park City, Utah, Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Four Seasons Golf and Ski Center, N.Y. and Mt. Sunapee, N.H. ...

• Miscellaneous

This issue features:1) painting high-visibilty rings around lift towers where ski-tip deflectors start blocking handholds: Timberline, W.V. 2) Adding a lifting fork on an old grooming vehicle so it can move snow guns around: Sunburst, Wis.3) Building a small berm of snow the length of an uphill hike so skiers can effectively "ski" up the hill: A...

• Miscellaneous

Blue Pages headlines include: "That Embarrassing Olympic Scandal"; "Big Projects, Big Bucks, Big Bills" reviewing ASC's latest money maneuvering; "Power to Tax, Power to Destroy!" about Pennsylvania's annoying amusement tax on some businesses; "Sprint and USSA Up the Ante" re: sponsorships; "The Assault on Snowsports and Recreation" about environme...

• Miscellaneous

It Was a Wacky Thanksgiving: Taking Golf to New Heights explores Waterville Valley, N.H.'s early season hole-in-one contest on a closed slope and a profile of the snowboarding turkey at Mount Bachelor, Ore. ...

• Marketing

Shoup says when approaching the new national initiative discussed at Ski Industry Week (aimed at lapsed and infrequent sliders) it's important not to forget the lessons learned from the failed "SKi It to Believe It" campaign. He also points out it would be wise not to let the bad experience of that campaign get in the way of the new one.David Row...

• Marketing

David's accompanying piece to Rick Shoup's piece on avoiding past marketing mistakes explains that any marketing intitiative needs to fit with "some emerging realities" in light of the Vail arson attack, space issues, etc. It points out some inconsistencies in developing the initiative and casts a skeptical eye on fund raising efforts for the plan....

• Safety

This brief editorial explains that clipping in when climbing towers is just plain smart. Besides, there are OSHA regulations to consider. ...

• Obituary

A brief announcement of the death of June Currier, 81, one half of the former Currier Lift Service in New Hampshire. ...

• Miscellaneous
• Lifts

This issue is chock-full of coverage on lift construction including the survey, Squaw Valley's new funitel, the Getty Museum's tram and announcement that SAM is the official English language publication for OITAF.    This issue is not available online. For more information, contact donna@saminfo.com.   ...

• Miscellaneous

Early Season statistics; arson at Camelback; NSAA chooses Leagas Delaney ad agency for marketing push; SIA to publish trade magazine; Mont Sainte-Anne deal with Intrawest falls through; Whitetail deal terminated; Craigmeur and Belle Mountain, N.J. closing; Shu-Maker Mountain on shaky ground; Cortina Valley, N.Y., Magic Mountain, Vt., and Temple Mou...

• Environment

As the recreation industry eclipses extractive industries as the primary users of national forest land and as the USFS shifts its focus to recreation, ski resorts are being closely watched by environmentalists. In some cases, the ski areas are taking the place of companies that logged and mined in the crosshairs of green activists. Add a com...

• Lifts

This article explores the construction of the Yantrak and Otis pseudo-funicular at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. ...

• Snowmaking

This is a roundup of the available fan-type snowmaking guns on the market. ...

This article asks and answers the question: Will mountain buildings succumb to the trends that appear cutting edge, yet result in high grunge? The article compares traditional architecture to the movement incorporating the arts, currently being helped along by high-tech software like computer-assisted design programs. ...

• Safety

This article explores the life-saving possibilities using automated external defibrillators, which might go a long way to improving the odds of a guest or employee surviving a sudden heart attack. On average, of about 350,000 people who suffer sudden heart attacks in the U.S. each year, only about 5 percent survive. ...

This article features rental and demo cross-country and snowshoeing equipment for the 99-00 ski season. ...

• Computers & Automation

This expert, VP of information systems for F.W. Webb Company, says there will be some problems with computer programs and other electronic systems when 1/1/2000 rolls around. ...

• Lifts

The annual Lift Construction Survey revealed capacities that soared through the roof, new gondolas and North America's largest lift as 64 new lifts were constructed in North America. ...

• Lifts

This article profiles the construction of Squaw Valley's new funitel, opened in December of 1998. It is the biggest lift in North America with a stunning VTFH of 7,024. ...

The article points to different approaches to food and beverage. Should resorts minimize the bottom line in food costs by offreing typical fare or risk higher costs and less margins by cooking quality homemade food? It's more a question of regional demand than anything else. ...

• Lifts

This is a brief announcement about the ropeway database available online from the Information Center for Ropeway Studies, Colorado School of Mines. There are more than 2,200 citations pertaining to the theory, design and operation of ropeway systems. ...

• Conferences / Trade Shows

The article is a wrapup of Ski Industry Week at Vail. It includes brief encapsulations of presentations and a 50th anniversary party for Skiing Magazine. ...

• Legal

Hunter Mountain, N.Y. had a lawsuit brought by an injured skier thrown out of court. The case involved a skier who was temporarily blinded as she skied through a plume of snow blown by a snowmaking gun on an open trail. She fell and broke her hip. The court found that one of the risks of skiing is injury resulting from the use ofd snowmaking equipm...

• Safety

This report of two separate accidents at Snow Valley, California, that cost one man a leg and severely injured another points up the need for constant vigilance in the realm of safety. One accident involved Brian Best, who fell off a tower while working on a communications line. Two days later, Craig Anderson was rigging to raise the counterweight ...

• International

This is an article about orphans with vision disabilities brought to Winter Park and introduced to skiing by volunteers. They were brought by the National Sports Center for the Disabled and the Frank Foundation of Washington, D.C. for this inaugural program of four days of instruction to inspire hope and find adoptive families. ...

• Lifts

These are tips for lift operators to consider when loading and unloading young snowboarders accompanied by adults. ...

Questions answered are: What are the advantages of a dirt-shaped halfpipe opposed to one of only snow? Can you overgroom a terrain park? How can you maintain a halfpipe without a halfpipe groomer? Is it OK to allow skiers in "snowboard" parks? What are the most effective ways to educate terrain park users about etiquette? ...

Seth's frustration at what the industry does in trying to market skis to a wide range of skiers comes through in this article. He says it's time to call a carving ski a carving ski. ...