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FOUR MORE YEARS?
We don’t really trust weather forecasts more than 48 hours into the future, but it’s worth noting that some forecasters are already predicting cold, and potentially snowy, winters through 2015.

But first things first. For 2011-12, the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service went on a “La Niña watch” in August, indicating that there’s a 50 percent chance of another resort-friendly La Niña developing this winter, on the heels of last winter’s appearance. In addition, Accu Weather.com long-range expert Joe Bastardi sees this as part of a natural pattern, which he predicts will lead to lower global temperatures over the next nine months.

Historically, a recurring La Niña is typically less strong than the first, but even so, it would increase the odds for a strong snow season for northern resorts. For more southerly areas from New Mexico through the Southeast, La Niñas typically produce less precipitation.

Longer term, through 2015, Bastardi sees a series of colder winters on the way. La Niñas are marked by a cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and cooler seems to be the ocean’s long-term direction. Bastardi believes this is reminiscent of the mid-’70s, and that the next several years could be similar to winters of the late 1970s.


FALLOUT IN SUGARLOAF
The Maine Elevator and Tramway Safety Board found a series of mechanical and operational failures at the heart of the chairlift deropement at Sugarloaf last December, an incident that touched off a statewide examination of the state’s lift operations. That wider review led chief safety inspector John Burpee to criticize training and quality control practices at the state’s ski resorts generally. "I'm a little disappointed with what we're finding for quality assurance programs," he said. He also termed the existing regime of inspections, typically conducted by inspectors working for insurance companies, “insufficient.”

But Burpee stopped well short of endorsing the board’s proposal for licensing lift maintenance personnel. He called that no guarantee of better performance, and said it was unrealistic to expect the state to increase spending and hire inspectors.

That leaves the situation pretty much where it was before the incident: resorts are on their own, with the insurance companies doing their part to ensure that lifts are maintained properly. Except that everyone is paying extra attention now. “Safety is the number-one focus,” said Ski Maine executive director Greg Sweetser. “When a lift accident involving our guests occurs, there is a renewed sense of focus within our operations.”


LEHMAN BROS. TAKES OVER MOONLIGHT--FOR NOW
Lehman Brothers has taken ownership of Moonlight Basin under a plan the bank and the resort submitted to U.S. bankruptcy court this summer. The plan calls for Lehman to satisfy the claims of the area’s administrative creditors and provide recovery for unsecured creditors.

Perhaps most important, the plan keeps Moonlight operating. "This agreement will deliver a positive outcome for our employees, vendors, guests, and for the community as a whole," Moonlight CEO Russ McElyea said.

Of course, Lehman Bros. Holdings--what’s left of it--is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection itself. Many parts of the company were spun off shortly after the company’s infamous collapse in September 2008, at the height of the credit crisis. But the mortgage business, Lehman Asset Management Co., remains part of the bankrupt entity. It’s run by the original Lehman lending team plus a court-appointed reorganization company, Alvarez & Marsal.

But that could change soon. Lehman is scheduled to reveal its reorganization plan and seek creditor approval by Oct. 14, followed by a confirmation hearing Nov. 17.


TAMARACK MAKES LIKE A PHOENIX
Yes, it’s hard to kill a ski area. Tamarack, shuttered in 2009 by bankruptcy and abandoned last spring when owner J. P. Boespflug fled the country, still has a pulse. It was operated last winter by the Tamarack Municipal Association (TMA), its homeowner group, and TMA may well do the same again this winter if no buyer steps forth in the coming months. At least four serious buyers are said to be looking at the property.

In the meantime, the TMA is preparing to operate in the same manner it did last winter, when it ran as many as five lifts Thursdays through Sundays, plus holiday weeks. TMA spent the summer maintaining equipment, load-testing lifts, and promoting its pricing and operating schedule.

It’s likely that both Credit Suisse, the lienholder, and the state of Idaho, on whose land the area sits, will once again give TMA the go-ahead. TMA has been maintaining the value of Credit Suisse’s assets, both by keeping the lifts, trails, and snowmaking system in operating order and by keeping customers coming (30,000 visits last winter). That’s reason enough for Credit Suisse to pay the lion’s share of the $250,000 state land lease. And since Tamarack employs 100 in a county with high unemployment, the state has reason to see TMA operate the resort this winter as well.

Last but not least, TMA has the means to operate the resort. It ran at slightly better than break-even last winter.


WHO SAYS ALL TAXES ARE BAD?
Resort towns in Colorado and Utah are seeking to collect rental taxes from homeowners who are now renting their properties directly, rather than working through lodging associations or established management companies. While the larger entities are aware of the rental taxes and have some incentive to see they are paid--the taxes often fund municipal marketing initiatives that in turn support the rental agencies--homeowners often aren’t aware of local license fees and short-term rental taxes, or some simply try to avoid paying them regardless. Aspen and Breckenridge officials each estimate the towns have lost $100,000 in revenue as a result of the shift to by-owner rentals.

Towns are taking a variety of steps to track down the scofflaws and collect their due, but fingering the individual owners is often difficult. To make it less so, the Colorado Association of Ski Towns, a group of 24 towns and one county, is working with a computer software developer to try and ease the task of identifying violators, which often costs more than it raises in tax income.


BATHROOM HUMOR
Ski area restrooms are often, at best, utilitarian and clean. But Snowbasin, Utah, is in the running for the title of America's Best Restroom. The resort’s luxurious restrooms feature Italian Carrera marble, bronze and crystal chandeliers, floor to ceiling commodes, beautifully inlaid African Anegre wood, and hand-painted walls.

As in many of these contests, the competition is stiff. Finalists include Don's Johns Presidential Luxury Restroom Trailer in Chantilly, Va., which was originally set up for President Obama during the 2009 Inauguration, and the Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas, which features a graffiti-covered segment of the Berlin Wall, to which the men’s urinals are attached. We kid you not.

The public is invited to take an online bathroom tour and vote for the best at www.bestrestroom.com through Sept. 19. So go ahead, pull the voting lever for one of our own.


OUT-OF-CONTROL PEE-ER CRASHES OFF USST
Speaking of bathrooms--U.S. Ski Team development teamer Robert “Sandy” Vietze couldn’t seem to find one on a cross-country flight.

The underage 18-year-old managed to consume eight alcoholic drinks before boarding a cross-country red-eye flight last month as he headed home from a summer training camp. About halfway across the country, he peed in the center aisle next to an 11-year-old girl (or worse, according to some reports, on her). Vietze was later arrested for his actions.

News of the incident reached USST leaders in Park City and team officials immediately bounced Vietze from the team for violating its code of conduct.


SHORTSWINGS
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign a bill that will require skiers and riders age 17 and younger to wear a helmet; compliance rests with individuals and parents ... The Forest Service put a 60-day comment period (from August 5 to October 4) on its “Draft Report on Indian Sacred Sites” after NSAA objected to the lack of public airing of the plan, which would expand protections for “sacred places” and give tribes a degree of co-management of some public lands ... The Balsams’ (NH) sale to Ocean Properties fell through at the last minute in August; the would-be owners had planned a year-long shutdown for renovations.