VAIL ACQUIRES KIRKWOOD
Vail Resorts (VR) acquired Kirkwood Mountain Resort, making Kirkwood VR’s third property in the Tahoe area (Heavenly and Northstar being the other two) and seventh overall. Purchase price was approximately $18 million.

Vail Resorts also purchased the undeveloped two acres at the center of the base area, which are zoned for residential and commercial development. Kirkwood shareholders will retain a participation interest in the base area parcels and will continue to own the remainder of the real estate development sites, as well as an economic interest in Vail’s village project.



BELLEAYRE FINDS A BETTER HOME
The NY-state-owned Belleayre Ski Center will be under the control of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), which operates both Whiteface and Gore Mountain for the state of N.Y. Until now, Belleayre was overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation.

The move is expected to benefit Belleayre in many ways, namely by revitalizing the ski area into a year-round destination, creating jobs and a viable tourist attraction. Under the terms of the new state budget, ORDA will be required to assure that Belleayre will be a year-round destination with sufficient capital investment to do so.



MT. ASHLAND GETS USFS PERMIT
The non-profit organization that runs Mt. Ashland, Ore., the Mt. Ashland Association, was granted the Forest Service permit to operate the ski area. Prior to the Forest Service decision, the city of Ashland held the permit, but the City Council voted last Fall to give it up in order to have better control over future expansions at the ski area.



TAHOE FOR 2022
The Lake Tahoe area is getting serious about exploring the possibility of hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022. In early April, the lieutenant governors of California and Nevada announced the formation of the Lake Tahoe Winter Games Exploratory Committee (LTWGEC), a new California and Nevada initiative to develop an Olympic bid for the Games. Tahoe is no stranger to the Olympics; Squaw hosted the Winter Games in 1960.



WISCONSIN GETS SKIER SAFETY ACT
Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker signed the “Skier Safety Act” in April, defining the responsibilities of both participants and ski area operators. The Wisconsin Ski Industries Association (WSIA), representing 32 ski areas across the state, pushed for the bill.



B.C. RESORT CLOSER TO BEING REALIZED
The B.C. government has approved development of the long-stalled Jumbo Glacier Alpine Resort, which could become Canada’s first year-round glacier-based ski resort if environmental appeals don’t cause further delays. The resort will be located in the Purcell Mountains, not far from Panorama resort.

The $1-billion development 40 miles west of Invermere, B.C., was first proposed in the early 1990s. Since then, the project had passed all necessary regulatory and environmental hurdles, but final provincial approval has been held up for many years. Environmental and First Nation opposition, along with a deeply polarized Kootenay population, made approval a political hot potato.

At buildout, Jumbo Glacier would boast up to 23 lifts, a gondola and a ski village with more than 6,000 units.



POWDER RIDGE MAY GET NEW LIFE
In Connecticut, the town of Middlefield’s Board of Selectmen approved a $1 million bid to purchase and reopen Powder Ridge ski area in the latest attempt to revive a hill that has been closed since 2007.

The bid was made by the owners of nearby Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park. Brownstone’s managing director, Sean Hayes, said that skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing at Powder Ridge will complement the company’s summer business.

The town has hired a CPA to conduct an audit to determine two things: One, whether the potential purchasers can “obtain funding in the amount of $2 million for the restoration of Powder Ridge ski resort and, two, concerning the viability of the buyer’s business plan. Viability would cover, at a minimum, the ability to pay $100,000 installments for the next six years to the town and the ability to open Powder Ridge for downhill skiing on or before Dec. 31, 2014 and operate according to the business plan for ten years from that date.”



OBITUARY
Bill Goff, the founder of Cannonsburg Ski Area, Mich., in the 1960s, died at the age of 86.



PEOPLE
Jeffrey McIver is the GM of the Mountain Club at Loon, N.H.

Okemo Mountain, Vt., welcomed Erica Kattalia as the new director of development and admissions.

In Utah, Powdr Corp named Brent Giles its chief sustainability officer. . .Park City Mountain Resort promoted Brian Suhadloc to director of mountain and base operations.



SUPPLIER NEWS
The Bonnier Corporation’s Mountain?Group announced that Chris Phillips is its new publisher. Bonnier titles include Ski and Skiing.

TechnoAlpin announced the acquisition of Johnson Controls Neige (JCN). Both companies will retain their own autonomy and their own structures and management processes; JCN will change its name to MYNEIGE.

SMI?Snowmakers announced that Jeff Ewald will be the new GM, after Bill Topham retires in June 2012, after 23 years. Ewald and Topham have been working on the transition since April.

Doppelmayr announced that Donnie Martin has rejoined the company as a field service representative in New England.

RTP, LLC, is changing its name to Active Network. RTP was acquired by Active Network in November. Core products like RTP|One will stay the same. Check out www.activenetwork.com, www.active.com or www.rtp.com for more information.

Bull Stockwell Allen has a new location at 300 Montgomery Street, Suite 1135, San Francisco, CA 94104. Phone and fax numbers remain the same.

EcoGroomer, Inc., announced that it has chosen Volvo as the exclusive engine supplier for its new snow grooming machines.

Ski Racing Development, World Cup Supply and Shred Optics announced the fourth year of the “Fast Skier” Junior Alpine Scholarship Fund, to provide monetary assistance to a young racer.