• Snowmaking

SAM Magazine—Placer County, Calif., Jan. 10, 2024—At least one person was killed and another sustained non-life-threatening injuries in an inbounds avalanche at Palisades Tahoe this morning. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) confirmed the fatality and injury in a statement shared to Facebook ahead of a 2.30 p.m. PST press conference....

• Safety

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 5, 2024—Given the unseasonable weather seen across much of North America, most mountain resort operators have not been singing the praises of Mother Nature this winter. Instead, they credited staff, snowmaking, and a little creativity for whatever success they experienced over the Christmas holiday period. Pano...

• Legal
• Snowmaking

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 5, 2024—More than 3,500 votes, the most ever, were cast in the 17th annual SAM Terrain Park Contest in which a total of 69 resort-submitted entries from ski areas around the globe competed for the top spot in one of four categories: features, events, edits, and park crew.  The votes have been tallied, and the ...

• Snowmaking
• Lifts

SAM Magazine–Keystone, Colo., Jan. 5, 2024–A collision between a skier and a ski-bike rider at a Colorado ski area has put a spotlight on safety issues around the use of snow toys and highlights a state law making it a crime to leave the scene of a serious ski crash. The Jan. 2 incident, involving a 72-year-old male skier, his daughter, and an...

• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., Jan. 3, 2024—The gearbox for Hesperus Ski Area’s only lift suffered a major mechanical failure during preparations for the 2023-24 season, “making it impossible to open” for this winter, the ski area said, since a replacement gearbox for the old Riblet double cannot be sourced and the only option is to re-manu...

• Marketing
• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Wildwood, Mo., Jan. 3, 2024—Longtime operations leader Donald (DJ) Koch was promoted to general manager of Hidden Valley Ski Resort, following former GM Tony Santora's appointment to general manager of Jack Frost Big Boulder, Pa., both owned and operated by Vail Resorts. Koch stepped into the new role Jan. 1, 2024.   "We are th...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—White Haven, Pa., Dec. 21, 2023—Vail Resorts appointed Tony Santora as the new general manager of Jack Frost Big Boulder, effective Jan. 1, 2024. Santora previously served as GM of VR-owned Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Missouri.  A Utah native, Santora graduated from the University of Utah, where he earned his MBA from the David E...

• Miscellaneous
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Banner Elk, N.C., Dec. 22, 2023—A study commissioned by the North Carolina Ski Areas Association (NCSAA) found that the state’s six operating alpine ski areas had an overall economic value of $244.3 million for the 2022-23 winter season, including visitor expenditures and ski area revenues as well as indirect and induced economic...

• Marketing
• Environment

SAM Magazine—Bethel, Maine, Dec. 22, 2023—Despite significant damage from a Monday weather event that dropped 5 inches of rain on Sunday River in a short period of time, the resort is on track to reopen with limited terrain tomorrow, Dec. 23. Waterville Valley base area operations manager Marrisa Preston jumps in mid-storm to clear the main ba...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Terrebonne, Quebec, Dec. 21, 2023—Ski areas in Quebec enjoyed a strong season in 2022-23, but while most ski areas in the province benefited from a surge in late-season skier visits, a relative handful of resorts continued to dominate the region. Overall, ski areas generated more than C$429 million (US$318 million) last season, ...

SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Dec. 19, 2023—Several inches of rain fell across most of New England Sunday into Monday, causing many ski areas to temporarily suspend operations due to the heavy precipitation and high winds or significant local flooding, or both. According to early reports, damage to resort infrastructure appears to be limited. Damage...

• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., Dec. 19, 2023—Lone Peak tram, the largest on-mountain infrastructure project in Big Sky Resort’s history, opens today. Courtesy of Big Sky ResortThe resort broke ground on the installation in summer 2022 and began load testing the new Doppelmayr/Garaventa ropeway system in November of this year.  The grand openi...

• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Dec. 14, 2023—The Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI), in partnership with Vail Resorts and the town of Vail, Colo., will host Interski 2027.Interski 2023, courtesy of PSIA-AASI The event, held every four years at different locations, will bring toge...

• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Dec. 13, 2023—Modest snowfall across much of the West and rate-sensitive customers weary of high prices combined to bring down on-the-books occupancy (and some daily rates) for the full winter season, according to DestiMetrics, the Business Intelligence division of Inntopia, in its most recent Monthly Market Bri...

• Personnel Issues
• Legal

SAM Magazine—Eden, Utah, Dec. 13, 2023—In order to keep Powder Mountain financially viable, CEO Reed Hastings plans to sell more real estate at the property and provide homeowners with an area of lift-served terrain that only they can access beginning in 2024-25. The rest of the 8,464-acre resort will remain open to the public.  “While many...