• Personnel Issues

SAM Magazine—Windsor, Colo., Sept. 18, 2023—With plans to open by Thanksgiving, 12-acre Hoedown Hill will become Colorado’s newest skiing, snow tubing, and sledding area. The project is the dream of Martin Lind, a third-generation Windsor resident and owner of real estate development firm The Water Valley Company.  Hoedown Hill is located a...

• Ski Area Profiles
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., Sept. 15, 2023—The thirteenth SAM Summer Ops Camp drew ski area and aerial adventure operators, experts, and suppliers from all over North America to Steamboat, Sept. 10-12, for three days of learning, networking, and hands-on fun in the name of growing non-winter business.  The host resort provided atte...

• Area Management
• Marketing

SAM Magazine—Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 14, 2023—The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is committing $10 million in capital improvements and is working with a locally-based company to grow four-season recreational opportunities—including the return of alpine skiing—at Denton Hill State Park in Potter County. ...

• Personnel Issues

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Sept. 14, 2023—After a slow start, the summer of 2023 will likely finish down slightly from last year for lodging properties in Western mountain destinations, but will still come very close to last summer's revenue record. According to the most recent monthly Market Briefing released by DestiMetrics, the busines...

• Ski Patrol
• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Norway, Mich., Sept. 11, 2023—Norway Mountain, idle since 2017, has been purchased by a local family who plans to reopen the 160-acre ski and snowboard area situated in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the 2024/25 season.  The Norway property, existing infrastructure, and an additional 50 acres outside of the area was purchased b...

• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Boston, Mass., Sept. 8, 2023—The producers of Snowbound and Snowvana, two of the largest remaining consumer ski shows in the nation, report a record number of ski resorts and exhibitors have signed up to participate in the events this fall.   PowderDaze, a retail sales event in Colorado at which local resorts often sell passes, ...

• Legal

SAM Magazine—Eden, Utah, Sept. 6, 2023—Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings became the majority owner of Powder Mountain following a $100 million investment. Hastings acquired a minority stake in the ski area back in April. The new investment will develop the qualities that make Powder special, with a focus on bolstering infrastructure and...

• Safety
• Ski Patrol

SAM Magazine—Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 6, 2023—Cleanup is underway at Lee Canyon after Tropical Storm Hilary caused significant flooding with flows of rock and debris settling in the base area that nearly buried lift load stations, forcing the resort to shut down its summer operations for the season.    “Our team is working with heavy machin...

• Legal
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, Sept. 6, 2023—Just days after it reported its first dusting of snow for the season, Solitude, Utah, will unveil the first phase of its new Solitude Bike Park on Friday, Sept. 8, with four new downhill mountain bike trails—six miles total—that range from easy to difficult.  “With this initial pha...

• Miscellaneous
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Aug. 29, 2023—Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) is making a series of executive changes to accommodate its growth and to align itself for future expansion. PGRI owns five North American mountain resort properties—Jay Peak, Vt.; Mt. Washington Alpine Resort, B.C.; Powderhorn Mountain Resort, Colo.; Wintergreen Re...

• Legal

SAM Magazine—Kelowna, B.C., Aug. 28, 2023— More than 1,000 wildfires have scorched Canada this summer, marking the country’s fourth consecutive year of grappling with severe drought conditions. Courtesy of Panorama Mountain ResortMountain communities in British Columbia have been directly impacted and ski areas have stepped up to help. In a h...

• Lifts
• Marketing

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 28, 2023—The 2023 Rise Up Challenge, sponsored by Leitner-Poma of America, highlighted up-and-coming lift mechanics and their lift maintenance teams from six ski areas across North America: Arapahoe Basin, Colo.; Deer Valley, Utah; Killington Resort, Vt.; Mansfield Ski Club, Ont.; Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore.; and Pow...

• Lift Maintenance
• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Aug. 24, 2023—Alterra-owned Deer Valley has partnered with Extell Development Company to operate the planned skiable terrain that was part of Extell’s adjacent Mayflower Mountain Resort project, adding 3,700 acres of terrain that will connect to Deer Valley’s existing network of trails, nearly tripling the skia...

• Snowmaking

THIS REPORT WAS UPDATED ON AUG. 25. SAM Magazine—Las Vegas, Aug. 23, 2023—Lee Canyon Ski and Snowboard Resort has closed its summer mountain operations for the season after an initial assessment of the damage caused by flash flooding associated with Tropical Storm Hilary led the U.S. Forest Service to indefinitely extend its closure of the ...

• Personnel Issues
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 22, 2023—Alterra Mountain Company closed on the purchase of Schweitzer in Idaho, bringing the company’s total year-round mountain destinations to 17 properties throughout North America.  “With the acquisition of Schweitzer, we are excited to expand our presence within the Pacific Northwest skier market,” said ...