• Lift Maintenance
• Ski School

In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight recent personnel moves that have been made in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to supplier news, awards and obits, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive. PEOPLE JAY RYDD, DIAMOND PEAK RESORT Diamond Peak Resort has promoted Jay Rydd to operations ma...

• Ski School
• Snowmaking

SAM Magazine—Lake Geneva, Wis., Aug. 21, 2023—Midwest ski operators and industry suppliers descended on Grand Geneva Resort & Spa for the Midwest Ski Areas Association (MSAA) annual meeting and tradeshow, Aug. 13-16. Attendance for this year’s conference was strong, with Amy Reents, executive director of MSAA, reporting record attendance ...

• Ski School
• Personnel Issues

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Aug. 17, 2023—Data from research firm DestiMetrics, a division of Inntopia, has revealed that travelers to the western United States are booking summer lodging closer to their planned arrival date this year compared to previous years, but they’re still booking.  This was comforting news, after data in March ...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Australia, Aug. 17, 2023—Warm temperatures in July and into August have put a damper on snow conditions at Australian ski areas, but snow earlier this week and cold weather forecasted for the coming days have operators looking optimistically at a strong finish to the season. Hotham Mountain   “The whole of Australia experience...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Turin, N.Y., Aug. 9, 2023—An apparent EF-3 tornado with peak wind speeds of 140 mph damaged all three chairlifts and several structures at Snow Ridge Ski Resort on Monday evening.  The National Weather Service reported that the tornado touched down around 7:42 p.m. in the town of Lewis, N.Y., where it uplifted the roofs of two ho...

• Environment
• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Banff, Alberta, Canada, Aug. 9, 2023— A power outage on the Banff Gondola, owned by attraction and hospitality company Pursuit,  stranded hundreds of sightseers at the top of Sulphur Mountain Monday night, leading some to eventually hike down in the middle of the night. The Globe and Mail newspaper suggested that as many as ...

• Area Management
• Ski School

THIS REPORT WAS UPDATED ON AUG. 14 SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., Aug. 4—The role and impact of reciprocal pass agreements has been put in the spotlight as Indy Pass has requested its partner resorts terminate their reciprocal deals with Ski Cooper, Colo., whose large and growing roster of pass partnerships has put it in position to potentially ...

SAM Magazine—Teton Village, Wyo., Aug. 4, 2023 – After 31 years of ownership, Jay, Connie, and Betty Kemmerer have sold Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) to a group of local investors for an undisclosed amount. Owners of JHMR Connie, Betty and Jay KemmererThe Kemmerers, who purchased JHMR in 1992, said their highest priority was maintaining J...

• Personnel Issues
• Environment

SAM Magazine—Frisco, Colo., Aug. 3, 2023—Copper Mountain hosted the third annual Ski Conservation Summit on July 26. The event brings together local land managers and resort operators to share best practices and techniques to advance conservation efforts in their local environments. Courtesy of Copper MountainThis year, eight Colorado ski areas...

• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Lutsen, Minn., Aug. 3, 2023—Lutsen Mountains, part of Midwest Family Ski Resorts, has submitted a letter to the USFS asking it to defer a decision on the resort’s proposed $60 million expansion onto 500 acres of the Superior National Forest. Local Tribes retain recreational rights to the land under the 1854 Treaty, an agreement b...

• Safety

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 1, 2023—Voting is now open for the third annual Rise Up Challenge, a video contest highlighting a few skilled young lift mechanics who will no doubt keep chairs spinning at resorts for decades to come. This year, six resorts were chosen to submit a video, each featuring an up-and-coming mechanic from its lift ma...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Sun Peaks, British Columbia, July 25, 2023—Sun Peaks Resort has promoted Darcy Alexander, vice president and general manager for the past 32 years, to CEO. Alexander will focus on long-term strategy, investment opportunities, government relations, and real estate and infrastructure development. Meanwhile, current CFO Amy Blakeney ...

• Ski School
• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Franconia, N.H., July 25, 2023—Cannon Mountain director of sales and marketing Greg Keeler has been named as interim general manager of the ski area, effective Sept. 1. Keeler will succeed longtime GM John “JD” DeVivo, who has accepted the role of general manager of Antelope Butte Recreation Area in Wyoming, starting Sept. 6. ...

• Marketing

SAM Magazine—Tremblant, Quebec, July 17, 2023—One person has died and another is in critical condition in a Montreal-area hospital after a piece of heavy construction machinery struck a cabin on the Panoramic gondola at Mont-Tremblant Resort on Sunday.  Two people were riding in the cabin at the time of the crash. It’s believed the two were...

• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah—July 13, 2023—The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) yesterday released its final record of decision (ROD) to move forward with construction of a controversial eight-mile-long gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Image credit: Gondola Works The ROD, the final step in the Environmental Impact Statement...