SAM Magazine--Mont Tremblant, Que., July 13, 2004--Gray Rocks Inn and ski area will close its doors on Oct. 10, marking the first time in a nearly a century that the Gray Rocks Inn will close for the winter and shuttering one of the pioneering ski areas of the region. Owner Phillip Robinson blamed the extreme cold and the general tourism slump f...

SAM Magazine--Ludlow, Vt., July 13, 2004--American Skiing Company (ASC) will pay $5.1 million to settle its lawsuit with Triple Peaks, LLC, stemming from ASC's last-minute termination of the proposed sale of the Steamboat Ski Resort to Triple Peaks in 2001. In return, Triple Peaks has agreed to a full dismissal of all claims relating to the sale. ...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., July 9, 2004--Vail Resorts has been actively seeking a buyer for some or all of its assets, according to reports in the Denver Post and the Vail Daily, based on several unofficial sources in Vail valley. Speculation about a possible sale has also been fueled by a recent runup in the price of Vail stock (currently about $1...

SAM Magazine--Vancouver, B.C., July 7, 2004--Intrawest has acquired an equity interest in the Abercrombie & Kent Group (A&K), a leading luxury adventure-travel company. The companies will offer a range of high-end travel, leisure and vacation experiences at destinations around the globe. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Abercrombie &...

SAM Magazine--Wrightwood, Calif., July 6, 2004--Mountain High Resort is purchasing neighboring Ski Sunrise for about $375,000. The sale of the 97-acre area, located about one mile from Mountain High's existing East and West areas, is set for mid-July. Mountain High GM Karl Kapuscinski told SAM that, in the short term, Sunrise will be used as a t...

SAM Magazine--June 28, Tully, N.Y.--Ski Areas of New York announced that New York State ski areas received 4,034,325 skier/snowboard visits for the 2003/04 season, making it the third best season on record. The 50 ski and snowboard resorts that call New York home had a record season last year with 4,256,507 visits and attribute the drop off this ye...

SAM Magazine--Juneau, Alaska, June 15, 2004--In addition to the $300,000 the City and Borough of Juneau gives to Eaglecrest Ski Area each year, the resort was granted another $100,000 in order to offset a projected shortfall of $652,000 next year. Eaglecrest is a municipally-owned area that relies on local users to cover 70 percent of operating exp...

SAM Magazine--Donnelly, Idaho, June 15, 2004--Tamarack resort had its second straight sell-out when it unloaded 64 real estate products, raising approximately $33.4 million for scheduled development. Homebuyers from Idaho (58 percent), California (28 percent), Oregon (4.6 percent) and Georgia (3.1 percent) bought 10 cottages, 18 resort-built chalet...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., June 14, 2004--Vail released its financial results for the third quarter ended April 30, 2004, and the news was all good. In fact, it was their best third quarter ever thanks mainly to a jump in the company's mountain segment, a 10.2 percent growth in average realized price for the ski season and record visits for Beaver ...

SAM Magazine--Hood River, Ore., June 14, 2004--The Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association (PNSAA) announced that the region is on track for its third best season ever with 4.71 million visits forecast. Washington state recorded 1.86 million and Oregon is projecting 1.63 million once the summer season ends. PNSAA encompasses resorts in Washingto...

SAM Magazine--June 11, 2004, North Conway, N.H.-- Tom Day, acting GM at Booth Creek-owned Cranmore Mountain Resort announced today that Ben Wilcox will become the new GM of the resort starting June 18, 2004. For the past 11 years, Wilcox was the marketing director at Bretton Woods Resort and the Mount Washington Hotel. ...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, May 14, 2004--American Skiing Company (ASC) has restructured its real estate debt, cutting $80.4 million from its balance sheet. The restructuring creates a new partnership between ASC's Killington Resort and SP Land, a newly formed affiliate of Eiger, Inc., one of the lenders under ASC's Real Estate Term Facility,...

SAM Magazine--Aspen, Colo., June 10, 2004--Colorado Ski Country USA reported the state hosted more than 11.2 million skier visits this season as in-state visits fell, destination numbers stabilized, and several international markets rebounded. The total represents a 3.4 percent decline from the 2002-03 season. "For the first time in seven years,...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, June 10, 2004--American Skiing Company reported a loss for the nine months ended April 25 of $38.4 million, slightly less than the $42.8 million loss a year earlier. The company credited increased season's pass revenues, cost controls and coordinated marketing for the improved financial performance despite a slight de...

SAM Magazine--Rossland B.C., June 4, 2004--A private investment group led by Howard Katkov of San Diego has purchased Red Mountain Resort for an undisclosed amount. With a recently approved community plan in hand to guide future development, the new ownership expects to construct 1,300 dwelling units and 70,000 square feet of commercial space ov...