SAM Magazine—Jackson Hole, Wyo., Oct. 24, 2024—Mountain Towns 2030 gathered 540 attendees from the ski industry, government entities, and other stakeholder groups in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Oct. 14-16, for the annual Climate Solutions Summit. The event focused on innovative solutions to combat the effects of climate change and issued a resoundin...

SAM Magazine—Shrewsbury, Mass., Oct. 21, 2024—Thanks to its all-weather snowmaking system, Massachusetts’ Ski Ward has staked its claim as the first ski area in North America to open for lift-served skiing and snowboarding for the second year in a row.Courtesy of Ski Ward Several Colorado ski areas also appear ready to drop ropes in the comin...

SAM Magazine—Homewood, Calif., Oct. 14, 2024—Homewood Mountain Resort will not operate for 2024-25 after its financial partner withdrew its support for this upcoming winter season, the Lake Tahoe ski area said in an announcement published on its website. Homewood cited financial viability and delays in approvals to proposed updates of the resor...

SAM Magazine—Jackson, N.H., Oct. 5, 2024—At a standing room only crowd at Black Mountain, Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems announced they have purchased Black Mountain from the Fichera family, who have owned and operated the ski area for the past 30 years. Indy Pass managing director and Entabeni Systems founder Erik Mogensen, who spoke at the co...

• Weather

Photo courtesy of Kim Jochl.SAM Magazine—Banner Elk, N.C., Oct. 2, 2024—Ski areas in the mountains of western North Carolina appear to have suffered relatively minimal damage from Hurricane Helene, which caused historic flooding after dropping 1-2 feet of rain, or more, through a wide swath of mountain communities in a short time, Sept. 26-27. ...

• leadership

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Oct. 2, 2024—Eleven up-and-coming industry leaders have been selected to participate as mentees in the SAM Summit Series leadership development program. Hailing from resorts of all sizes across North America, the mentees represent many different departments and roles.   The 2024-25 Summit Series mentees are: Jos...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 1, 2024—Vail Resorts has unveiled a "resource efficiency transformation plan" that will save $100 million over the next two years, and then $100 million a year after that. The plan is designed to improve organizational effectiveness through a combination of scaled operations, global shared services, and exp...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 1, 2024—Vail Resorts' Epic Pass product sales through Sept. 20, 2024, for the upcoming 2024-25 North American ski season decreased approximately 3 percent in units and increased approximately 3 percent in revenue in sales compared to the prior year through Sept. 22, 2023. Pass sales dollars are benefiting...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 1, 2024—Vail Resorts reported its Q4 and full-year 2024 results last week for the fiscal year ending July 31, detailing what was a difficult 2023-24 season across North America and in Australia. Even so, VR fared relatively well compared to the record fiscal year 2023 that preceded it. VR also revealed a "r...

• leadership

SAM’s Snow People highlights personnel moves in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to awards, obits, and supplier news, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive. PEOPLE:  Nelson Wingard and Corey Peterson COREY PETERSON and NELSON WINGARD, STEAMBOAT SKI RESORT, CO Steamboat Ski Resort ha...

• Snowmaking News

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Sept. 30, 2024—Ski areas across North America are invited to nominate their snowmaking teams to participate in the 10th annual “I AM a Snowmaker” contest, presented by HKD Snowmakers. The “I AM” contest offers the opportunity for a handful of resorts to showcase their snowmaking teams and the work they do via...

• leadership

SAM Magazine—Newbury, N.H., Sept. 26, 2024—Vail Resorts named Susan Donnelly as the new general manager of Mount Sunapee, effective October 7. Donnelly most recently served as general manager of Crotched Mountain Resort, N.H. She fills the role previously held by Peter Disch, who became VP of mountain operations at Heavenly, Calif., in August ...

• leadership

SAM Magazine—Salida, Colo., Sept. 24, 2024—Monarch Mountain has appointed Chris Haggerty as the new general manager of the ski area. Haggerty succeeds retiring GM and COO Randy Stroud, who will stay on for the 2024-25 winter season to help with the transition.  “Having worked various positions in the industry, Haggerty will provide a unique...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Sept. 24, 2024—The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has appointed Ski California president Mike Reitzell as its new president and CEO. Reitzell will replace Kelly Pawlak, who gave her notice in May that she would be stepping down as the leader of NSAA.  "Mike’s passion for the ski industry and his impressi...

SAM Magazine—Greenwood Village, Colo., Sept. 23, 2024—PNP Supply reached a partnership agreement with Demaclenko that will support and expand North American distribution of TRM (Tiroler Rohre GmbH) ductile-iron pipe for snowmaking systems. TRM is based in Tirol, Austria, and PNP Supply LLC has been the exclusive North American importer of the ...