SAM Magazine—Mill Valley, Calif., March 30, 2015—Bob Roberts, president and CEO of the California Ski Industry Association (CSIA), is retiring effective June 2015. Roberts has been at his post for 40 years. The CSIA executive committee is currently interviewing candidates, with plans to name a new director in the weeks to come.

“It’s been a great run. It’s always been about the relationships, the great people and the variety of challenges we’ve shared, that have made my life’s work so enjoyable and rewarding,” Roberts said.

SAM Magazine—Fort Collins, Colo., March 30, 2015—Colorado State University (CSU) has launched an online Ski Area Management Graduate Certificate of Completion program for students and current employees looking to further their careers in the ski industry.

Each of the six online courses in the ski area management certificate follows an accelerated eight-week schedule and incorporates industry knowledge and best practices. University officials said the curriculum was developed with input from ski area managers.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, March 27, 2015—The Park City Planning Commission gave unanimous approval for Vail Resorts’ plan to build an interconnecting gondola between Park City and Canyons ski areas, among other capital improvements totaling $50 million. The end result will reportedly represent the largest single ski area in the U.S., with more than 7,300 acres of skiable terrain.

SAM Magazine—Carrabassett Valley, Maine, March 26, 2015—A team of investigators has determined that an inappropriately specified switch in one of the brake components on Sugarloaf’s King Pine lift contributed to the March 21 rollback accident that injured seven people.

SAM Magazine—Donnelly, Idaho, March. 26, 2015—New TR Acquisitions, the owner of Tamarack Resort, has named Replay Resorts to assume overall operational management of the resort with exception of the golf course. Replay takes over from the Tamarack Municipal Association (TMA). The management change goes into effect May 1, 2015.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, March. 26, 2015—Powdr Corp. has aquired Human Movement Management (HMM), an active entertainment and event company that produces running races, festivals, triathlons, obstacle races, and outdoor events. Powdr officials say the move helps it further diversify its portfolio and expand its summer activities, events, and other programming at resorts.

SAM Magazine—Olympic Valley, Calif., March 23, 2015—Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is offering a “worry-free” rollover option for skiers and riders who purchase a 2015-16 Tahoe Super Pass. The option includes the ability to rollover up to four unused days during the 2015-16 winter season for credit toward the purchase of a 2016-17 Tahoe Super Pass. To gain this option, Gold- or Silver-level passes must be purchased by May 7.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 23, 2015—Vail Resorts is expanding its program for fifth and sixth graders, formerly known as School of Shred, to include all kindergarten through fifth graders. Renamed “Epic SchoolKids Colorado Pack,” the program provides 16 days of free skiing—four days each at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Keystone.

SAM Magazine—Meribel, France, March 22, 2015—Strong season-ending finishes by Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin led the U.S. Ski Team women to reap three titles at the season-ending World Cup Finals held over the last week at Meribel.

Two of the globes went to Vonn, who claimed her 66th and 67th World Cup victories by winning both the downhill and Super-G. Vonn has now won 19 World Cup titles, the most of any woman in history, and tied with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.

SAM Magazine—Carrabassett Valley, Maine, March 22, 2015—Investigators from Sugarloaf working in conjunction with an engineer from the State of Maine Board of Elevators and Tramways have identified mechanical failures that led to the King Pine lift rollback, resulting in injuries to seven guests yesterday.

SAM Magazine—Carrabassett Valley, Maine, March, 21, 2015—A rollback incident today on Sugarloaf’s King Pine lift injured seven guests and sent three to the hospital with non-critical injuries. All three were reported in stable condition on Saturday afternoon, according to hospital spokeswoman Jill Gray.

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., March 19, 2015—The provincial government of British Columbia is developing a Climate Change Action Plan aimed at helping B.C.’s 35 ski resorts better prepare for a future with less snow. Stakeholders involved with the plan met this week in Whistler as part of on-going discussions.

"This meeting was very much about the long term and how we’re going to manage climate change as an industry," said Arthur De Jong, mountain planning and environmental resource manager with Whistler Blackcomb.

SAM Magazine—Denver, March 18, 2015—The most recent results for western mountain lodging properties at 19 resort communities in six western states show revenues are up 12.3 percent compared to the same period last season, while occupancy is up 6.5 percent. The data include activity through Feb. 28 and are collected and reported on by DestiMetrics, a Denver-based mountain travel research firm.

SAM Magazine—Denver, March 16, 2015—Skier and snowboarder visits were up 3.7 percent for the first two months of 2015 among the 21 member ski areas of Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA). The gain in second period visitation boosted overall year-to-date results 1.9 percent ahead of last season, which was the best season on record for the state—12.6 million visits, including the members of CSCUSA along with Vail Resorts’ Colorado areas, which are not members of CSCUSA.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 12, 2015—Vail Resorts (VR) reported net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 (ended Jan. 31, 2015) nearly doubled, to $115.8 million from $59.3 million. Total revenue increased to $530.2 million, up 17.1 percent compared to the same period in the prior year. Notably, the results this year include Park City, which was not part of the VR portfolio a year ago.

SAM Magazine—Denver, March 11, 2015—The season’s pass war for 2015-16 has begun, and major resorts are adding a number of new weapons to the fight. Perhaps the biggest development: the growth in limited-use passes. Choice is in.

But choice comes with a caveat: customers have to act soon to get the best prices.

Conglomerates Unite

SAM Magazine—Bear Lake, Calif., March, 11, 2015—Snow Summit’s summer operations will shift into a higher gear with the addition of a four-mile beginner mountain biking trail, a zip line, and a climbing wall. The announcement came in conjunction with the finalization of Mammoth Mountain’s $38 million acquisition of Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, first reported in September 2014.

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., March 9, 2015—Law enforcement officials in Aspen, Eagle County, Steamboat Springs, and other Colorado ski towns are reporting a rise in credit card fraud in the past two months. It's thought to be coming from international cyber-crime organizations.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Mar. 2, 2015—After a 47-to-1 vote, patrollers at Telluride ski area will now be represented for collective bargaining purposes by Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 7. The mail-in ballots were collected and counted last Thursday at the National Labor Relations Board in Denver.

SAM Magazine—Boise, Idaho, Mar. 2, 2015—Bogus Basin president and general manager Alan Moore resigned Feb. 28, and the resort is seeking his replacement. Nate Shake, director of human resources, will serve as interim general manager until the position is filled.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Mar. 2, 2015—How much PAC money would it take to persuade President Obama to make aiding the U.S. ski industry one of his highest priorities?

Leaders of the French government are backing a proposal to reschedule spring school holidays to allow families more time to go skiing. French ski resort operators said the move could result in a 3 percent boost to their overall revenues. French President Francois Hollande has reportedly given initial support, and French foreign minister Laurent Fabius is also backing the plan.

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., Feb. 26, 2015—Durango-based investor and resort entrepreneur James Coleman has completed his purchase of Durango Mountain Resort. He marked the occasion by declaring he will change the name of the area back to Purgatory.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 26, 2015—A Democratic state representative from Steamboat Springs has proposed a bill that would require noncommercial vehicles on a 130-mile stretch of I-70 through the mountains to have snow tires or chains from Nov. 1 to May 15, as the law now requires of commercial vehicles. This section of I-70 experiences chronic closures due to snow-related accidents, and has seen several such closures this winter. The goal is to reduce the incidence of accidents and smooth the flow of traffic during the snowiest months.

SAM Magazine – Denver, Colo., Feb., 20, 2015 – Business over the Presidents Day weekend and into this week has been a tale of opposites. In the West, temperatures remain warmer than average, and in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, the mercury fell to the bottom of the thermometer. But overall, ski areas are reporting that business for the week has been in the black.

SAM Magazine—Ithaca, N.Y., Feb., 19, 2015—Over the past couple of weeks, politicians, meteorologists, and even destination tourism officials in the Northeast have been giving snow a bad name, adding to the challenges resorts face in drawing visitors. Elected officials and meteorologists are advising people to not go outside, and a visitor’s bureau went so far as to recommend that people head to Florida.

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 18, 2015—The Mountain Accord blueprint, which proposes to connect ski areas and other major recreation and economic centers via a multi-modal mountain transportation system in Utah’s Central Wasatch, is available for public comment through March 16. The Accord could have broad and varied impacts on the Wasatch resorts.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Feb., 18, 2015—Aggregated mountain lodging revenues at 19 participating resorts in six western states are poised to eclipse the record business levels of the pre-recession 2007-08 season, according to the most recent data released by Denver-based DestiMetrics.

SAM Magazine—Quebec City, Quebec, Feb. 16, 2015—The North American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA) honored four distinguished ski industry veterans during its Annual Meeting Feb. 7-11 at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City.

SAM Magazine—Wintergreen, Va., Feb. 12, 2015—EPR Properties, a real estate investment trust (REIT), has purchased the assets of Wintergreen Resort in conjunction with its operator for the property, Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. Pacific Group Resorts will lease the property from EPR and manage the resort.

SAM Magazine—Seattle, Wash., Feb. 12, 2015—The Summit at Snoqualmie has closed Alpental, the only one of the four Snoqualmie resorts that was still open, due to the deteriorating snow conditions at the area, just before the President’s week holiday begins.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Feb., 9, 2015—Intrawest reduced its year-over-year second quarter loss for the period ending Dec. 31 and reported increased revenues for the quarter. The improvements were largely due to the company’s IPO in February 2014 and the acquisition of Blue Mountain, Ontario, in September 2014.

SAM Magazine—Littleton, N.H., Feb. 9, 2015—A community-wide effort is credited for bringing New Hampshire's Mount Eustis back into operation this season with a novel business plan: free skiing and snowboarding for all. Guests must sign a waiver, and the area is suggesting a $5 donation per day.

SAM Magazine—Chehalis, B.C., Feb., 9, 2015—Hemlock Resort will not open this season due to warm temperatures and precipitation that has come in the form of rain rather than snow, while Utah’s Cherry Peak remains closed while new owners continue renovations on the base lodge.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Feb. 6, 2015—Members of the Telluride ski patrol will soon vote on whether to form a union, according to the Telluride Daily Planet. The report said patrollers filed a petition with National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 2 to have an election, which at least 30 percent of the group signed.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Feb. 6, 2015—Nearly 400 mountain tourism and ski industry executives from destinations spanning North America convened Jan. 28 at the SIA Snow Show as part of The Assembly, a one-day forum that presents both a fact-based and knowledge-based assessment of the 2014-15 season at the midway point and identifies emerging growth opportunities in the mountain travel industry.

SAM Magazine—Mesa, Colo., Feb. 4, 2015—Four years after the purchase of Powderhorn Mountain Resort by Gart Capital Partners and Andy Daly, the resort is planning to invest $5 million in the coming year to improve the slopes for winter and summer recreation.

Topping the list of capital investments is the installation of a Poma high-speed quad chairlift along the same alignment as the current Take Four lift, the area’s base-to-summit lift. Construction begins next summer, with completion planned for opening day in mid-December for the 2015-2016 season.

SAM Magazine—Fairport, N.Y., Feb. 4, 2015—Three new safety-related studies suggest that helmets reduce head injuries, ski and snowboard injuries overall are trending downward, and that terrain parks have not led to an increase in catastrophic injuries. All three studies are in the process of being published in the upcoming ASTM STP: Selected Technical Papers 1582, which will appear this spring.

SAM Magazine—Danbury, N.H., Feb. 3, 2015—Ryan Schramm has been named general manager of Ragged Mountain Resort. Schramm, 36, joined the staff in 2010 and most recently served as director of business development, information technology (IT), F&B, and competitions.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Jan. 28, 2015—There’s stoke, and then there is the opposite of stoke. When Bill Jensen, former CEO of Intrawest, told a crowd of nearly 400 ski industry executives that from his view, 150 ski areas were in “the sunset of their existence” and an additional 150 ski areas could also be out of business within the decade, it became an immediate water-cooler topic.

Jensen was speaking as part of The Assembly 2015, a one-day forum that took place on the first day of the SIA Snow Show held at the Colorado Convention Center.

SAM Magazine—Hancock, Mass., Jan. 27, 2015—State-wide travel bans in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York – all of which were subsequently lifted by mid-day Tuesday morning—were ordered in preparation for Winter Storm Juno that was expected to drop more than 2 feet of snow throughout the Northeast. The travel bans forced some ski area closures, proving that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Juno brought up to 30 inches in some, mostly coastal and suburban areas.

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 27, 2015—SAM and SIA are once again sponsoring Rental + Backshop + Uniform at the SIA Snow Show in Denver Jan. 29-Feb. 1. The three exhibits give buyers a one-stop overview of market trends and key offerings from more than 50 suppliers and offer the chance to compare products side by side, free from sales pressure. And for early birds, there’s an additional benefit: free breakfast.

SAM Magazine—White Haven, Pa., Jan. 26, 2015—Ski areas are reporting steady attendance over the Martin Luther King weekend despite short interruptions brought about by inclement weather in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest.

Linda Irvin, executive director of the Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association (PSAA) said Saturday saw strong attendance at many of the ski areas but rain and poor road conditions in eastern part of the state drove down attendance until the weather turned more favorable on Monday.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 26, 2015—Total skier and snowboarder visits at 21 Colorado resorts during the first part of the season were one percent shy of last year’s record pace, according to Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA). The data reflects visits from Oct. 17 through Dec. 31, 2014.

SAM Magazine—Gaylord, Mich., Jan. 23, 2015—The University of Michigan chapter of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity has been suspended indefinitely by the national office after its members were named as suspects for having caused nearly $75,000 worth of damage at Treetops ski area Jan. 16-17. The Sigma Delta Tau sorority is also accused of being involved with the vandalism.

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 22, 2015—Cutter's Camp registration is now open for both of this year's sessions, at Loon Mountain, N.H., April 12-14 and Timberline, Mt. Hood, Ore., May 11-15. Space will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registrations are processed at www.cutterscamp.com.

SAM Magazine—Pine Crest, Calif., Jan. 22, 2015—Yesterday, Dodge Ridge and Donner Ski Ranch became the latest ski areas in California to suspend operations due to a lack of snow. Badger Pass, Mt. Shasta, and Alta Sierra are also closed.

SAM Magazine—Montpelier, Vt., Jan. 22, 2015—Doug Hoffer, Vermont State Auditor, said the state should to be charging higher rates for use of its mountain lands. Hoffer says the money the state gets out of current lease payments, about $3 million, doesn’t reflect the value of the state’s land, according to a report by Vermont Public Radio (VPR).

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 22, 2015—The National Ski Patrol (NSP) has re-elected Ed McNamara as the organization's board chair, effective Jan. 10, 2015. McNamara will serve a second term as board chair in his third year on the board.

SAM Magazine – Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 19, 2015 –– Lindsey Vonn put down a near flawless super G run Monday to win her 63rd Audi FIS Ski World Cup and etch her name into the record books as the winningest women's World Cup racer ever. Skiing at the end of the top seed in the 22nd start position, Vonn took command from the start and posted a .85 second margin over Austria's Anna Fenninger.

The win—her second straight in two days—boosted her beyond the mark of 62 set by Austria's Annemarie Moser-Proell between 1970-80.

SAM Magazine—Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 18, 2015—Lindsey Vonn captured her 62nd career World Cup win, tying a 35-year record that many race experts have thought was unbeatable, during the Audi FIS downhill in Cortina. Vonn won the race by .32 seconds over Austria's Elisabeth Goergl, and in doing so, ties the record of 62 wins by Austrian Moser-Proell from 1970 to 1980.

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., Jan. 17, 2015—Chris Diamond, president and COO of Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation, will retire June 30, 2015.

During his 15-year tenure, Steamboat has greatly expanded its snowmaking capabilities, added night skiing, constructed the Four Points Lodge, and completed numerous lift upgrades and various Urban Renewal Authority projects. Diamond began his ski industry career in 1972, following discharge from the U.S. Army. He joined Steamboat in 1999 as managing director.

SAM Magazine—Mount Washington, B.C., Jan. 16, 2015—Mount Washington—the Canadian one, not the New Hampshire one—was today’s new-snow winner with 11 inches as ski areas across North America prepare for the Martin Luther King Holiday, one of the busiest periods of the season.

Snow also blanketed ski areas in the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, where Crystal Mountain received 10 inches, and seven to eight inches fell at the Summit at Snoqualmie, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Spokane.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Jan. 16, 2015—Revenues at 19 mountain resorts in six states are up 15 percent over last season while occupancy is up 9 percent, according to Denver-based DestiMetrics. The data reflect aggregated occupancy based on reservations already made through April.

Revenue and occupancy have experienced gains every month from November through April, with double-digit percentage increases in February and April. This year Easter is April 5.

SAM Magazine—Oliver, B.C., Jan. 16, 2015—Mount Baldy ski area re-opened 500 acres to skiers and riders this season after scrapping operations last season. The Baldy Capital Corporation, based in Calgary, has arranged interim financing along with a Memorandum of Understanding to purchase the resort.The plan is to open Fridays through Sundays.

SAM Magazine—Baar/Straubing, Germany, Jan. 9, 2015—Marker Völkl has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the Dalbello Group, a family-owned Italian company that has been making ski boots since 1974.

SAM Magazine—Wildwood, Mo., Jan. 9, 2015—Peak Resorts noted in its latest earnings report that total skier and snowboarder visits in November and December, the first two months of its third quarter, were behind the five-year average due to late openings at the company’s Midwest ski areas.

Tim Boyd, Peak president and COO, said late openings are not unusual in the region, and that visits to the day-drive resorts typically rebound quickly because of their close proximity to the customer base.

SAM Magazine—Monarch Mountain, Colo., Jan. 7, 2015—A 15-year-old male was arrested yesterday by the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office on charges stemming from two recent attempted sexual assaults on teenage girls at Monarch ski area.

SAM Magazine—Zagreb, Croatia, Jan. 7, 2015—Seven American men ski racers wore black armbands and tape on their helmets in the Audi FIS Ski World Cup night slalom to honor Ronnie Berlack, Franconia, N.H. and Burke Mountain, Vt., and Bryce Astle, Sandy, Utah—two teammates killed in an avalanche Monday. Prior to the race, the race organizers held a moment of silence.

SAM Magazine—Soelden, Austria, Jan. 5, 2015—The U.S. Ski Team is mourning the loss of two promising development-level ski racers killed Monday in an avalanche in Soelden. The two were among a group of six athletes freeskiing at the Austrian resort. The other four skied out of the slide.

Killed in the avalanche were Ronnie Berlack, 20, of Franconia, N.H., and Burke Mountain, Vt., and Bryce Astle, 19, of Sandy, Utah.

SAM Magazine—McLean, Va., Jan. 5, 2015—This month marks the seventh year of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month, and several states, including Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah and Vermont, are promoting statewide discounted beginner lesson packages. A few associations have recruited partners to help spread the news.