SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Feb. 26, 2014—Despite the legalization of private use of marijuana in Colorado, public use of pot remains illegal. And so, over the past several weeks, Vail Resorts (VR) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have destroyed a number of structures associated with prohibited marijuana use. The structures had be...

SAM Magazine—Sochi, Russia, Feb. 24, 2014—A record-matching 17 Team USA skiers and snowboarders left the Sochi Olympic Winter Games with medals, including a record eight gold in on-snow events. Of course, it helped that there were more events for skiers and snowboarders—a total of 30 in all, including new slopestyle and ski halfpi...

SAM Magazine—Sochi, Russia, Feb. 24, 2014—Canadian skiers and snowboarders racked up a dozen medals during the Sochi Games, nearly half of the 25 medals won by Canadian athletes. They also took home four of Canada’s 10 gold medals. All that helped Canada rank fourth in the overall medal count, and third in the gold-medal count, ju...

SAM Magazine—North Woodstock, N.H., Feb. 21, 2014—Winter resorts in New Hampshire generated $1.15 billion in direct and secondary sales for the 2012-13 season, according to Ski NH’s most recent economic study. That impact stemmed from visits by 3.26 million winter and summer guests at the group’s 33 member areas and more tha...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 19, 2014—Buffeted by the weather, destination lodging occupancy in the East and West was up 4.7 percent for the November-January period compared to a year ago, according to research firm DestiMetrics. With 85 percent of visits either completed or on the books, lodging properties surveyed by DestiMetrics appear ...

SAM Magazine—South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Feb. 18, 2014—Heavenly Mountain Resort has formally objected to the U.S. Forest Service's 15-year land management plan for Lake Tahoe. In a letter, the resort said that the Forest Service plan would limit future expansion of the four resorts in the Tahoe Basin to just 200 acres in total and ign...

SAM Magazine--Hillsdale, N.Y., February 13, 2014--Catamount announced a 10-year master plan that includes a luxury ski in/ski out condominium complex called The Berkshire Mountain Club. The 66 fully furnished suites will have full kitchens and be available in studio, 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom unit configurations with amenities, such as a restaurant/loun...

SAM Magazine--Stowe, Vt., February 13, 2014--Spruce Peak Realty, LLC and Stowe Mountain Lodge, LLC, affiliates of Stowe Mountain Resort, along with a group of owners of 40 condominium units at Stowe Mountain Lodge, announced that they have reached an agreement in principle as to the terms of a settlement resolving a putative class action lawsuit al...

SAM Magazine--Petite-Riviere-Saint-Francois, February 12, 2014--Employees at Le Massif de Charlevoix voted yesterday for the right to strike. Management has been in negotiations with the union, which only includes mountain employees and not hotel or train employees, but were unable to come to an agreement. In the meantime, the resort said that it w...

SAM Magazine—Dixville Notch, N.H., Feb. 12, 2014—The owners of the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel and the Balsams Wilderness Ski Area have engaged American Skiing Company founder Les Otten to help redevelop the hotel and resort, which have been closed for the past three years. Otten, founder and former president of the American Skiing Co...

SAM Magazine—Sochi, Russia, Feb. 8, 2014—Acting on an idea first promoted by SAM five years ago, NBC Olympics, in partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee and national governing bodies including the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), has created the Olympic Gold Map to help newcomers take up Olympic sports and existing partic...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury Conn., Feb. 7, 2014—After years of circling around the conversion question, resorts across North America are deploying new and innovative approaches to the learning experience. Novel programs aimed at increasing trial and conversion are seeing big success at several resorts, and were all the rage at the NSAA East a...

SAM Magazine—Martinsville, N.J., Feb. 4, 2014—As the wintersport season nears its midpoint, several sources are weighing in with their projections for the season. RRC estimates resort visit totals will range between 51 and 53 million, depending on weather and other factors over the season’s second half, while destination lodging v...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., January 31, 2014-- Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc., which counts Winter Park, Stratton, Steamboat, Mont Tremblant, Blue Mountain and Snowshoe among its holdings, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 15,625,000 shares of its common stock at $12 per share yesterday. The Company priced 3,125,000 shares ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 30, 2014—Bolstered by strong retail sales this season, the annual Snowsports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show kicked off this morning with a "Sendoff to Sochi" opening ceremony. The event showcased the various official uniforms of the U.S. alpine, freestyle, snowboard, and freeskiing teams. With 94 ...

SAM Magazine—Eden, Utah, Jan. 24, 2014—Another local's area is getting a new lease on life: Skyline Mountain Base, an investment group comprised of local and European investors, has acquired the Wolf Mountain ski resort here from America First Credit Union. No terms of the deal were disclosed. Wolf Mountain fell into bankruptcy i...

SAM Magazine--West Dover, Vt., January 24, 2014--A 120-million-gallon water storage pond for snowmaking and a new 36,000-square-foot base lodge for guest services are two of the projects Mount Snow will fund through EB-5, an immigrant investor program. The projects, newly approved under the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center, total $52 million in investm...

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., Jan. 23, 2014—Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) and ESPN have reached an agreement that will have the X Games calling Aspen/Snowmass its home until 2019. Now in its 13th year, ESPN chose to continue its long-term partnership with ASC, already the longest-tenured X Games host. And by 2019, Aspen/Snowmass will have hos...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 16, 2014—Favorable snowfall in December in most mountain regions in the U.S. helped boost lodging occupancy and revenues for the month, according to DestiMetrics (formerly the Mountain Travel Research Program, aka MTRiP). The upward trend in both occupancy and revenue is carrying into the remainder of the seaso...

SAM Magazine--Salt Lake City, Utah, January 15, 2014--Wasatch Equality announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Alta and The U.S. Forest Service in an attempt to open the ski area up to snowboarders. The non-profit group was formed solely for this purpose. The following is a portion of the group's release: SALT LAKE CITY — J...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 14, 2014—Despite late and so-so snowfall and average visitation, U.S. winter resorts posted a record level of operating profit in 2012-13, and their second-highest gross revenue, according to the recently published 2012-13 Economic Analysis of United States Ski Areas. The report, prepared by RRC Assocs. and the...

SAM Magazine--January 14, 2014--Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) announced today that its 21 member resorts reported an increase in skier visitation for the beginning of the 2013/14 ski season. Skier visits at CSCUSA resorts were up by 22 percent during the first period of the 2013/14 season, defined this year as opening day of the season (October...

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2014—Snow sports retail sales soared 14 percent in November from year-ago levels as the season began in earnest, the latest data from the SIA RetailTRAK show. The survey is based on point-of-sale data from more than 1,200 snow sports retailers. For the year through November, sales totaled $1.2 b...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Jan. 7, 2014—Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn will not participate in the upcoming Sochi Olympics due to instability in her surgically repaired right knee, and will undergo another surgery soon so that she has time to recover for the 2015 World Alpine Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek. The decision means V...

SAM Magazine—Beaver Creek, Colo.–Jan. 3, 2014 –Beaver Creek is replacing its primary express quad from the base area with a new high-speed combination chairlift and gondola. The new lift will increase uphill capacity by as much as 35 percent through the use of alternating 10-passenger gondola cabins and six-person chairs. The new ...

SAM Magazine—Grenoble, France, Dec, 30, 2013—Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher is in critical condition in a French hospital with head injuries suffered on Sunday morning while skiing off-piste at Meribel. Update: His condition is slightly improved following a second operation on Monday night that relieved pressure on his...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Dec. 30, 2013—Lodging properties at a sample of Eastern mountain resorts are reporting a 13 percent increase in projected reservations revenue for 2013-14 over last year, according to the most recent data released by Denver-based DestiMetrics. DestiMetrics has been collecting research data in the Eastern U.S. and...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Dec. 30, 2013—After 28 days and 26 resorts in four countries, 10 lifetime Epic Passes were awarded to the winners of the Vail Resorts’ Epic Race to Ski the World. The Epic Race was intended as a season-long quest to ski and ride all 26 resorts spread across 4 countries on the Epic Pass. The reward: ...

SAM Magazine—Bloomington, Minn., Dec. 18, 2013—The Hyland Ski and Snowboard Area is set to upgrade its base lodge and parking areas and thus improve its services to the increasing throngs that visit the hill. The Bloomington City Council approved the $14.2 million expansion of the ski area earlier this week, according to local business ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo. Dec. 16, 2013—Positive snow equity from last winter, good early season snowfall this year, and stronger financial news are combining to drive occupancy and revenues at western mountain destinations to one of their strongest starts in memory, according to the most recent data released by the Denver-based DestiM...

SAM Magazine—North Conway, N.H., Dec. 16, 2013—Cranmore Mountain Resort has unveiled a Master Development Plan at a town Planning Board Meeting here to replace dated ski facilities with a mix of combination service space/residential condominium buildings and residential-only condos. “Mixing new ski facilities with condominiums ...

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2013—Snow sports retailers sold $624 million in apparel, accessories and equipment from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, a three percent increase from the prior year, according to the Snowsports Industry America (SIA) RetailTRAK survey of more than 1,200 snowsports retailers. Good snow conditions in late Nov...

SAM Magazine--Taos, N.M., December 11, 2013--Mickey Blake, COO of Taos Ski Valley and son of ski pioneers Ernie and Rhoda Blake, announced today that the family-held corporation has entered into an agreement with conservationist Louis Bacon who will purchase the resort. Blake stated, "Louis and his team have been true partners for many year...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Dec. 3, 2013—Powdr Enterprises, a division of Powdr Corp., has acquired the Emmy Award-winning television series “World of Adventure Sports Presented by GoPro.” Powdr Enterprises is expanding the show from a television series airing on NBC and NBCSN into a year-round, multi-platform offering tha...

SAM Magazine—Manchester, Vt., Nov. 26, 2013—Bromley Mountain is inviting the public to a free “Introduction to Terrain Based Learning” session Dec. 21 so that first-timers can experience the increasingly popular teaching process based on terrain features. The session runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon and includes an all-day Le...

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 26, 2013—With the 2013-14 ski season underway, Ski Utah recently launched an updated website. SkiUtah.com provides extensive trip planning tools, custom detailed weather forecasts, a new travel expert blogger, and large imagery that showcases the resorts—along with a comprehensive look at Ut...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Nov. 22, 2013—More than 50 areas in North America are now open, with dozens more opening this weekend, and with still more resorts set to open on or just after Thanksgiving. Cold weather in the East and Midwest has provided good snowmaking conditions. In the West, snowmaking operations have been suppleme...

SAM Magazine--Queensbury, N.Y., November 22, 2013--After filing for bankruptcy protection last June, West Mountain's future was uncertain. However, as of yesterday, its future looks brighter thanks to the purchase of its first mortgage by the investment group that has been running the area—Apex Capital. As we reported in late October, Zio...

SAM Magazine—Mt. Baldy, Calif., Nov. 19, 2013—For a limited time, Mt. Baldy is offering season passes for $59 to skiers and snowboarders who have never had a Baldy pass before. “It's an almost risk-free way to sample our mountain," said Mt. Baldy president Ron Ellingson. "Passes are intended for skiers and snowboa...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., November 18, 2013--Bookings and occupancy figures continue their summer and fall growth patterns and with nearly half of all bookings already made for the upcoming winter, the mountain lodging industry in the western U.S. is in a position to post record-breaking numbers according to the most recent data released by Dest...

SAM Magazine—Ludlow, Vt., Nov. 14, 2013—A cold wave earlier this week that spread across the U.S. east of the Rockies, along with snow and favorable snowmaking conditions in parts of the West, have enabled dozens of areas across North America to open, either for the coming weekend or for the season. East In the East, Okemo was one...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., November 12, 2013--According to NASDAQ.com, Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc., filed an initial public offering today with the New York Stock Exchange to raise up to $100 million. Intrawest, which is based out of Denver, operates Winter Park and Steamboat in Colorado, Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Stratton in Vermont and Snow...

SAM Magazine—Breckenridge, Colo., Nov. 7, 2013—Breckenridge, Mammoth, Calif., Lake Louise, Alberta, Brighton, Utah, and Loon, N.H., are among the several areas that are recently opened or opening in the next few days. The start-ups give skiers and riders more options from coast to coast. In California, Boreal Mountain Resort reopened...

SAM Magazine—Truckee, Calif., Nov. 7, 2013—Several Western areas are adding value to their pass offerings. Sugar Bowl Resort has partnered with Sun Valley Resort, complementing a similar deal with Grand Targhee, Wyo., to give Sugar Bowl’s unrestricted and slightly restricted season passholders free skiing at both partner resorts (...

SAM Magazine--Salt Lake City, Utah, November 7, 2013--Ski Utah is bringing its message to Coloradans this weekend during the Denver Ski & Snowboard Expo, held from November 8-10 at the Colorado Convention Center. This marks the first time that any Utah resort will be represented at the show. Ski Utah will represent its 14 member resorts in a 20...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Nov. 6, 2013—SAM Magazine and Snow Operating LLC, are joining forces to host the first annual Conversion Camp at Jiminy Peak, Mass., March 4-6, 2014. The Conversion Camp will be a total immersive experience for resort operators that examines the complete trial and conversion process for beginners—from t...

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Nov. 7, 2013—Telluride Ski Resort has brought in four industry veterans to fill out its management team, headed by president and GM Greg Pack, who assumes his new role Nov. 19. Pack, a Colorado native, will oversee resort operations and the planning of ski, lodging, culinary service, marketing, guest se...

SAM Magazine—Ishpeming, Mich., Nov. 6, 2013—Six athletes and sport builders have been elected to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame for their contributions to the sport. Honorees include big mountain skier Scot Schmidt, freestyle pioneer and world champion John Clendenin, 2006 Olympic moguls bronze medalist Toby Dawson, freestyle a...

SAM Magazine—Copper Mountain, Colo., Oct. 31, 2013—Several resorts are opening for the season on Friday, Nov. 1, as the season begins to pick up steam. The resorts include Copper Mountain and Keystone in Colorado, Boreal, California, and Mt. Norquay, Alberta. Copper will open terrain off the American Eagle chairlift and in the Easy R...

SAM Magazine—Frisco, Colo., Oct. 31, 2013—In an attempt to ease housing pressures for employees of the resorts that populate the I-70 corridor in Colorado, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to convey 40 acres of White River National Forest to Summit County, Colo., so that the county can establish affordable housing o...

SAM Magazine--October 30, 2013--Foreclosures, bad economy and more have taken their toll on all industries worldwide, and the mountain resort industry is no different. But, let's start with some good news. In New Hampshire, Whaleback Ski Area announced its closure this year after the owners were foreclosured on. In August, the bank tried to auc...

SAM Magazine—Breckenridge, Colo., Oct. 24, 2013—Breckenridge Ski Resort will offer an exclusive perk for guests staying in resort-owned lodging properties this winter: First Tracks Fridays. This program will allow guests staying at official Breckenridge Ski Resort lodging properties to access a designated chairlift on Peak 9 one hour be...

SAM Magazine--Vancouver, B.C., October 24, 2013--Tourism British Columbia launched a new website this week called Ski It To Believe It. The site features comprehensive stats for 13 B.C. resorts, including Apex, Big White, Fernie, Kicking Horse, Kimberley, Mount Washington, Panorama, Red Mountain, Revelstoke, Silver Star, Sun Peaks, Whistler Blackco...

SAM Magazine—Colorado Springs, Colo., Oct. 24, 2013—The U.S. Olympic Committee has named Ted Ligety 2012-13 Olympic SportsMan of the Year, its highest annual individual athlete honor. The 2006 Olympic gold medalist won three gold medals at the 2013 FIS Alpine World Ski Championship and six Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom victorie...

SAM Magazine--Whitehorse, Yukon, October 23, 2013--After receiving news early this summer that the City Council of Whitehorse rejected a request for $400,000 to continue to operate Mount Sima, a community ski hill, a group called Friends of Mount Sima rallied and raised more than $200,000 through fundraising efforts and season pass sales and announ...

SAM Magazine—Georgetown, Colo., Oct. 18, 2013—Loveland Ski Area has became the second resort in Colorado to open for the 2013-14 season, with Wolf Creek set to become the third on Saturday. Loveland opened yesterday with a single 1,000-vertical-foot run on a combination of natural and machine-made snow, and added a second run today. ...

SAM Magazine--Aspen, Colo., October 15, 2013--The Aspen Skiing Co. has thrown its hat in the ring to host the World Cup Finals at Aspen Mountain in 2017. According to the Aspen Daily News, Aspen has been hosting annual World Cup races for women and, on the men's side, last hosted a men's downhill in 2001. The last World Cup Finals held in N...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., October 15, 2013--As early snowstorms and cold weather fronts moved across the California, Utah and Colorado mountains, bookings among participating resorts continued their upward trend in pacing and revenues. In the most recent data released by the Denver-based DestiMetrics (formerly known as Mountain Travel Research P...

SAM Magazine--Kansas City, Mo., October 14, 2013--EPR Properties announced that it is the entity that purchased Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville, Pa. for close to $70 million. The resort consists of 160 acres of skiable terrain and includes a waterpark, an outdoor adventure park, a 40-lane tubing facility and base lodge. The resort hosts 9...

SAM Magazine—Arapahoe Basin, Colo., Oct. 11, 2013—Arapahoe Basin Ski Area will open Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, marking the official start to the Colorado ski and snowboard season. Early-season snow, low temperatures and snowmaking upgrades have made it possible for A-Basin to open four days earlier than last season. The Black Mountain Ex...