SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., August 8, 2013--Intouch Technology Group, formed in 1993 to develop the Ultima product suite for the wintersports industry and recreational facilities, has joined forces with Trojan Holdings, a New Zealand-based tourism company that operates three ski areas in the southern Alps. As a result of the merger, Intouch appointed Alex Morcom as group CEO and Casey Parliament as GM North America, who will work alongside InTouch founders Klaas Sybranda and Chris Heberle.

SAM Magazine--Utah, August 8, 2013--On the heels of the annoucement by Alta, Snowbird, Deer Valley and Park City that each of their season pass holders can enjoy priveleges at any of the four areas, Brighton Resort and Solitude teamed up to offer the Big Cottonwood Pass for $999. The joint pass is valid at both resorts with no blackout dates. The two areas are connected by the SolBright trail.

SAM Magazine—Mars Hill, Maine, Aug. 6, 2013—The nonprofit Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC), which has owned the Bigrock Mountain community ski area here since 2000, hopes to turn over the area to the community of Bigrock supporters. MWSC expects the community will fund operations and establish a new non-profit to operate the area, much as has happened with Black Mountain, which MWSC also owned until recently.

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., Aug. 5, 2013—The Mountain Collective, an alliance of independent mountain resorts—Aspen/Snowmass, Whistler, Alta, Snowbird, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows, Jackson Hole, and Mammoth—and Protect Our Winters (POW) are partnering in an effort to unite the winter sports community on climate change.

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., Aug. 1, 2013—Killington is making beginning adult skiers an amazing offer: complete a four-lesson package and receive a new pair of Elan eRise skis—along with discounts on boots and poles, and half-price lessons and lift tickets through the 2014-15 season.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Aug. 1, 2013—Qualifying season’s passholders at Alta, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort and Snowbird will receive three free days at each of the other resorts in the group for the 2013-14 season. The free tickets will be honored seven days a week, except for Dec. 21-Jan. 5 and Feb. 15-17.

Eligibility requirements for the ticket benefit are particular to each resort, and supplies are limited.

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., July 25, 21013—CrossHarbor Capital, which owns the Yellowstone Club, and Boyne Resorts, which owns Big Sky Resort, have jointly purchased The Club at Spanish Peaks, a 5,700-acre upscale residential development near Big Sky, for $26.1 million. The private community filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2011.

SAM Magazine--July 25, 2013--Alpine Mountain Ski and Snowtubing, located in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, will be sold by competitive sealed bid in September. According to the Pocono Record, Alpine was bought two years ago by Appletree Management, which managed the ski area for three years prior. Appletree management stated that it wanted to get back to the business of property management and let another entity bring the area to the next level.

SAM Magazine--July 19, 2013--The following is a letter Laszlo Vajtay, owner of Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, N.Y., wrote to the Department of Environmental Conservation in opposition of the proposed expansion at neighboring Belleayre Mountain. For more on the story, check out yesterday's headline news story at http://www.saminfo.com/news/neighboring-county-opposes-belleayre-expansion.

The letter:

SAM Magazine—Rumford, Maine, July 19, 2013—Ownership of Black Mountain Ski Resort has been transferred from the Maine Winter Sports Center, which has owned the area since 2003, to the resort’s volunteer board of directors, effective Monday. The resort remains a non-profit, but will no longer enjoy the financial support of the Libra Foundation, which has paid for more than $9 million in improvements in the past decade, including new lifts, base lodge, and snowmaking.

SAM Magazine—Wrightwood, Calif., July 18, 2013—In response to the development of other multi-area pass deals, a dozen Western resorts have created the Powder Alliance and are offering free lift access to “anytime” passholders from member resorts. The areas are Crested Butte, Colo.; Snowbasin Resort, Utah; Sierra-at-Tahoe, China Peak, and Mountain High, Calif.; Stevens Pass, Wash.; Schweitzer, Idaho; Timberline and Mt. Hood Skibowl, Ore.; Arizona Snowbowl; Angel Fire Resort, N.M.; and Bridger Bowl, Mont.

SAM Magazine--July 18, 2013--A proposed $74 million expansion of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, in Ulster County, N.Y., is being opposed by neighboring Greene County lawmakers. In a letter to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Greene County legislature claims that using taxpayer dollars for the expansion of the state-owned ski area would create unfair competition, would hurt private industries in Greene, as well as affect other, privately-owned ski areas Greene County, such as Windham and Hunter.

SAM Magazine—Stockholm, Sweden, July 15, 2013—Private equity group Altor is acquiring a majority stake in Rossignol Group from the current owners, Australian bank Macquarie (77 percent) and U.S. sporting goods conglomerate Jarden (17 percent), which also owns K2, Marker, Volkl, and several other brands. The deal values Rossignol at $196 million and is expected to close by this fall.

SAM Magazine—Denver, July 15, 2013—Hot temperatures throughout the western U.S. and increased summer programming have led to growing summer lodging occupancy, according to DestiMetrics (formerly the Mountain Travel Research Program). The June occupancy rate rose 3.9 percent compared to a year ago, and revenue increased by 9.9 percent. Projected occupancy for July is up 4.5 percent compared to July 2012, and through December, 7.3 percent. Lodging revenue is projected to be up 14 percent for the period.

SAM Magazine--July 16, 2013--According to published reports, a planned public auction at Tamarack Ski and Golf Resort in Idaho has been postponed for at least two months. The primary lender, Credit Suisse, had planned to auction off building materials and other furnishings today, July 15, and the county sheriff's office was going to sell off the unfinished plaza and an incomplete wing of a lodge tomorrow, July 16.

SAM Magazine—Missoula, Mont., July 9, 2013—The U.S. Forest Service is considering would-be developer Tom Maclay’s latest proposal to build a destination ski resort on the Bitterroot and Lolo national forests. The Forest Service agreed to a first-stage screening on June 26, and has 60 days to determine if the proposal meets the agency’s criteria to formally start the application process and initiate a full environmental analysis.

SAM Magazine—Detroit Lakes, Minn., July 9, 2013—Detroit Mountain Recreation Area supporters plan to initiate a fundraising effort this week to restore the town’s defunct ski area and turn it into a four-season activity center. The area last operated in 2004.

SAM Magazine—Rumford, Maine, June 27, 2013—The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) will close the Black Mountain ski area here after the town voted to not fund the resort as a recreational resource. More than 3,000 miles to the northwest, at Mt. Sima in Whitehorse, Yukon, a similar story is playing out.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 26, 2013—Vail Resorts (VR) has laid off 42 full-time employees at Canyons, many of them at the department manager level or higher, as it consolidates staff at Canyons Resort here. VR signed a lease agreement to manage Canyons just a month ago.

In a prepared statement, VR spokeswoman Kelly Ladyga said, “We have reviewed Canyons’ organizational structure to determine any necessary changes in order to create alignment with our other mountain resorts and entities to ensure operating efficiencies moving forward.”

SAM Magazine—Queensbury, N.Y., June 25, 2013—West Mountain owner East Slope Holdings LP (ESH) filed for bankruptcy protection last week. The move could facilitate a change in ownership to Apex Capital LLC, owned by local stockbroker and ESH staff member Spencer Montgomery.

SAM Magazine—Big Bear Lake, Calif., June 20, 2013—The Snow Summit Ski Corporation board of directors has retained Houlihan Lokey (HL), an international investment banking firm, to market the company, with the possibility of selling it to one of a number of interested buyers. HL will be contacting various potential buyers as part of this process.

The corporation owns and operates both Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, which average more than 700,000 visits annually.

SAM Magazine--June 20, 2013--Rusty Gregory, the CEO and chairman of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., announced a new leadership team today. The leadership change is effective immediately as the resort hopes to better align the organization to execute key strategies aimed at improving guest experience, communicating the brand and growing visitation to Mammoth Mountain, June Mountain, and the region.

Gregory introduced the team as:

SAM Magazine—Canon City, Colo., June 18, 2013—A 3,200-acre wildfire last week destroyed much of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. The iconic suspension bridge survived largely intact, along with several more recent additions, including the park’s skycoaster and zipline. But the park’s aerial tram was destroyed, along with 48 of the park’s 52 structures.

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 18, 2013—Warm temperatures and good economic news are nudging western mountain destinations toward a record-breaking summer for lodging properties, based on the latest data from DestiMetrics, (formerly called the Mountain Travel Research Program).

SAM Magazine—Bartlett, N.H., June 18, 2013—Peak Resorts has realigned management at several areas by promoting three individuals from within the company.

Josh Boyd is now president of Boston Mills, Brandywine and Alpine Valley Ski Area, all in Ohio. Boyd has served as general manager of Wildcat Mountain since 2011. He will be relocating to Ohio soon, as he will be responsible for operation of the three areas during the upcoming 2013-14 season.

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., June 18, 2013—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cleared Aspen Skiing Co. of any wrongdoing in the avalanche death of longtime patroller Patsy Hileman last Dec. 30.

SAM Magazine--June 14, 2013--The organizers behind Antelope Butte Ski Area, Mont., have realized that the area will not open for the 2013-14 season as they had hoped. Antelope Butte first closed in 2003. Two years ago, locals formed a group called the Antelope Butte Foundation in order to revive and restore the local area. According to the Billings Gazette, the foundation needs to raise about $3 million to reopen the ski area, which includes work on the lodge, lifts and new equipment, and to do so they will have to delay the opening until the following 2014-15 season.

SAM Magazine--June 14, 2013--Black Mountain in Maine, owned by the Maine Winter Sports Center, had its request of a $51,700 donation from the town of Rumford voted down on June 13. According to the Sun Journal, the money was to help the area through the summer, get it ready for winter and pay wages for three employees.

The defeat was especially disappointing since the area had just come off of a great season that saw great snow and $15 lift tickets for the community.

SAM Magazine--June 13, 2013--Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) announced today at its 50th Annual Meeting that statewide  visits totaled an estimated 11,445,000 in 2012/13. This estimation shows Colorado being up 3.95 percent compared to the 2011/12 season. Colorado Ski Country’s 21 member resorts hosted an estimated 6.4 million visits during the 2012-13 ski season, and the balance of just over five million visits are attributable to Vail Resorts, who are not members of CSCUSA.

SAM Magazine--June 13, 2013--The 2012-13 season in New Hampshire was a success for guests and resort operators alike, reports Ski NH, which represents 33 Alpine and nordic resorts in the state. Alpine resorts recorded a total of 2,276,370 skier and snowboarder visits, a 20.9% increase from the prior winter and a 4.7% increase over the ten-year average. This number is the 5th best season on record for the state. Cross-country areas also had a very successful winter, hosting 151,276 visits, a 57.2% increase from the prior winter and a 14.8% increase over the ten-year average.

SAM Magazine--June 13, 2013--The SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Board of Directors voted during its annual spring meeting to host the 2014 On-Demo/Ski-Ride Fest at Copper Mountain Resort, Colo., after considering industry feedback and recommendations provided by SIA’s On-Snow Demo Task Force. The Demo will be held on February 3, 2014, following the SIA Snow Show, which runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2 in Denver.

SAM Magazine--June 11, 2013--The Utah ski and snowboard industry closed the 2012-13 winter season Memorial Day weekend with a total of 4,031,621 million visits, up over 5 percent from the previous season’s 3,826,130. The 5.4 percent increase marks the sixth time Utah has ended above four million in the last eight years, and a significant increase after the lackluster 2011-12 season, which was down 9.4 percent from the 2010-11 season.

SAM Magazine--June 6, 2013--Registration for SAM's 4th Annual Summer Ops Camp is officially open. The camp, which will take place at Attitash and Cranmore, N.H., September 15-17, will explore the many benefits of the growing opportunities in summer recreation in the mountains.

SAM Magazine--June 6, 2013--New Zealand's Snow Park NZ was sold to Southern Hemishpere Proving Grounds (SHPG), a neighboring vehicle-testing facility, and the future of the ski area looks uncertain. SHPG managing director Tom Elworthy told the Otago Daily Times that is was possible Snow Park could still operate as a venue for events and training, but it was unlikely the area would open up to the public because "it's too expensive to run and the market is too small."

SAM Magazine—Missoula, Mont., June 5, 2013—Would-be resort developer Tom Maclay has submitted a third proposal for a resort on Lolo Peak in the Bitterroot Mountains west of Missoula. This current proposal omits Maclay’s former 3,000-acre ranch, which he lost to Met Life Agricultural Investments via foreclosure earlier this year.

SAM Magazine--June 4, 2013--At the Vermont Ski Areas Association (VSAA) annual meeting at Stowe Mountain Resort, the state's resorts celebrated the best season since 2001 with 4,513,041 skier and rider visits, which is also up 16% over last year. The number is the second best on record since VSAA started collecting data in 1992. VSAA also reported $170 million in revenues for the state from the rooms and meals and sales taxes. The month of March accounted for a 14% increase in the rooms and meals tax revenue over the previous year.

SAM Magazine--May 29, 2013--Vail Resorts (VR) announced today that it has entered into a long-term lease with affiliate companies of Talisker Corporation for Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah. Vail's history with Canyons has been an interesting one. VR attempted to purchase the area in 2007, but abandoned the effort in 2009 after much legal wrangling. Under this lease, VR has assumed all of the resort operations while Talisker has retained its development rights for four million square feet of real estate at the resort.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., May 28, 2013—Vail Resorts (VR) has named Taylor Ogilvie as general manager of Mt. Brighton, Mich. He will begin his new position on June 10.

Ogilvie is originally from the Chicago suburbs and grew up skiing in the Midwest. Ogilvie has been a ski instructor at VR and worked his way up through the ranks. Most recently, he was general manager of the Vail Mountain Children and Teen Ski & Ride School in Lionshead.

SAM Magazine—Banff, Alberta, May 28, 2013—Mt. Norquay has received approval from Parks Canada for a long-range improvement plan for summer and winter operations. The plan calls for widening of trails, renovating the Cliff House lodge and adding an observation deck, and creating a cable-assisted summer hiking trail.

SAM Magazine—Wanaka, New Zealand., May 28, 2013—New Zealand’s Snow Park will not be opening for the 2013 season. The manager of the past three years, the Synnott family, did not renew its lease, and management reverted to Sam Lee, who founded the park in 2002. Lee is now seeking capital with which to reopen the area, known for its terrain park, in the near future.

SAM Magazine—Orlando, Fla., May 22, 2013—CNL Lifestyle Properties is testing the market value of its ski village holdings, which it acquired from Intrawest nearly a decade ago. That foray marked CNL’s entry into the winter resort business; it liked the industry so much that CNL has since become the nation’s largest owner of winter resorts.

SAM Magazine—San Clemente, Calif., May 22, 2013—Source Interlink’s GrindMedia division acquired the TransWorld magazine titles on May 20, swapping them with Bonnier Corp. for Source Interlink’s nine motorcycle titles. The exchange gives Source Interlink multiple titles in snowboarding, and Bonnier several titles in cycling.

No sums were disclosed.

SAM Magazine—Denver, May 22, 2013—Eastern destination lodging results reflected a strong start and finish to the 2012-13 season, outpacing the gains at Western resorts, according to data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). In the East, the final tally for the season, November through April, revealed an aggregated 18.6 percent increase in occupancy, and a 16.8 percent increase in revenue, compared to the prior season.

SAM Magazine--May 15, 2013--The winter season crossed the finish line with a positive outcome for mountain lodging in both western and eastern mountain destinations according to the latest data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program.* In the west, a slow start to the season was reversed with improving snow conditions and economic news throughout the winter and resulted in an aggregated 5.8 percent increase in actual occupancy and an 8.8 percent increase in total lodging revenues compared to the 2011-12 season. 

SAM Magazine--May 15, 2013--In its Capital Watch newletter, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced the following: The Forest Service issued the long awaited advertising and sponsorship policy this week. In addition to Monday’s Federal Register Notice on the policy, there is a Directive from the Forest Service Manual and a Q&A document interpreting the policy, all of which are posted on NSAA’s website (www.nsaa.org) in the USFS section.

SAM Magazine--May 15, 2013--The Empire State Development Division of Tourism, which administers the I LOVE NY program, was a co-recipient along with Ski Areas of New York, Inc. (SANY) and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) of the 2013 Tourism Excellence Award for Tourism Promotion at the 7th Annual I LOVE NEW YORK Empire State Tourism Conference on May 2.

SAM Magazine--May 14, 2013--The state Senate in California passed SB564, a bill that would require ski resorts in that state to prepare an annual safety plan and to post those reports on their websites. The bill by Senator Bill Monning (D), which was passed by a 24-8 partisan vote, is the third attempt in California to legislate safety procedures, the other two attempts were vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2010 and by Gov. Jerry Brown last year.

SAM Magazine--May 14, 2013--The sale of the beleaguered Snö Mountain, Pa., to a group of investors that will bring back the area's original name, Montage Mountain, was finalized last Friday. Montage first opened in 1983 and was run by Lackawanna County until 2006, when it was purchased by a group that renamed the ski area Snö Mountain. In October 2012, Snö Mountain declared bankruptcy, having racked up $24 million in debt thanks to huge infrastructure improvements.

SAM Magazine--May 14, 2013--According to the Times-Tribune, a judge ruled that a mountainside community can restrict water access to Elk Mountain, Pa. At issue is a 10-acre lake that is connected to the resort's 4-acre snowmaking pond. In 2011, the Village of Four Seasons revoked Elk's right to draw water from the lake and filed suit later that year after the ski area continued to draw water from the lake. The Village also requested in the suit that a  gate be reopened allowing the community access to the mountain.

SAM Magazine—McLean, Va., May 10, 2013—For the season, August through March, winter sports retail sales grew 3 percent over the prior year to $3.4 billion, according to RetailTRAK data released by SnowSports Industries America and Leisure Trends Group.

As has been the case for several years, accessories and apparel led the way. Accessories sales increased 6 percent, to $1.1 billion; apparel was up 4 percent, to $1.46 billion; and equipment sales were flat compared to the 2011-12 season, at $841 million.

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., May 9, 2013—The Environment Foundation, with primary funding provided by Aspen Snowmass employees, has made the largest grant in its 16-year history, donating $50,000 to protect 220,000 acres of Federal land from oil and gas development. The land is at Thompson Divide, outside of Carbondale, Colo. The grant is part of a total $118,000 in donations made this spring to 13 environmental projects.

SAM Magazine--May 9, 2013--Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, Inc., the corporation that holds a 75% interest in the entities that operate Whistler Blackcomb, announced its second quarter numbers, as well as numbers for the six months ended March 31, 2013 (all numbers are in Canadian dollars). Total revenue for the six-month period was $182.5 million, 4.5% higher than the $174.6 million during the same period last year. Revenue for the three-month period was $132.2 million, an increase of 5.4% over the same period last year.

SAM Magazine--May 9, 2013--Summit, the producer of the leadership conference Summit Series, finalized its purchase of Powder Mountain, Utah. Plans for the 7,000-acre resort include a sustainable residential community called Summit Eden, which will become the home base for the organization and its leadership and cultural events. Over the years, Powder Mountain has been targeted for large-scale development, with plans for 10,000 homes, golf courses and more than a dozen new chairlifts. Summit Eden, however, will focus on 500 sustainable homesites and a small residential village.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., May 9, 2013—In a sign of changing priorities, Telluride Ski and Golf Company will no longer host a pre-Christmas FIS World Cup Ski and Snowboard event, and has bought a boutique hotel in town.

Telluride executive vice president Jim Mikula said that the World Cup event consumes a lot of resources and energy at a time when the resort is also trying to get ready for the holiday crowds, and that the event creates a relatively small return on that investment.

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., May 7, 2013—Resorts spokespersons are pushing back against a ruling by WorkSafeBC that mandates helmet use for employees at Whistler Blackcomb and Mount Seymour whenever staff are skiing or riding. The rule covers any employee who is on skis while working, such as lift operators and ski patrol, and even employees transporting food and beverages on the mountain.

Oddly, the new rule does not apply to any other winter resorts in the province.

SAM Magazine—Concord, N.H., May 7, 2013—Six years after the operators of Mount Sunapee ski area sued the state for fraudulently obstructing the resort’s expansion plan, the suit finally will head to trial. A lower court had dismissed the suit, but the state Supreme Court overturned that ruling, saying that the resort’s claims of official misconduct and capricious dealing were genuine issues of material facts.

SAM Magazine--May 7, 2013--Set your DVRs because starting on May 9, 2013, the National Geographic Channel will air Mountain Movers, a new series that features a behind-the-scenes look at the work that Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson and his team at Snow Park Technologies (SPT) do. The first episode of this reality-type series, "Stairway to Hell," will air at 8 p.m. ET with two more episodes on May 16 and May 23, both at 8 p.m. ET.

SAM Magazine--May 4, 2013--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced two days ago that U.S. ski areas tallied an estimated 56.6 million skier and snowboarder visits during the 2012/13 season--the results represent an 11 percent increase over the previous season. The previous season was one of the worst in recent history, when visits totaled an estimated 51 million, a decline of 15.7 percent from the 2010/11 record total of 60.54 million, according to the Kottke National End of Season Survey. This season's numbers represent the largest year-over-year gain in 30 years.

SAM Magazine--May 4, 2013--As of March 31, CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc., saw a 16-percent increase over last season in revenues at its portfolio of 17 ski resorts during the 2012-13 ski season. Additionally, visits rose 10.4 percent as of April 29.

SAM Magazine--May 4, 2013--After six years at the helm, Tim White, the National Ski Patrol's (NSP) executive director, announced this week that he will not be extending his contract beyond July 31, 2013. He presented his intentions to the board of directors and his staff earlier this week. The NSP said, "His dedication and leadership have been valued by members, staff, and industry partners." Information about a search will be announced in the coming months.