SAM Magazine—Marco Island, Fla., May 8, 2018—Bear Valley Mountain, Calif.; Crystal Mountain, Mich.; and Boreal Mountain, Calif., won the 2018 Golden Eagle Awards for excellence in environmental initiatives. Sha Miklas of Arapahoe Basin, Colo., was named the “Hero of Sustainability” honoree for 2018.

SAM Magazine—Snowbasin, Utah, May 8, 2018—Snowbasin Resort came home with two awards from the National Ski Areas Association convention in Florida: the Conversion Cup and Best Overall Safety Program.

SAM Magazine—Pittsfield, Mass., May 7, 2018—The owners of Berkshire East Mountain Resort in western Massachusetts have reached an agreement to acquire nearby Catamount Ski Area. SAM reported in April that Catamount president Tom Gilbert and vice president Rich Edwards were actively seeking an investor, a joint venture partner, or a new owner/operator for the mountain. The deal is expected to close in the next two weeks. The purchase price was not disclosed.

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., May 1, 2018—The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) selected four member ski areas to receive its annual Sustainable Slopes Grants: Blue Mountain Resort, Pa., Mountain High Resort, Calif., POWDR Resorts, and Snow Creek Ski Area, Mo. The Sustainable Slopes grant program provides cash and in-kind funding to support sustainability projects at NSAA member ski areas.

SAM Magazine—Tremblant, Quebec, June 5, 2018—Mont-Tremblant hosted the Quebec Ski Areas Association annual meeting last week that welcomed a record crowd of 380 attendees from 51 ski areas across the province of Quebec. The province’s ski areas drew more than 6 million skier visits, up 1.4 percent compared to last season despite some challeng...

SAM Magazine—April 24, 2018, Vernon, N.J.—Mountain Creek is debuting a new ecommerce and point-of-sale solution called SnowCloud this summer. Aimed at simplifying guest transactions, SnowCloud will replace all other sales and access software at the resort, including online sales, onsite sales and management, and lift gate access. It is built around the same ultra-high frequency RFID technology as Vail Resorts’ Epic Mix and the Disney Magic Band.

SAM Magazine—Snowbasin, Utah, April 20, 2018—Snowbasin Resort appointed Davy Ratchford as its new GM effective May 2018. Ratchford will succeed retiring GM John Loomis.

SAM Magazine—Denver, April 19, 2018—Significant snowfall in many regions continued through March and raised March occupancy 0.5 percent compared to year-ago levels. That cut the decline for the 2017-18 winter season from 2.6 percent to 1.3 percent, according to Inntopia in its monthly DestiMetrics Market Briefing.

The word innovation connotes creative, forward-moving success. But as a principal theme of the Forum portion of the 2018 Mountain Travel Symposium, April 11-12 in South Lake Tahoe, there was a reminder that innovation is best used remembering the lessons of yesteryear, and that nothing comes easy.

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., April 18, 2018—Mountain Capital Partners, which owns Purgatory and Arizona Snowbowl among other resorts, has entered into an operating agreement with Skyline Mountain Base, LLC, to manage and operate Nordic Valley Ski Resort, Utah.

SAM Magazine—Denver, April 12, 2018—“We’re listening. And we heard you loud and clear. We’ve adjusted our January dates.” That was the message from Outdoor Retailer VP and show director Marisa Nicholson in a letter to the industry, unveiling a return to late-January dates for the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show in Denver—Jan. 30–Feb. 1. The new dates are about three weeks later than the schedule announced back in February.

SAM Magazine—Boone, N.C., April 11, 2018—D. Grady Moretz Jr., one of the co-founders of Appalachian Ski Mountain in Blowing Rock, N.C., died on April 8, 2018 at the age of 88.

SAM Magazine—Wrightwood, Calif., April 5, 2018—The Powder Alliance has added Sugar Bowl Resort, Calif., Loveland Ski Area, Colo., Castle Mountain Resort, Alberta, Canada, and Ski Marmot Basin, Alberta, to its list of participating resorts for the 2018-2019 winter season.

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., April 4, 2018—SAM Magazine is bestowing its 2018 SAMMY Leadership Awards on a remarkable quartet: Nadia Guerriero, Tish Lopez, Ryan Lavoie, and Aaron Maddox. The four, nominated by their peers, have demonstrated the leadership skills needed to help steer the snowsports industry into the future. They will receive their awards during a ceremony at the NSAA National Convention in Marco Island, Fla., May 4.

SAM Magazine—Hillsdale, N.Y., April 3, 2018—Catamount Ski Area owners Tom Gilbert and Rich Edwards are seeking an investor, joint venture partner, or new owner/operator for the mountain. The pair has enlisted real estate brokerage firm Mirus Resort Advisors to assist in the search.

SAM Magazine—Jamesville, N.Y., April 3, 2018—The lift-maintenance training program coordinated and subsidized by Ski Areas of New York (SANY) will offer an expanded curriculum starting this, its seventh year, when the program kicks off in May. The program will include a group of advanced fixed grip and detachable lift classes, as well as condensed basic fixed grip training.

SAM Magazine—March 28, 2018—The month of March came in like a lion for ski areas across the country, a welcome shot in the arm after what was turning out to
be a challenging season from coast to coast. The first two-and-a-half weeks of the month brought a parade of storms—powerful systems off the Pacific, and complicated Nor’easters on the East Coast—that dumped several feet of snow, attracting crowds and extending the seasons for many ski areas.

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., March 23, 2018—Jay Peak is the only mountain resort in Vermont to be designated as a Gold-level participant in the 3>4>50 initiative, a statewide Department of Health program that helps residents understand and address the impact of chronic disease in Vermont. This designation stems from the resort’s dozen-plus wellness measures designed to enable employees to live a healthy life. Gold is the highest designation, followed by Silver- and Bronze-level participation.

SAM Magazine—Olympic Valley, Calif., March 23, 2018—The inaugural Ski California Lift Maintenance and Operations Education (LMOE) Conference will take place June 5 – 7, 2018 at Squaw Valley. This new event will include a variety of classroom sessions, hands-on training, and networking opportunities, all aimed at advancing the knowledge of ski resort lift maintenance and ops personnel.

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., March 22, 2018—After several years of building out its summer activities, Killington is offering a new year-round “season pass” for $99 a month. The Beast 365 Year-Round Pass provides access to all of Killington’s year-round activities, from golf, mountain biking, and the Adventure Center to the lifts at Killington and Pico.

Every year, it seems, the list of educational seminars and programs grows. Here are the events on the calendar this spring, including the newest, the Ski California Lift Maintenance and Operations Education Conference, June 5-7:

SAM Magazine—District of Columbia, March 21, 2018—Resort partners in the 10th annual Learn to Ski and Snowboard (Month)/Bring a Friend initiative provided nearly 90,000 beginner lessons during January. Since its inception in 2009, participating resorts in the program have taught roughly 960,000 beginner lessons.

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., March 21, 2018—NSAA is encouraging resorts on public land to help line up co-sponsors for the Ski Area Fee Retention Act of 2018, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this month. According to the NSAA “Capital Watch,” the bill would earmark a major portion of USFS permit fees, roughly $22 million to $24 million of the roughly $37 million resorts on public lands pay in permit fees, for improving ski area permit administration, processing of ski area proposals, and addressing any backlogs in permit administration or processing. The fees can also be used for interpretation, visitor services and support of USFS Avalanche Information/Education.

SAM Magazine—Wilmington, Vt., March 20, 2018—The members-only Hermitage Club, which until yesterday operated a ski area on Haystack Mountain in southern Vermont, was closed by the Vermont Department of Taxes on Monday for failure to pay a “progress payment” on taxes it owes to the state. Last Thursday the state took the same action, but the club made a payment of $112,000 for unpaid meals, rooms, and sales taxes in time for it to be allowed to open for the weekend.

Welcome to the March edition of Snow People, where we highlight happenings to prominent ski industry and supplier personnel.

SAM Magazine–Denver, March 16, 2018­–The snowfall throughout the month of February boosted lodging numbers for resorts throughout the West. However, it was not enough to deliver a year-over-year increase in occupancy compared to the 2016-2017 season according to Inntopia’s monthly DestiMetrics Market Briefing.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, March 15, 2018—Snow Park Technologies (SPT) founders Chris and Genevieve Gunnarson are joining the leadership at POWDR—Chris as the senior vice president of youth development, and Genevieve as vice president of Woodward brand and marketing. Both will focus on the evolution and integration of the company’s Woodward brand and experiences.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 14, 2018—Vail Resorts launched sales for its 2018-19 Epic Pass products last week, but that didn’t stop it from entering a “long-term alliance” this week with Triple Peaks, LLC, adding the portfolio of Okemo, Vt., Mount Sunapee, N.H., and Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colo., to next season’s Epic Pass.

SAM Magazine—Boyne Falls, Mich., March 13, 2018—Boyne Resorts has entered an agreement to acquire six mountain resorts and a scenic chairlift attraction that the company currently leases from Ski Resort Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Och-Ziff (Oz) Real Estate.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., March 12, 2018—Alterra Mountain Company will invest $555 million across its portfolio of 12 mountain resorts over the next five years, including $130 million for the 2018-19 winter season.

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., March 9, 2018—SAM's ninth annual Summer Ops Camp will be held at Aspen Snowmass, Sept. 4-6, 2018. The hands-on educational, networking, and demo event gathers mountain resort managers and operators from around North America and overseas to explore opportunities in four-season attractions and revenue growth. The format ensures a constant stream of insights from experts, manufacturers, colleagues, and personal experience.

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., March 8, 2018—Big Sky Resort plans to install North America’s first eight-passenger chairlift ahead of the 2018-19 winter season. The “Ramcharger 8” will be a deluxe Doppelmayr D-line high-speed lift, featuring heated seats and blue bubbles. The new lift will replace the existing Ramcharger high-speed quad.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 6, 2018—Yesterday, Vail Resorts unveiled a partnership with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) to include seven total days at RCR properties—Fernie, Kicking Horse, and Kimberly in B.C., Nakiska in Alberta, and Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham in Quebec—on the Epic Pass. The pass went on sale today for the 2018-19 season, with the top tier priced at $899—the same price as Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass.

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., March 6, 2018—A variety of projects will be taking place at Killington for the 2018-19 season, including the installation of a new six-passenger high-speed bubble chairlift, relocation of an existing quad chairlift, upgrades to the K-1 gondola, trail work, new RFID gates, and the addition of a Woodward Wrecktangle ninja obstacle course to its summer operations—all to the tune of $16 million.

SAM Magazine—Gillingham, U.K., March 2, 2018—Chatham Ski and Snowboard Centre, an outdoor dry ski slope in the United Kingdom, was forced to close for two days at the end of February due to snowfall in Southern England. Yes—snow closed a ski slope. Oh, the irony.

SAM Magazine—Aspen Snowmass, Colo., March 2, 2018—The latest news in the dizzying world of season pass alliances is that the Mountain Collective—which includes a good number of resorts that are part of the new Ikon Pass from Alterra Mountain Company—will remain mostly the same for the 2018-19 season. The biggest change: Big Sky, Mont., replaces Telluride, which is included on next season’s Epic Pass.

SAM Magazine—Wilmington, Vt., Feb. 27, 2018—Last Friday, Berkshire Bank filed a foreclosure complaint against the Hermitage Club, which has been building a private club at Haystack Mountain in southern Vermont, following what the bank said was a series of missed mortgage and tax payments.

SAM Magazine—Heavenly, Calif., Feb. 27, 2018—The lineup of quality content at the forthcoming Mountain Travel Symposium keeps getting better, with the addition of legendary ski racer and NBC commentator Bode Miller. MTS is taking place at Heavenly – South Lake Tahoe, Calif., April 8-14, 2018. Miller will speak April 12 to wrap up the MTS Forum general sessions.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 22, 2018—After months of speculation by industry folk and consumers alike, we now know how much the Ikon Pass will be, where it provides access to, and how often.

SAM Magazine—Natick, Ma., Feb. 16, 2018—The nomination period for the 2018 SAMMY Leadership Awards is now open. SAM Magazine asks members of the winter sports industry to nominate leaders who deserve this recognition, and soon—nominations close March 15, 2018.

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., Feb. 16, 2018—The official opening of Jay Peak’s Clips & Reels, a $5 million indoor movie theater, climbing wall and arcade center, marks the end of nearly a decade of major development at the resort—and the beginning of the process to sell the property, along with sister resort Burke Mountain.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 16, 2018—Meager snowfall at many western ski resorts through January led to a decline in winter occupancy for the first time in six years, while lodging properties maintained a tenuous hold on revenues, according to Inntopia’s monthly DestiMetrics Market Briefing.

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Feb. 16, 2018—The U.S. Forest Service has commenced a series of “Regional Partner Roundtables” to gather feedback to improve processes related to environmental analysis and decision making (EADM). The roundtables provide resorts that operate on Forest Service land the opportunity to make suggestions for improving the efficiency of the processes associated with every improvement project that resorts undertake, according to the most recent NSAA Capitol Watch.

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Feb. 16, 2018—More than 60 ski areas and resort companies have now been sued for allegations over inaccessible websites for the visually and hearing impaired under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to the most recent NSAA Capitol Watch. To combat this trend, NSAA representatives went to Washington D.C. this month to meet with key lawmakers and Justice Department officials who can help move regulation and guidance along.

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Feb 9, 2018—The opening ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang are tonight, kicking off nearly three weeks of winter sports coverage from NBC, with hundreds of millions of people expected to tune in around the world. In the U.S., viewers will be directed to NBC-owned SportsEngine.com to learn how to participate in competitive winter sports, and a link to learntoskiandsnowboard.org is included for those seeking recreational pursuits.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 7, 2018—Longtime Mammoth Resorts leader Rusty Gregory has been named Alterra Mountain Company’s chief executive officer. Gregory has been a member of Alterra’s board of directors since the company’s inception in August 2017. His 40-year ski industry career began as a lift operator at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., where he rose through the ranks to become an owner and the company’s chairman and CEO for more than 20 years.

SAM Magazine—Jackson, Wyo., Feb. 4, 2018—Snowbird majority owner and former Powdr Corp. owner Ian Cumming died Friday at his home in Jackson, Wyo. He was 77.

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., Feb. 2, 2018—Mountain Capital Partners has named industry veteran Elizabeth Howe its new director of operations for its collection of mountain resorts, including Purgatory Resort and Hesperus Ski Area, Colo.; Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort and Pajarito Mountain, N.M.; and Arizona Snowbowl.

SAM Magazine—Olympic Valley, Calif., Feb. 2, 2018—Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is working with regional electricity provider Liberty Utilities to identify and develop new renewable energy generation, storage and energy efficiency projects, primarily solar, that will provide clean energy to the region. Subject to regulatory approval, the two companies intend to achieve the resort’s 100 percent renewable energy goal as early as December 2018.

SAM Magazine—Miami, Fla., Feb. 2, 2018—Jay Peak’s former owner who allegedly misused millions of dollars in EB-5 foreign investor funds has agreed to pay back $81 million as part of a settlement with the government. The SEC charged Quiros in 2016 with orchestrating a “ponzi-like” scheme.

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Feb. 1, 2018—Registration is now open for 16th annual spring session of Cutter's Camp, May 14-18, 2018, at Timberline, Mt. Hood, Ore. The weeklong spring program for terrain park professionals features on-hill and classroom workshops, including the return of one-on-one customized operator coaching, Park Challenge workshops​,​ and terrain park operations check list.

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 31, 2018—Resorts can now enroll to participate in the 2018 NSAA Climate Challenge. The Climate Challenge is a voluntary program dedicated to helping participating ski areas track, report, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as reduce energy costs. The deadline for enrollment is May 18.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 29, 2018—Vail Resorts has entered into a “long-term alliance” with Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado, adding the resort to the Epic Pass starting in 2018-19. The Epic Pass now offers access and benefits to a total of 46 mountain resorts worldwide. 

SAM Magazine—Orcas Island, Wash., Jan. 25, 2018—The man who brought ski movies to the mainstream, Warren Miller, died Wednesday at the age of 93.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 25, 2018—Alterra Mountain Company, the recently-named joint venture that curated a dozen North American mountain resorts last year, unveiled the name of its highly anticipated season pass product and the mountains it will provide access to. The Ikon Pass will go on sale this spring, and passholders will get unlimited access to, and/or a set number of days at 23 different mountain resorts—Alterra’s 12 properties, and 11 partner mountains. The company said details on access, pass benefits, and pricing will be released in the coming weeks.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 24, 2018—The much-anticipated Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show kicks off tomorrow at the Denver Convention Center, with roughly 1,000 outdoor brands ready to engage about 11,000 retail buyers over the four-day event, Jan. 25-28. SAM will be there, once again co-presenting the Rental World + Backshop and Uniform Gallery, which showcases these all-important product categories. The exhibits provide a one-stop overview of the categories, and provide a quick way for buyers to survey their options.

SAM Magazine—Teton Village, Wyo., Jan. 18, 2018—Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) has named Mary Kate Buckley to succeed Jerry Blann, effective June 1, 2018. Blann has served as president since 1995. JHMR, independently owned by the Kemmerer Family, conducted a search to fill the role, and is pleased to bring Mary Kate with her strong ties to Jackson Hole and her extensive business experience.

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 12, 2018—The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has named Michael Lane as its new director of technical services, a position primarily focused on lift safety, education, operations, and maintenance. Lane is currently the national ropeway engineer for the USDA Forest Service. He will assume his role at NSAA in February 2018.

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 12, 2018—In an important legal ruling, the Colorado Civil Rights Division sided in favor of Winter Park Resort over a recent disability discrimination claim against the resort regarding its restriction on service animals riding chairlifts. It’s the first legal challenge ever against a ski area over service animal restrictions on chairlifts.

SAM Magazine—Denver, January 13, 2018 –Skier visits at the 23 member resorts of Colorado Ski Country USA were down 13 percent compared to last year’s mediocre first period visit numbers, for the season through Dec. 31, 2017.