SAM Magazine—Union Dale, Pa., Oct. 22, 2012—Elk Mountain and its neighboring resort community, the Village of Four Seasons, have been squabbling over property issues. The latest tiff: the Village has lodged a lawsuit against the ski resort, charging that the resort wrongly claimed and transferred a section of the village's property to Elk.

SAM Magazine--October 21, 2012--Ski Utah announced the launch of the new Ski Utah magazine and a redesigned website. The inaugural magazine is a different product more focused on imagery, polished writing, insider tips and more. “After years of producing a factual vacation planner, it was time to re-invent the wheel and feed the dream and aspiration of a Utah vacation versus focusing on the actual planning process,” says director of marketing and Ski Utah magazine publisher Raelene Davis.

SAM Magazine--October 17, 2012, Jay, VT--Jay Peak Resort today announced that it is lowering the prices of all its lift tickets. For example, a single-day lift ticket last year was $75, but will be $64 this season. Ten dollars will be taken off each additional day purchased. 

SAM Magazine--October 17, 2012--Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort has named Dave Riley as senior VP and COO of the Banff resort.  Riley was most recently CEO at Telluride and before that president of Mt. Hood Meadows.

SAM Magazine--October 17, 2012--Sno Mountain, Pa., filed for involuntary Chapter 11 on October 15. In late August, the state of Pennsylvania filed a lien against the area for $516,503, most of which was for unpaid taxes. The area disputed the lien claiming that it only collected sales tax on rentals, so it did not owe  taxes for all other sales. There is no word whether the Chapter 11 filing will have any impact on the upcoming season. Sno Mountain's website is currently selling passes and advertising a job fair for November.

SAM Magazine—Arapahoe Basin, Colo., Oct. 17, 2012—Arapahoe Basin Ski Area opened today at 9 a.m., marking the start to the ski and snowboard season. The Black Mountain Express started at 9:00 a.m. and began serving the intermediate High Noon trail at mid-mountain. The area also has six features in the High Divide Terrain Park. Temperatures were in the 20s, and there was an inch of new snow on an 18-inch base. “We’re extremely excited to be the first ski area to open in Colorado,” said Alan Henceroth, Arapahoe Basin COO.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Oct. 15, 2012—Reservations for the fall and winter season through March 2013 are up .5 percent from year-ago levels, with future customers reluctant to book far in advance, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). In addition, the pace of bookings during September was below the level of a year ago.

SAM Magazine--October 12, 2012--After a shaky 2011/12 season, Bear Valley Mountain Resort, Calif., has said that it will reopen this year. Typically, Bear Valley hosts 140,000 skier visits, but last season saw only 75,000. Also at issue was whether the resort would file a new operating plan with the U.S. Forest Service by October 15. According to MyMotherLode.com, the deadline will be met and employees rehired. A total of 36 workers were laid off at the end of last season and Bear Valley hopes to rehire most of them.

SAM Magazine—Breckenridge, Colo., Oct. 10, 2012—Two appeals were lodged against the Forest Service decision to allow Breckenridge’s Peak 6 expansion, giving the agency 45 days to respond. The proposed expansion would add 413 acres, much of it designated as intermediate, a six-pack chairlift, fixed-grip chair, and 143 acres of hike-to skiing.

SAM Magazine—Ligonier Township, Pa., Oct. 10, 2012—State-owned Laurel Mountain Ski Resort will remain closed for at least another year. The 64-acre facility has been closed since 2005 despite efforts to reopen it.

SAM Magazine--October 9, 2012--Actor Bruce Wilis has handed over the reins of his small Idaho ski area, Soldier Mountain, to a nonprofit group. The actor announced last April that he was looking for a new entity to run Soldier, which includes two chairs and one rope tow on permitted Forest Service land, at the same time he announced the sale of his nearby home and bar.

According to the Sacramento Bee, five people have formed the nonprofit group and a town hall meeting on Thursday will finalize the deal. The names of those involved were not released.

SAM Magazine—Taylors Falls, Minn., Oct. 8, 2012—Wild Mountain, Minn., was the first resort to open for the winter season, as it began operations on Sunday, Oct. 7, with skiing, snowboarding, alpine sliding and go-karting.

Opening day offered two slopes, a beginner run and a terrain park, served by two rope tows, with up to 24 inches of base. Wild had several rails and boxes on the hill for the opening day crowd. The area started making snow just before midnight on Oct. 6, and by 8:30 on Oct. 7, the bottom half of two runs were covered.

SAM Magazine—Keystone, Colo., Oct. 4, 2012—Keystone Resort is taking kid-friendly programming to new heights: throughout the entire 2012-2013 winter season, children 12 and under will ski/snowboard for free at Keystone, so long as their families stay two or more nights in one of Keystone’s owned and operated accommodations.

SAM Magazine—Rossland, B.C., Oct. 4, 2012—Red Mountain Resort has begun developing a 1,000-acre expansion onto Grey Mountain that will bring total skiing acreage to 2,682 acres and make Red one of the largest resorts in North America. Full development will be completed by December 2013.

The Grey Mountain expansion will open up a vast store of terrain. Chris Cushing of SE Group, which helped design the expansion, said it “adds wide terrain variety—from groomed cruising runs to tree glades and alpine chutes.”

SAM Magazine--Vermont, October 4, 2012--After a rocky 54-year history, Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen have declared a détente and are offering joint season passes for the first time. The "Ski The Valley Plus" pass is available to skiers who book extended ski and stay packages and includes unrestricted access to all three mountains (Mad River and Sugarbush's Lincoln Peak and Mount Ellen), with more discounts at local theaters, restaurants and shops. The areas will also offer the "Threesome College Pass" to full-time college students for $359.

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., Oct. 2, 2012—Jay Peak and Burke Mountain resorts will get a share of a $500 million investment of EB-5 visa funds that will transform the economy of the state’s “Northeast Kingdom." The overall development plan will bring new industries and a hotel/conference center to the town of Newport and expand the region’s airport, in addition to the expansions at Jay and Burke.

SAM Magazine—Norden, Calif., Sept. 28, 2012—Sugar Bowl has signed an agreement with the Truckee Donner Land Trust to lease and operate the neighboring Royal Gorge cross-country ski area this winter, pending completion of the Trust’s purchase of 3,000 acres of Royal Gorge terrain.

SAM Magazine—Boise, Idaho, Sept. 26, 2012—A district court judge has refused to block Credit Suisse from foreclosing on Tamarack Resort, thus giving the bank leeway to request a sheriff’s sale for its portion of the resort—including the lifts and on-mountain facilities, golf course, and more than 2,000 homesites. According to a lawyer for the Tamarack Municipal Association, which has operated the resort for the past two seasons, a sale could occur in the next 60 days.

Credit Suisse, however, has not revealed its plans for the resort.

SAM Magazine—Franklin County, N.Y., Sept. 26, 2012—Big Tupper ski area is closing its doors due to the cost of a lawsuit, according to Jim LaValley, chairman of Adirondack Residents Intent on Saving Their Economy (ARISE). The group has operated Big Tupper on a voluntary basis since 2009, while plans for a larger resort have been taking shape.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 26, 2012—Vail Resorts reported net income of $16.5 million in fiscal 2012, down from $34.5 million in 2011. But in a sign that last season’s snow drought has not dampened customer expectations, season pass sales for the upcoming season rose 17 percent in units, to about 178,000, and 21 percent in dollars through Sept. 23. Historically, about 60 percent of VR pass sales are completed by this date.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Sept. 24, 2012—Powdr Corp. has promoted three key personnel within the company. COO Herwig Demschar is now senior vice president of international business development. Killington Resort and Pico Mountain president and general manager Chris Nyberg gets wider responsibilities as president and chief operating officer of Powdr’s resort division. Killington and Pico director of finance and revenue Mike Solimano replaces Nyberg as president and general manager of the two resorts. The promotions are effective immediately.

updated Sept. 25, 2012

SAM Magazine—McHenry, Md., Sept. 25, 2012—The owners of Wisp Ski Resort continue to negotiate to sell the resort to a well capitalized buyer that will ensure uninterrupted and improved operations for the upcoming ski season and beyond.

In a statement Monday, co-owner Karen Myers said, “We fully expect to continue to do business as usual” while seeking a buyer who will build on the resort’s success.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 24, 2012—Vail Resorts (VR) is seeking dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from an inbounds avalanche at Vail Mountain last winter, claiming that the avalanche is one of the inherent risks covered by the Colorado Ski Safety Act.

SAM Magazine—Montpelier, Vt., Sept. 21, 2012—The state of Vermont and four Vermont ski areas are partnering with Porter Airlines to bring Canadian skiers to northern Vermont. Porter operates roundtrip flights between Toronto and Burlington.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Sept.18, 2012—Summer occupancy at 16 western mountain resort destinations was higher than the previous two years, with increases in both occupancy and nightly revenue, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). August marked the fourth straight month of year-over-year occupancy increases. Early indications suggest this trend will continue through the fall and perhaps into the winter as well.

SAM Magazine—ASPEN, Colo., Sept. 14, 2012—A lawsuit by an environmental group has led Aspen Skiing Co. [ASC] to temporarily halt its efforts to add skiing on 230 acres of Burnt Mountain at Snowmass, according to an article in the Aspen Times.

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., Sept. 14, 2012—Winter sports retailers reduced preseason orders sharply last spring but remain optimistic about the upcoming season, results of a new retail survey conducted by Leisure Trends Group reveal. And early indicators show surprising strength.

SAM Magazine—Jackson, Wyo., Sept. 10, 2012—The Little Horsethief Fire south of Jackson has burned at least 1,500 acres, prompting Snow King resort to close its summer operations, including the bike and hiking trails, lifts, and alpine slide. The Jackson Hole resort is not impacted by the blaze, and all highways in and out of Jackson remain open.

SAM Magazine—Missoula, Mont., Sept. 10, 2012—The U.S. Forest Service has rejected a proposal by would-be resort developer Tom Maclay to build a destination ski resort on Lolo Peak. This is the second time Maclay has presented a resort proposal, and the second time the Forest Service has rejected it.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 10, 2012—Vail Resorts (VR) has partnered with Verbier, Switzerland, to provide Epic Passholders three days of free access to Verbier and the other members of Les 4 Vallées, Nendaz, Veysonnaz and Thyon. The four comprise the largest ski area in Switzerland.

The upshot is that VR’s $679 Epic Pass now includes unlimited access to the seven VR areas (Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Northstar, Heavenly, and Kirkwood) plus Arapahoe Basin and limited access to the Swiss quartet.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 2, 2012—The introduction of Vail Resorts’ (VR) EpicMix Racing gives skiers a chance to see how they stack up against Lindsey Vonn, thanks to a new NASTAR-like addition to VR’s acclaimed EpicMix social media program. The incorporation of EpicMix Racing has led VR to drop the 44-year-old NASTAR program from its areas.

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., Sept. 2, 2012—Snowmass is adding 230 acres of rolling, low-angle meadows and glades on Burnt Mountain this season, bringing total skiable acreage to 3,362 acres. This will make Snowmass the second largest ski area in Colorado, after Vail.

SAM Magazine—Taos, N.M., Sept. 2, 2012—The acting supervisor of the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico has signed the Record of Decision for Taos Ski Valley’s Phase I projects in the Ski Area’s 2010 Master Development Plan. That includes two new lifts to access high alpine terrain and upgrades to existing lifts.

Other projects in the plan include construction of a permanent tubing facility, establishing a snowshoe trail system, and developing a lift-served mountain bike trail.

SAM Magazine—Irwindale, Calif., Sept. 2, 2012—Start-up company Energy Cache is exploring the use of specially equipped “ski lifts” to create a large-scale energy storage system. The aim is to use solar and/or wind power to drive the lift and transport gravel uphill, where it would be stored in giant hoppers. Then, the lift would send the gravel downhill to run a turbine and generate electricity when demand called for it.

SAM Magazine--August 31, 2012--This past Wednesday, Arapahoe Basin, Colo., introduced a long-term master development plan, kicking off what will likely be a years-long process. The plan includes an expansion of 412 acres into The Beavers, a new lift to access the terrain, a year-round zipline, increased capacity for its snowmaking reservoirs and several lift upgrades.

SAM Magazine--August 31, 2012--After years of court battles that finally ended in a green light for Arizona Snowbowl's comprehensive snowmaking system, the last remaining legal battle seems to have come to an end. According to the Arizona Daily Sun, an earlier court decision that would have made opposing attorney Howard Shanker responsible for the ski area's costs in fighting the lawsuits was overturned this week by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Snowbowl's lawyers had originally requested that Shanker, who unsuccessfully sued the U.S.

SAM Magazine--August 29, 2012--Park City, Utah--The U.S. Ski Team and NBC Sports Network will partner for first-ever U.S. live TV broadcasts of Audi FIS Alpine World Cup ski racing as part of a pre-Sochi broadcast schedule announced by the network and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. The live coverage will feature Olympic champions Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso from the Nature Valley Aspen Winternational Thanksgiving weekend along with fellow Olympic gold medalists Ted Ligety and Bode Miller at the Audi Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek, Colo., a week later.

SAM Magazine—Tannersville, Pa., Aug. 29, 2012—With five days left in the summer business high season, Camelbeach Mountain Waterpark has exceeded 366,000 visits, surpassing last summer’s previous record of 365,000 visits. A member of the Gober family from Easton, Pa., was visitor number 366,000, and received season passes for all in the family for the 2013 summer season.

SAM Magazine—Idaho Springs, Colo., Aug. 29, 2012— Pykkonen Capital LLC has purchased Echo Mountain, and will convert the area into an alpine race training facility serving Denver-area competitors. The transformation of Echo Mountain into the Front Range Ski Club will begin in the coming weeks and involve the entire property.

SAM Magazine—Greenwood, Maine, Aug. 27, 2012—Mt. Abram and the Mountain Rider’s Alliance (MRA) have partnered to promote a cooperative business model and convert Mt. Abram into a member-owned MRA Mountain Playground. The joint effort aims to boost regional visitation, increase sustainability awareness, and create a business model for other community-oriented ski areas.

SAM Magazine--August 27, 2012--ESPN, the creator of the popular X Games series in both summer and winter, has made the decision to cut skier and snowboarder cross events for the coming year in Aspen, as well as the mono skier X. The X Games are largely credited with popularizing the events, in fact, they will still be held at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

SAM Magazine--Pittsfield, MA--August 24, 2012--George W. Jervas died suddenly on August 20, at the age of 76, doing what he loved most: working at his ski area. Jervas, the owner of the Berkshire resort for over 30 years, reportedly suffered a cardiac arrthymia. Jervas originally bought the ski area as part of a four-member group, but has been the sole owner for the past 15 years. Under his ownership, Bousquet has grown into a year-round destination, with expanded summer operations complementing its winter business.

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Aug. 22, 2012—Registration for SAM’s third annual Summer Ops Camp—a series of seminars, workshops, and site visits that explore the state of the art in summer operations—closes on Aug. 27. A few spots are still available for the camp, which takes place Sept. 4 to 6 at Canyons, Utah.

SAM Magazine—Breckenridge, Colo., Aug. 22, 2012—Breckenridge received approval to add 550 acres of skiing and riding on Peak 6, thanks to a Record of Decision from the Forest Service which was made public yesterday. The terrain includes approximately 140 hike-to acres. White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams’ decision gives the go-ahead for two new chairlifts, including a six-pack; a ski patrol hut and restroom facility.

SAM Magazine—Middlefield, Conn., Aug. 17, 2012—Middlefield residents overwhelmingly voted to sell the Powder Ridge ski area to local businessman Sean Hayes, who operates a nearby adventure center, Brownstone Park, for $700,000.

Powder Ridge opened in 1959, and last operated for the 2006-07 season. The town purchased the area in 2008 for $2.55 million, and has actively sought a buyer ever since. Residents approved the sale Thursday by a vote of 1,132 to 466.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 16, 2012—Average occupancy for the month of July in 16 Western destination resorts was up 4. 7 percent compared to July 2011, with the average daily rate up 4.5 percent for the same time period, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). The data suggest that many mountain resorts have established themselves as summer destinations, not just winter ones.

MTRiP data come from approximately 260 properties in Colorado, Utah, Oregon, and California.

SAM Magazine--August 14, 2012--Alta, Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole and Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows have partnered to form the Mountain Collective, a pass for the 2012-13 season. The Mountain Collective Pass goes on sale today and is available online through an exclusive technology, distribution and marketing partnership with Liftopia at www.TheMountainCollective.com.

SAM Magazine--August 9, 2012--According to the Modesto Bee, a coalition of environmental groups will get together to buy the almost 3,000-acre Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort in California. Royal Gorge was put on the block after the area defaulted on its $16.7 million loan in June 2011. After spending the last year in receivership, Douglas Wilson Cos., the receiver, agreed to sell the property to conservation groups Truckee Donner Land Trust, The Trust for Public Land and the Northern Sierra Partnership for $11.25 million.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Aug. 8, 2012—Dave Riley, CEO of Telluride Ski & Golf Resort for the past five years, has been reassigned to CEO of Newport Federal Financial, a subsidiary of Telluride’s parent company in Newport Beach, Calif. Riley starts his new job immediately. No replacement has been named at Telluride, where the executive team is reporting directly to owner Chuck Horning.

SAM Magazine--Cortland, N.Y., August 3, 2012--On August 2, 2012, Greek Peak Mountain Resorts, Peak Resorts, Inc (PRI) and affiliates, filed voluntary petitions in the Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This filing gives Greek Peak the time and protection needed for reorganization.

SAM Magazine—Burlington, Vt., Aug. 2, 2012—Both the new terrain park Task Group of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Snowsports Committee F27 and a group that is reviewing the NSAA Terrain Park Notebook met here July 17-18. And both are moving forward at an intentionally measured pace.

The ASTM members adopted a working title for the Task Group, “Freestyle Terrain Park Jump Features,” reviewed the status of its document-collecting efforts, and received presentations from a variety of members on their research.

SAM Magazine--August 2, 2012--The owners of the Otsego Club in Michigan, Osprey S.A. Ltd., announced that they will not open for the 2012/13 season. Osprey's CEO, Michael Collins, wrote that after unsuccessfully trying to sell the 73-year-old ski area last year, the company was forced to make the decision to shut down operations for this coming season due to economic reasons. Collins pointed out that there still might be a possibility of finding someone to operate the area, which boasts 31 trails and 5 lifts, including a high-speed quad.

SAM Magazine—Vail, Colo., July 31, 2012—Burton Snowboards is moving the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships to Vail, where it will take place Feb. 25 to Mar. 2, 2013. The move is aimed at continuing the progression of the event. The US Open had been held at Stratton, Vt., for the past 27 years.

SAM Magazine--July 31, 2012--Potential buyers of the shuttered Powder Ridge ski area in Middlefield, Conn., were given the go-ahead by Middlefield selectmen. The Town, which owns the ski area, received a proposal from Sean Hayes, the owner of nearby Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park, to purchase the area, but the Board of Selectmen first asked for proof that Hayes had the funds to purchase and operate the ski area before giving the green light.

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., July 30, 2012—The fifth annual January Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (LSSM) initiative kicks off officially at the Midwest Ski Areas Association conference at Boyne Highlands, Mich., Aug. 5 to 8. Details of the new Bring a Friend (BAF) program and the national Bring a Friend Challenge will be unveiled as well.

SAM Magazine—July 26, 2012—The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) issued two citations against Hunter Mountain, N.Y., following the January 18 death of a snowmaking employee who slipped on ice and slid 200 feet hitting a tree and a rock. The safety violations (each carry a fine of $4,250) claim that 1) Hunter did not train the employee in the limitations of the spiked footwear and 2) Hunter did not require the employee to carry a radio or other means of summoning help.

SAM Magazine—Beaver, Utah, July 25, 2012—Eagle Point resort is so intent on expanding its market that it’s offering free, unlimited skiing to California residents next winter. And for everyone else, skiing and riding are free on Thursdays in January.

To receive free lift privileges, visitors must simply provide a name and email address (and Californians must add proof of address).

SAM Magazine—Richmond, Utah, July 25, 2012—The proposed Cherry Peak ski area has been stalled by a group of local opponents here, who are appealing a county conditional use permit in Utah’s 1st District Court.

The local planning commission approved the permit last February, and the board of adjustments upheld that decision. Opponents claim the planning commission relied on faulty evidence and argue that the resort development is incompatible with the adjacent Richmond Wildlife Management Area.

SAM Magazine--July 19, 2012-- Vail Resorts, Inc. has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Forest Service for a comprehensive summer activities plan at Vail Mountain.

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., July 17, 2012—In a sign that sports consumers are investing in their favorite activities (when the weather cooperates), May retail sales at outdoor retailers and sporting goods chains were up from year-ago totals, according to the Leisure Trends Group.

Outdoor and sporting goods sales got a solid boost from the weather. The spring of 2012 consisted of the warmest March, third warmest April and second warmest May on record.