SAM Magazine--March 22, 2013--Thanks to improved snow conditions in January and February, skier visits among Colorado Ski Country USA's (CSCUSA) 21 member resorts partially rebounded from an early-season deficit, increasing 1.3 percent over the two months, compared to the same two months last year. From opening through December 31, 2012, CSCUSA...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Mar. 22, 2013—With the season winding down, it's time to look ahead and see how you can stay on top of your game for next year in the ever-changing world of freestyle terrain. Registration for SAM’s eastern Cutter's Camp at Mount Snow (Carinthia), Vt., closes on March 26 at 5 p.m., and there a...

SAM Magazine--March 21. 2013--According to the Star Gazette, a federal judge has approved the sale of Greek Peak, N.Y., after a private auction on Tuesday. The highest bid was $6.76 million by two local businessmen, John Meier and Marc Stemerman. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which became the main lender and receiver after the s...

SAM Magazine--March 18, 2013--Wisp Resort in Maryland announced the promotion of industry (and Wisp) veteran Jerry Geisler to GM today. Geisler has worked at Wisp Resort for 37 years beginning as a ski instructor in 1975. Geisler replaces Tim Prather. Wisp emerged from bankruptcy in December 2012 under new ownership—EPR Properties, a REIT ...

SAM Magazine—Enfield, N.H., Mar. 15, 2013—Whaleback Mountain is shutting its doors for the year, and as a business, on Mar. 17. Owners Evan Dybvig, Frank Sparrow, and Dylan Goodspeed posted a message on their website Thursday that the mountain would be ceasing operations at the end of the coming weekend. In their letter, they said th...

SAM Magazine--March 15, 2013--More consistent snowfall and stronger economic metrics combined to deliver impressive gains for the mountain lodging industry according to the most recent data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). Actual occupancy for February 2013 was up 14.2 percent compared to last February and the Average Daily...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Mar. 13, 2013—More than 153,000 children and adults from 34 states registered for beginner lessons during January 2013 as part of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month/Bring a Friend (LSSM/BAF)—an increase of more than 50,000 compared to 2012, and an increase of more than 130,000 since the initiative&rsquo...

SAM Magazine—Salida, Colo., Mar. 13, 2013—Monarch Mountain is teaming with fellow Colorado resorts Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and Steamboat in a reciprocal pass deal for 2013-14. For 2013-14, three days at Monarch are included in the purchase of the Rocky Mountain Super Pass Plus ($419), which includes unlimited skiing at Winter P...

SAM Magazine—Missoula, Mont., Mar. 12, 2013—Tom Maclay, who has long sought to develop a destination resort at Lolo Peak in the Bitterroot Mountains, has lost control of his property to Met Life Agricultural Investments through foreclosure. Missoula County Sheriff Carl Ibsen signed a sheriff’s deed over to Met Life on Feb. 27, ...

SAM Magazine—March 12, 2013—Today several joint pass promotions were released giving skiers and snowboarders more options than ever. First up, The Mountain Collective added three resorts to its 2013/14 offering: Mammoth Mountain, Snowbird and Whistler/Blackcomb. The Collective was created last year when Alta, Aspen/Snowmass, Squaw Valle...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Mar. 12, 2013—SlopeXchange.com, which aimed to help skiers and riders re-sell their day lift tickets in resort parking lots, came to a swift end after NSAA threatened to sue the site. Early this year, slopexchange.com hit the Internet with what its founders thought was a clever idea: help skiers and ride...

SAM Magazine—Bartlett, N.H., Mar. 8, 2013—According to an on-line survey conducted by SAM Magazine, 33% of respondents say that summer opportunities will be the most important factor in the future growth of mountain resorts. To address this growing trend, SAM Magazine will hold its fourth annual Summer Ops Camp at Attitash, N.H., S...

SAM Magazine—Virgil, N.Y., Mar. 8, 2013—Greek Peak is scheduled to be sold at auction in Syracuse, N.Y., on Mar. 19, either in its entirety or in various lots. The resort includes the winter resort as well as a year-round adventure center, hotel and indoor waterpark. Bidders have until Mar. 14 to submit initial offers. Judge Margaret...

SAM Magazine—McLean, Va., Mar. 7, 2013—Snowfall over the December holidays and into January helped raise snowsport retail sales 7 percent in January 2013 compared to January 2012. The latest data come from the SIA RetailTRAK, compiled by the Leisure Trends Group. Customers spent $550 million at snowsports retail shops in January. ...

SAM Magazine--March 7, 2013--Vail Resorts, Inc. announced its second quarter results of fiscal 2013 ended January 31, 2013. Total net revenue of the mountain, lodging and real estate categories was $422.5 million compared to $373.3 million during the same period last year while total operating expenses went from $255.1 million in 2012 to $282.5 mil...

SAM Magazine--March 5, 2013--According to published reports, Sunrise Park Resort in Arizona is being investigated for the Norovirus, a very contagious virus. The area has been cooperating with federal, state, county and tribal agencies (the area is owned by the White Mountain Apache Tribe) after several customers became ill after visiting over the ...

SAM Magazine—Scranton, Pa., Mar. 1, 2013—Snö Mountain’s biggest creditor, National Penn Bank, was high bidder at a bankruptcy auction today in Philadelphia. The bank outbid an investment group that has also invested in the resort. DFM Realty, an affiliate of National Penn Bank, Boyertown, bid $4.6 million, said trustee Gar...

SAM Magazine—Henniker, N.H., Mar. 1, 2013—Pats Peak Ski will launch Operation Cascade Basin this summer, a planned expansion that will add a new triple chairlift and 20-plus acres of new terrain encompassing up to six new trails and glades over the next three years. This summer Pats will install the high-capacity triple chairlift and...

SAM Magazine—Palmerton, Pa., Mar. 1, 2013—Blue Mountain Ski Area and Resort will start construction on a $20 million water park project this spring, with opening projected for May 2015. The outdoor park, called Summit Splash, will include a wave pool, water slides and a lazy river. The themes for the various activities will reflect t...

In our latest installment of the SAM CAM, SAM Magazine visited Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Pa., for the opening of their new Pirates Riglet Park. The park, Burton's 27th Riglet park installation, is designed to introduce children between the ages of 3 and 6 to snowboarding in a mountain-like environment on a flat surface that allows quicker ...

SAM Magazine—Windham, N.Y., Feb. 26, 2013—Windham Mountain Resort has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Windham Country Club to make the club part of the resort. A majority of the club’s shareholders have approved the sale to Windham Mountain Partners, the ownership group behind Windham Mountain. Windham has been ...

SAM Magazine—Scranton, Pa., Feb. 26, 2013—Auction bids for Sno Mountain are due Thursday in Philadelphia, with several bidders said to remain interested in the facility. If a substantial bid is received, a sale could be completed at a Mar. 6 Bankruptcy Court hearing. Sno Mountain's investors—including some in the ownership ...

SAM Magazine—Kellogg, Idaho, Feb. 26, 2013—Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg has extended an online auction deadline in hopes of receiving additional qualified bidders. An original January deadline to sell parts of the resort, ski area, golf course and other properties was canceled and the deadline extended to March 19. Terms of the ...

SAM Magazine—Centennial, Wyo., Feb. 20, 2013—Downhilling and drinking, more or less in that order, have long gone hand in hand. But it’s still notable that Snowy Range Ski Area here has received final approval from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to operate a microbrewery as a part of its base lodge operations. This is believed to ...

SAM Magazine—Peninsula, Ohio, Feb. 21, 2013—Boston Mills/Brandywine Ski Resorts, Mad River Mountain, and the newest addition to Peak Resorts, Alpine Valley Ski Area, are offering the Ohio Pass—four resorts on one pass. Pricing for adults ages 13-69 will be $399, and $349 for a juniors ages 5-12. The unveiling of the Ohio Pass c...

SAM Magazine—North Conway, N.H., Feb. 19, 2013 —With the addition of Cranmore, the White Mountain Superpass now encompasses four resorts—Bretton Woods, Cannon Mountain, Waterville Valley, and Cranmore. The unrestricted passes go on sale next week. ”There has been such great success with our combined 4NH College Pass, we a...

SAM Magazine—Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 19, 2013—Sandia Peak closed for the season yesterday, President’s Day, a month earlier than usual, after receiving just 32 inches of snow this winter. Managers said they would keep the lifts and other equipment ready to reopen if the weather cooperates in the next few weeks, but they didn&rs...

SAM Magazine—Dillon, Colo., Feb. 19, 2013—A group of 15 skiers emerged mostly without injury after they were caught by an inbounds avalanche last Saturday afternoon at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. One skier was evacuated by toboggan with a knee injury. An Arapahoe Basin ski patroller was guiding a group of 14 skiers when the slide occurr...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Feb. 19, 2013—Between the Alpine successes at the FIS World Championships and several podium finishes at the pre-Olympic World Cup competitions at Sochi, Russia, last week, U.S. competitors achieved several noteworthy results. The U.S. Ski Team left the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Schladming, A...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 15, 2013—As the economy improved and snow piled up at many western resorts during January, so did occupancy, as well as reservations for the coming six months. That’s the latest news from the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). Data come from 260 lodging properties in sixteen destinations across ...

SAM Magazine--February 14, 2013--Mt. Bachelor, Ore., received the go-ahead from the Forest Service for an improvement project that will take place over the next 10 years. According to ktvz.com, Mt. Bachelor originally submitted the proposal in 2010, and after the Deschutes National Forest completed an environmental impact statement, which was put o...

SAM Magazine—Boreal, Calif., Feb. 14, 2013—A new terrain-based instructor training program, the USASA Experience / Level 100 Coaches clinic, launched at Boreal Feb. 11-12. The project developed from a partnership between Burton and the U.S.A. Snowboard and Freeski Association (USASA), an organizing body for recreational and competitive ...

SAM Magazine—Las Vegas, Nev., Feb. 14, 2013—The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) held its 20th annual conference at the Red Rock Resort Casino and Spa outside Las Vegas, Nev., Feb. 7-10. In addition to showcasing new products and innovations, the conference hosted its first-ever certification test for individual inspec...

SAM Magazine—Girwood, AK, Feb. 11, 2013—Alyeska's Tram reopened to the public this past Saturday, which had been closed for over a month after a wind-related accident damaged one of its cabins. The tram will operate with a specially-designed car to serve as ballast on one side while the damaged cabin is repaired. In the meantime,...

SAM Magazine—Big Bear, Calif., Feb. 7, 2013—A fired police officer who threatened to bring "warfare" to the Los Angeles Police Department has killed three people, including two policemen, and launched a manhunt that led pursuers to his burned-out truck in the Bear Mountain ski area parking lot. The resort closed for the day Th...

SAM Magazine--June Lake, Calif., Feb. 5, 2013-—Residents and visitors can now access backcountry skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing in and around June Mountain Ski Area for the rest of the winter season. The Forest Service approved a plan this week that outlines how Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (MMSA), owner of June Mountain, will manage the s...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, Calif., Feb. 5, 2013—The self-proclaimed California Ski and Snowboard Safety Organization (CSSSO), headed by individuals critical of resort safety practices, has released a "Family Safety Report Card" in an effort to prod California areas to become more proactive regarding skier/rider safety. The re...

SAM Magazine—Schladming, Austria, Feb. 5, 2013—U.S. ski racing champion Lindsey Vonn fell hard during the women’s super G event at the World Championships earlier today and was flown by helicopter to a hospital. According to U.S. Ski Team medical director Kyle Wilkens, Vonn suffered a torn ACL and MCL in her right knee and a later...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 4, 2013—The mood and attendance at the annual SIA Snow Show were better than many suppliers, and perhaps retailers as well, had anticipated. Final figures aren’t available, but traffic appeared at least as strong as last year, and showgoers expressed optimism about the current season and future prospects....

SAM Magazine—Mentone, Calif., Feb. 4, 2013—At least eight people died and 38 were injured in a bus crash Sunday evening on Highway 38, one of the main access roads to Big Bear Lake and its ski areas in southern California. The passengers, most if not all from Mexico, and many of them medical students and their friends from Tijuana, M...

SAM Magazine--February 4, 2013--Stevens Pass Mountain Resort, Wash., has unveiled capital plans for more than $4 million in lift and terrain improvements. A new high-speed detachable quad from Doppelmayr, which will replace a fixed-grip quad and cut the ride time in half, leads the list of improvements. In addition to the new chairlift, the resort ...

SAM Magazine—Orlando, Fla., Jan. 25, 2013—CNL Lifestyle Properties reported significant increases in attendance and revenues at its 17 ski resorts over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. The resorts reported a 37 percent increase in paid visits and a 41 percent increase in revenue compared to the previous year. The Christmas h...

SAM Magazine—Londonderry, Vt., Jan. 25, 2013—Bromley GM Bill Cairns has been named the resort’s president. “Bill’s been with Bromley for 32 years. His first job was ‘lift painter’ and he’s held just about every other position on the mountain, from lift attendant to snowmaker to mountain manager to ...

SAM Magazine—Bariloche, Argentina, Jan. 25, 2013—The International Society for Skiing Safety (ISSS) and the International Society for Traumatology and Winter Sports Medicine (SITEMSH) have opened registration and are seeking abstract submissions for their joint 20th International Congress on Ski Safety This meeting will be held in Sa...

SAM Magazine—Bear Valley, Calif., Jan. 24, 2013—Bear Valley Resort has received final approval for its Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Master Plan, as well as approval of the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the ski area. These approvals clear the path for a long-planned renovation and expansion. The planning started in 2005, ...

SAM Magazine—Mt. Crested Butte, Colo., Jan. 24, 2013—Crested Butte Mountain Resort has submitted a new Master Development Plan to the U.S. Forest Service. The plan incorporates previous approvals at the main mountain, along with adjacent private land development projects, new proposals for terrain outside the resort’s existing per...

SAM Magazine—Windham, N.Y. Jan. 24, 2013—Electric vehicle drivers can now charge up at three ski resorts across the U.S. Windham Mountain, N.Y., and Mount Abram, Me., have joined first-mover Stevens Pass, Wash., by adding charging stations. Windham unveiled its new ChargePoint charging station last weekend. It is the only one in Gree...

SAM Magazine—Billings, Mont., Jan. 23, 2013—Bridger Bowl ski area plans to invest $4.1 million in two new Skytrac triple chairs next summer. That’s a significant development, considering that the area has put a total of $11 million into improvements during the past 17 years. The lifts will be ready for next winter and will rep...

SAM Magazine—Boyne Falls, Mich., Jan. 23, 2013—At around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, a snowmaking pipe failed at Boyne Mountain. Water flooded the lower portion of the Superbowl trail, causing significant erosion and toppling a lift tower for the Superbowl lift. The chair lift was not operating at the time of the collapse, and there were...

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., Jan. 21, 2013—Whistler Blackcomb has unveiled capital plans for an $18 million lift expansion. Whistler Mountain’s Harmony detachable quad chairlift will be replaced with a new Doppelmayr detachable six-pack. Blackcomb will replace a fixed-grip triple in the Crystal Zone with a high-speed quad. &ldq...

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., Jan. 21, 2013—Unit sales of outdoor equipment and apparel nudged up 1 percent over December 2011's disappointing snow-deprived results, and the average price rose 5 percent, lifting December sales above $1.1 billion for the first time ever, Leisure Trends Outdoor RetailTRAK data show. But winter equipmen...

SAM Magazine--January 20, 2013--Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) reported Friday that total skier/snowboarder visits at its 21 member resorts decreased 11.5 percent during the first period of the 2012/13 ski season, defined as opening day through December 31, 2012, compared to the same period last year. Vail Resorts' holdings are not included ...

SAM Magazine--January 20, 2013--ESPN has announced that it is entertaining new venues for the coveted X Games with a final announcement due in April 2013. For 2013 and 2014, the X Games will be held in Aspen, Colo., where they have been held since 2002. After that, ESPN has announced a list of eligible winter destinations that include Lake Tahoe, C...

SAM Magazine-Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 18, 2013--Cutter's Camp has opened registration for both of this year's sessions, at Mount Snow, Vt., April 1-3, and Timberline, Mt. Hood, Ore., May 13-17. Space will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is processed on SAM's website at www.cutterscamp.com.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Jan. 17, 2013—Powdr Corp. is building out its new Powdr Enterprises staff quickly: Park City marketing director Krista Parry will become senior vice president and chief innovation officer when Enterprises launches this coming spring. Powdr Enterprises will focus on events, sponsorships and media opportun...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 16, 2013—Vail Resorts has reported the early-season performance of its seven destination resorts, and the news reflects the up-and-down season endured by its Colorado contingent. Overall, though, VR shows a slight uptick from last year, and projects net revenues to double from last year’s reduc...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 16, 2013—Mid- to late-December snowstorms fueled a partial rebound in occupancy during the month, and boosted advance reservations for the remainder of the season, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). Despite the snow, lodging properties in the 16 participating mountain resorts in Colorado...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Jan. 15, 2013)—Powdr Corp. has created a new business, Powdr Enterprises, to focus on events, sponsorships and media opportunities. The aim is to help leverage the Powdr family of brands, including Powdr Resorts, Woodward Camps and Outside Television. Industry veteran Wade Martin will serve as president of ...

SAM Magazine--January 11, 2013--Squaw Mountain, Maine, is hoping to reopen over the Martin Luther King weekend after two years of being closed. The small ski area boasted an impressive 1,700-foot vertical when its summit lift was in operation, but an accident in 2004 that injured four skiers put the lift out of action and it has not operated since....

SAM Magazine—McLean, Va., Jan. 10, 2013—November 2012 was another difficult month for snow sports retailers, with double-digit declines in dollars sold compared to sales in November 2011, according to the SIA RetailTRAK. Specialty-store sales in the Midwest declined the least, about 9 percent; in the West, sales were off 27 percent from...