SAM Magazine--Mt. Crested Butte, Colo., May 10, 2010--Late last week, Deputy Regional Forester Jim Peña affirmed Forest Supervisor Charlie Richmond's refusal to consider the Snodgrass Mountain expansion proposal in a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process with public involvement. This expansion would add 276 acres of new terrain to Cre...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 7, 2010-Snowsport retail sales finished up 4 percent over last season as volume hit $2.94 billion compared to $2.82 billion a year ago, although fewer units were sold this season, according to the latest figures from Snowsports Industries America. Retailers maintained higher prices in part because inventories starte...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., May 7, 2010-Whistler Blackcomb took the top spot in onthesnow.com's annual Visitor's Choice awards. This is the second time in the past three years that Whistler Blackcomb has topped the list. Onthesnow.com gives visitors the opportunity to write reviews of North American resorts and rank them in five categories: fav...

SAM Magazine-Killington, Vt., May 7, 2010-Killington Resort received the Vermont Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence and Pollution Prevention for a pair of projects that eliminate more than 1,400 gallons of heating fuel and save more than 70,000 kWh of electricity annually. In the first of two projects, Killington partnered with Effici...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., May 7, 2010-Mary Jo Tarallo has been named executive director of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (formerly Learn a Snow Sport Month), a new position that demonstrates the continuing growth of the program. "I am pleased to be working with our industry colleagues on this important and energetic initiative, not only t...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., May 7, 2010-The U.S. ski industry recorded 59.7 million visits, the second best season ever, according to the preliminary 2009/10 Kottke National End of Season Survey, despite a weak economy and without the catalyst of an exceptional snow year. According to the study, all regions except the Northeast achieved sub...

SAM Magazine-Cody, Wyo., May 7, 2010―Sleeping Giant ski area, revived as a non-profit area last season after five years of hibernation, lost $316,288 in its first season, according to figures released by executive director Hamilton Bryan and reported by the Associated Press. Below-normal snow and a short season are partly to blame, he added. ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Apr. 30, 2010-Vail Resorts is purchasing the remaining 30 percent interest in its majority-owned retail joint venture, Specialty Sports Venture (SSV), held by affiliated entities of Tom and Ken Gart, for $31 million. The transaction is expected to close today. SSV has more than 145 sporting goods retail/rental loc...

SAM Magazine--April 30, 2010--During its annual meeting, the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association (PNSAA) announced the recipients of several awards. First, Keith Petrie was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Petrie managed Mt. Hood Meadows, Anthony Lakes, Mt. Spokane and Multopor Ski Bowl and served as chairman of the PNSAA Board of D...

SAM Magazine--April 28, 2010--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) named five member ski areas as the recipients of its annual Sustainable Slopes Grant program. The ski areas winning cash grants include Alta, Utah, Crested Butte, Colo., Grand Targhee, Wyo., Mt. Abram, Maine, and Stevens Pass, Wash. The grants, this year totaling $100,000, are...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Apr. 27, 2010-Preliminary SIA Snow Sport RetailTRAK data show that snow sport retail sales increased 13 percent in March 2010 compared to March 2009, at the height of the recession. The sales spurt pushed sales for the entire 2009-10 season up 4 percent over 2008-09, according to the Leisure Trends Group. Nearly ever...

SAM Magazine-Las Vegas, Apr. 27, 2010-Resorts as far-flung as Alyeska, Alaska, the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, and Sugarloaf, Maine, are operating into May this year. They are among dozens of areas that have extended their seasons this year. Late and abundant snow has enabled Alyeska Resort to operate well into May. The base at the top of ...

SAM Magazine-Albuquerque, N.M., Apr. 27, 2010-El Nino lived up to its billing, bringing abundant snow across New Mexico this past winter. And that fueled a 23 percent increase in visits compared to 2008-09, according to Ski New Mexico. The visit total was 964,793, making this the best year since 2000-01. Ski New Mexico executive director George ...

SAM Magazine--April 26. 2010--Thanks to passenger numbers that were off by about 9,000, the resort community at Steamboat Springs will have to pony up more than $2.4 million to the airlines. According to the "Steamboat Pilot," Steamboat's Local Marketing District (LMD) is in charge of the airline program and it is not unheard of that the community ...

SAM Magazine--April 26, 2010--Intrawest, a leader in the development and management of experiential destination resorts, today announced that it has successfully completed the refinancing of its corporate debt which was due in December 2009. The Company repaid its prior lenders in full and has completed a new loan, which is scheduled to mature in 2...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Apr. 22, 2010-Andy Daly, who variously managed Copper Mountain , Eldora, Beaver Creek, and Vail Associates, has earned the 2010 Lifetime Achievement award of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). Daly's career began in 1970 when he took a job at Aspen Highlands. By winter's end, Daly accepted a job as a ski pat...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Apr. 22, 2010-Thanks to a late-season surge of destination visits, Vail Resorts (VR) saw business increase over the season's final weeks. Through Apr. 18, total skier visits at Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, and Heavenly were up about 2.3 percent compared to the previous year. In Idaho, Sun Valley saw vi...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo.,Apr. 19, 2010-Dennis Eshbaugh, president and CEO of Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville, N.Y., has received the 2010 Sherman Adams Award from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). Over the past 23 years, under Eshbaugh's leadership, skier visits at Holiday Valley have grown more than fourfold. During this ti...

SAM Magazine-Carroll Valley, Pa., Apr. 19, 2010-Liberty Mountain Resort has entered into an agreement to purchase the adjacent Carroll Valley Resort. The properties will be combined and operated under Liberty management. "We're extremely excited with this acquisition," said Eric Flynn, Liberty president and GM. "Years ago, both properties were d...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., Apr. 19, 2010-In some of the most solid results for the mountain travel industry during the past 12 months, lodging occupancy was up 9.6 percent in March compared to March 2009, according to the latest data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). This was the third consecutive month with year-over-year ...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Apr. 16, 2010-The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has honored 12 member resorts with its annual Safety Awards, which recognize resorts that have done an outstanding job of educating employees and guests about skiing and snowboarding responsibly. The 2009-10 winners are: Best Safety Week Program (tie) Vail M...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Apr. 13, 2010-Indianhead, Ragged, Jay Peak, Crested Butte, and Copper have won the 2009/10 Marketing Awards presented by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). The 2009/10 Guest Service Awards winners are MacIntyre, Thunder Ridge, Sugar Bowl, Crested Butte, and Beaver Creek. The awards are presented annually to ...

SAM Magazine-Ishpeming, Mich., Apr. 7, 2010-The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame has extended the deadline for submitting nominations for the class of 2010 to Apr. 30. The change was made to accommodate athletes who competed in the 2010 Olympic Games, but the extension applies to all potential nominees. Individuals nominated and elected to th...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Apr. 7, 2010-Snow Sports market sales reached $2.7 billion in February, a 3 percent gain in dollars sold compared with August through February last season, according to the SIA Retail Audit conducted by the Leisure Trends Group. Warmer weather in states north of the Mason-Dixon Line, less snow in the Rockies and wetter and...

SAM Magazine--The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at Beaver Creek, Colorado, on April 9, 2010. This year's inductees are: Jack Benedick, U.S. Ski Team; Stu Campbell, ski instructor; Doug Coombs, ski mountaineer; Sepp Kober, heritage; Paul Robbins, journalist; Ansten Samuelstuen, heritage; Chris Waddell, U.S. S...

SAM Magazine--Deer Valley, Utah, April 2, 2010--Last week a Federal District Court judge awarded Deer Valley Resort injunctive relief against Christy Sports until January 2015. In sum, the court order stops Christy Sports from renting out any skis from its Deer Valley Resort store location. The case first started when, in 2006, Christy Sports ac...

SAM Magazine-Woodbury, Conn., April 1, 2010-SAM Magazine is proud to announce the recipients of the 13th annual 2010 SAMMY Leadership Awards. They are: 1) Julie Maurer, vice president of marketing for Boothcreek. Julie first joined Northstar-at-Tahoe in 1982 as a PR assistant and quickly moved up to marketing director. Under various owners, Jul...

SAM Magazine--March 26, 2010--Brian Head Resort in southwestern Utah is on the block with an asking price of $34.75 million. According to CB Richard Ellis' Land Services Group, the company that has the listing, Brian Head averages 141,000 skier visits and total revenue from ski operations averaged more than $6.8 million over the past three years. E...

SAM Magazine--Quebec City, Quebec, March 25, 2010--Mont Orford, which is owned by the provincial government of Quebec, is on the block for $1. The catch? The buyer would have to put down a security deposit of $4 million and commit to running the resort and golf course for five years. As well, the government would still own the 1,100 acres. Accor...

SAM Magazine-Squaw Valley, Calif., Mar. 25, 2010- In honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic Winter Games, Squaw Valley USA is hosting the first-ever U.S. Professional Ski Patrol Olympics Apr. 16 to 18, 2010. This will be the first time that ski patrollers from across the continent have gathered for one epic competition, with...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Mar. 19, 2010-Park City Mountain Resort, The Canyons Resort and Deer Valley Resort are hosting their 2nd annual Wasatch Backside Lifty Invitational (WBLI) Mar. 29-Apr. 2, 2010. The event is held "to recognize the hard work of our lift operations teams," said Jeff Marzka, lift operations manager at Park City Mountain Re...

SAM Magazine-Boise, Idaho, Mar. 19, 2010-A federal judge has declared Tamarack Resort bankrupt. The decision will allow newly named trustee Jeremy Gugino to begin liquidating the resort's assets and pay off creditors. Liquidation is expected to be a lengthy process. One major complication: Tamarack's largest creditor, Credit Suisse, is moving in...

SAM Magazine-Fresno, Calif., Mar. 19, 2010-Industry veteran Tim Cohee has signed an agreement to purchase Sierra Summit. The acquisition, which is expected to close by Apr. 30, will return Cohee to the area where he began his career nearly 30 years ago. Purchase price is said to be just under $4 million. Cohee, who has been an executive at Kirkw...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Mar. 16, 2010-Resorts in highly competitive markets continue to offer discounted passes with early-purchase incentives for 2010-11, often at 2009-10 prices. Many of these offers include additional perks, from discounted tickets for friends or summer activities to lodging and dining discounts. In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Mar. 16, 2010-Lodging occupancy through February nudged up a scant 0.03 percent ahead of last season, continuing a very slow trend toward growth, according to the most recent Mountain Travel Research Program report. This "indicates the reversal of a long term down cycle," noted Ralf Garrison, founder and director of MTRiP. The ...

SAM Magazine-Chillan, Chile, Mar. 12, 2010-The Nevados de Chillan resort, and the hotel and conference center known as Termas de Chillan, experienced only minor damage from the earthquake, SAM has learned, and preparations for the upcoming season were not affected. The Chillan resort was the closest to the earthquake epicenter, about 110 miles, of ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Mar. 11, 2010-A total of 18,932 attendees gave the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show its greatest attendance in six years, according to SIA. The show, with more than 3,100 booths representing 845 snow sports brands, was held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center Jan. 28-31 for the first time, after a 37-year r...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Mar. 11, 2010-Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) member ski areas saw visits dip 4 percent durin January and February compared to the same period last year. This puts visits for the season to date down 2 percent. After an encouraging start to the season, visitation slowed in January, as snowfall lagged across a large part ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Mar. 10, 2010-Vail Resorts (VR) is continuing its popular season's pass programs and adding a new Epic 7-Pack as well as an unrestricted pass to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin. The Epic 7-Pack ($449) is a seven-day unrestricted ticket valid at Vail Resorts' five mountain resorts and Arapahoe Basin, about a 35 percent...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Mar.10, 2010-Vail Resorts (VR) reported mixed second-quarter results today, as a slight gain in mountain operations was offset by a slight decline in lodging revenues and a virtual absence of real estate activity this year compared to last, due primarily to the timing of real estate closings. Overall, the results sho...

SAM Magazine-Portillo, Chile, Mar. 9, 2010-Ski Portillo, located approximately 100 miles from Santiago, Chile's capital city, escaped the recent earthquake with no injuries and only superficial damage. Tierra Atacama, located in San Pedro de Atacama, more than 1,000 miles north of the epicenter, is also undamaged. Hotels, infrastructure, lifts, and...

SAM Magazine-Pine Island, N.Y., Mar. 9, 2010-Partek has issued a service bulletin for Borvig lifts manufactured from 1975 to 1982. Affected chair grips from this era must be removed from service in stages due to issues with the jaw area on the main grip body. The bulk of these grips were supplied on Borvig lifts from 1976-1980; some lifts built in ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Mar. 9, 2010-Snow Sports market sales reached $2.26 billion in January, eking out a .4 percent gain in dollars sold compared with the dismal August through January period a year ago, according to the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Retail Audit Report released today. Fewer carryover sales, coupled with more purchases o...

SAM Magazine-Boston, Mar. 5, 2010-The Boston Globe Ski & Snowboard Expo, staged by BEWI Productions, moves to the Seaport World Trade Center, close to downtown Boston, Nov. 11-14. The new site replaces the Bayside Expo Center, which had been the show's home for 26 years. The Center was recently bought by the University of Massachusetts. Which re...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Mar. 5, 2010-Despite a sluggish ski season hampered by the ongoing U.S. recession, mountain resort communities from around the U.S and Canada are sending hundreds of sales representatives to Banff, Alberta for the 35th annual Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS) Week Apr. 11-17. The Symposium's two trade shows allow marketers and tr...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Mar. 4, 2010-American Olympians are auctioning a variety of gear to benefit causes ranging from earthquake victims in Haiti to a cancer victim at Lake Tahoe. Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn has teamed with TV host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres to continue the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti by auctioning a sign...

SAM Magazine-Seven Springs, Pa., Mar. 5, 2010-With skiers and riders till feeling the pinch of the recession, areas are ramping up efforts to lock in passholders for next season. Seven Springs Mountain Resort is offering season passes for the 2010-2011 ski/board season starting at $399 if purchased by June 1, 2010. New skiers and snowboards who ...

SAM Magazine-Lake Placid, N.Y., Mar. 4, 2010-Winter resorts across America are celebrating Winter Olympians for representing the U.S. and often winning medals at the Vancouver Games. Local officials in Lake Placid declared Feb. 26 "Andrew Weibrecht Day" and held a parade in his honor. Weibrecht, who earned a bronze medal in the super G, rode ato...

SAM Magazine-Hancock, Mass., Mar. 4, 2010-The Presidents' Week holiday period drew 48,924 skier visits to Jiminy Peak, the highest visitation for the week in the history of the resort. In addition, the resort's SKIWee and Explorers Children's Programs taught a record 2,575 kids during the nine-day holiday period. "It was a great holiday week for...

SAM Magazine-Santiago, Chile, Mar. 4, 2010-The earthquake that hit Chile earlier this week did little if any damage to resorts north and east of Santiago, from what SAM has been able to learn, but nothing is known about the situation at Nevados de Chillan, formerly called Termas de Chillan, and other resorts to the south. The quake's epicenter w...

SAM Magazine--March 2, 2010--Woodbury, CT--Time is running out to send in nominations for the SAMMY Leadership Awards. Nominations close on March 15, 2010. Nominees for the SAMMY Leadership Award can come from both the resort side of the industry and the supplier side. The SAMMYs honor people who, at mid-career, demonstrate the innovation, leade...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 27, 2010-Fortress Investment Group and its lenders have agreed to a framework for restructuring $1.2 billion in debt for Intrawest, Bloomberg News is reporting. The new plan is said to call for $1.2 billion of debt to be split into a senior tranche of $800 million and a mezzanine tranche of $400 million. The le...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 26, 2010-Nordic combined gold medalist Billy Demong (Vermontville, N.Y.) will be the flag bearer for the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team at the Closing Ceremony. Demong, who earned the first-ever gold medal for a U.S. skier in Nordic combined, was selected for this honor by his Olympic teammates. Demong becomes the four...

SAM Magazine-Squaw Valley, Calif., Feb. 25, 2010-C.R. Johnson, 26, died yesterday while skiing at his home mountain, Squaw Valley, after he fell several hundred yards through exposed rocks. Ski Patrol were on the scene within minutes, but efforts to revive Johnson failed. He was reportedly wearing a helmet. Johnson was a pipe and park legend. He...

SAM Magazine-Whitefish, Mont., Feb. 24, 2010-In response to a large increase in after-hours uphill traffic, Whitefish Mountain Resort will restrict uphill traffic within the resort's Special Use Permit boundary to a single route on the mountain, as well as limit the hours when the activity is allowed, starting Mar. 1. As traffic has increased, r...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 24, 2010-For the first time, TV audience measurer The Nielsen Co. has been tracking audience ratings for individual Olympics events, and skiing came out on top during the first few days of the Games. Freestyle skiing, in particular the moguls events, achieved an average of 26.9 million viewers during prime time...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Feb. 23, 2010-Winter Trails on Jan. 9 attracted approximately 10,700 participants, nearly all of them new to winter sports, according to program director Mary Jo Tarallo. The free learn to snowshoe and cross country ski program was a chief Nordic component of Learn a Snow Sport Month. Some of the largest events took pla...

SAM Magazine--February 23, 2010--The Ski Maine Association reports that Maine ski and snowboard areas posted good numbers over the February school vacation week. Snowmaking was the hero, sustainibng the industry as snow storms tracked south, through the mid Atlantic states. According to Shawnee Peak's owner, Chet Homer, "with our conversion to h...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 18, 2010-The lenders who have threatened to auction Intrawest's debt have postponed any such action for a week, according to Reuters. The auction, originally set for Feb. 19, has been rescheduled on Feb. 26. Intrawest and its parent company, Fortress Investment Group, have been negotiating with creditors for month...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., Feb. 17, 2010- Reservations and occupancy in mountain resorts continued to edge up in January, though they remain slightly behind last year's low figures, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). The report is based on reports from more than 200 resort properties in 15 resorts across Western North Ameri...