SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 22, 2008-The BC Safety Authority reinstated the operating permit for the upper line of Blackcomb Mountain's Excalibur Gondola on Saturday, following inspections earlier in the week in the wake of the tower failure on the lower portion of the lift. Repair work has commenced on the lower line, and crews are working t...

SAM Magazine-Carroll Valley, Pa., Dec. 22, 2008-Liberty Mountain Resort and Conference Center, which had announced its intent to purchase neighboring Carroll Valley Resort and Golf Course, has abandoned the deal. After two months of careful review and diligence, the two companies agreed to continue operations under separate ownerships. "It appea...

SAM Magazine-Arapahoe Basin, Colo., Dec. 22, 2008-Arapahoe Basin is the latest resort to partner with Pinnacol Assurance, a worker's compensation insurance company, to offer employees a knee safety program. The program focuses on preventing ACL injuries through education. Educational sessions last approximately 30 minutes and give employees tools t...

SAM Magazine-Twin Bridges, Calif., Dec. 22, 2008-Sierra-at-Tahoe has received USFS approval to incorporate Huckleberry Canyon into the resort's boundary. The 350-acre zone was accessible via backcountry access gates last season but will now be subject to control work, rescue operations and closures based upon the resort's ski patrol assessment of t...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Dec. 18, 2008-Last week's massive ice storm resulted in ski resort closures as areas shut down to assess damage and pick up the pieces. Most disruptions were minimal, but not all: Massachusetts resorts Jiminy Peak and Wachusett ceased operations, with Wachusett closing for five days. Other ski resorts, such as Vermont...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 18, 2008-Whistler Blackcomb, the BC Safety Authority and Doppelmayr personnel continue to investigate Tuesday's tower collapse on the Excalibur Gondola. By Wednesday evening, towers on eight lifts had been inspected and cleared of issues. Whistler Blackcomb lift maintenance crews worked late into the night to...

SAM Magazine-Whistler B.C., Dec. 16, 2008-Fifty-three guests were safely evacuated from the lower line of the Excalibur Gondola after a structural failure on tower 4. The Excalibur Gondola evacuation was completed at 5:51 p.m., about three and a half hours after the incident occurred. (See earlier report on the tower collapse.) "We are very t...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 17, 2008-A preliminary inspection of the Excalibur Gondola tower that failed yesterday afternoon showed that it resulted from water that seeped through a flange and froze, causing "ice jacking." This finding means that Whistler Blackcomb's other lifts, especially those that have different types of towers, will resu...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., Dec. 17, 2008-With snow falling across the northern part of the continent, the ski season is finally in full swing. Although West Coast saw the snow come late, it has come in abundance. Conditions ahead of the holidays look to be favorable across North America. Canadian resorts now open include British Columbia ski ar...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 17, 2008-The British Columbia Safety Authority (BCSA), B.C.'s independent auditor on passenger ropeway systems, has given approval for Whistler Blackcomb to continue regular operations on its mountain lifts, with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola. "Preliminary inspection by BC safety officers has determined...

SAM Magazine - Aspen, Colo., December 15, 2008 - In a tragic final note to a December Sunday which saw an inbounds avalanche kill a Snowbird skier as well as several other incidents involving avalanches both inside and outside the ropes, a former Aspen Ski Patroller died in a slide outside of Aspen Mountain late Sunday. Fifty-two-year-old Cory Bret...

SAM Magazine - Teton Village, Wyo., December 15, 2008 - Jackson's new tram is scheduled to open on December 19. The new tram replaces the original red boxes that were an iconic symbol of the Wyoming ski resort. Built by Doppelmayr/CTEC, the new lift has double the capacity - 100 people - per box versus the old tram and travels 4,139 vertical feet ...

SAM Magazine - Snowbird, Ut., December 14, 2008 - An in-bounds avalanche in the Eye of the Needle area of Snowbird's Mt. Baldy claimed one life on Sunday in the wake of a storm that pounded both Utah and Colorado and pushed avalanche danger into the red zone. A similar in-bounds slide in the Lover's Leap area of Vail's Blue Sky Basin buried a man u...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 16, 2008-At approximately 2:30 p.m. PST, a tower on lower section of the Excalibur gondola at Blackcomb Mountain split and "bent over," leaving several gondola cars dangling from the line and forcing an emergency evacuation that, at 5 p.m. PST, was still underway. Five people have received medical attention, but no...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Colo., December 9, 2008 - Recent storms across the Rocky Mountains and other parts of North America have sparked terrain openings. But resorts seem unwilling to rely upon Mother Nature to drive guest bookings and are aggressively marketing discounted vacation packages and other deals to drive business over the upcoming holiday ...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 7, 2008-In response to the economic downturn, Vail Resorts has laid off 50 year-round employees, eliminated 92 open positions, and frozen executive pay. In addition, the company will stop matching employee contributions to the company's 401 (k) plan. The cuts were announced last week in a memo sent by Vail Resort C...

SAM Magazine-Ludlow, Vt., Dec. 5, 2008-CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. is purchasing Okemo, Vt., Crested Butte, Colo., and Mount Sunapee, N.H., from Tim and Diane Mueller's Triple Peaks LLC, and leasing the properties back to Triple Peaks to manage the ski, golf, hospitality and conference operations under a long-term lease. Purchase price is report...

SAM Magazine-Breckenridge, Colo., Dec. 3, 2008-Uphill traffic is growing at several Colorado resorts including Aspen and Breckenridge. At the latter, the traffic is starting to frustrate mountain operations crews, who are looking to limit uphill access for safety reasons. Breckenridge ski resort can see up to 50 people each weekend who skin or s...

SAM Magazine - Bretton Woods, NH., December - When it snows, they will come. At least that's the lesson that Chris Ellms, Mount Washington Resort's director of ski operations, is drawing from a Thanksgiving holiday weekend that was up by 22 percent over the previous season at Bretton Woods. "We're thrilled, of course, but not completely surprise...

SAM Magazine - Smithers, B.C., - Ski and Ride Smithers, a northern British Columbia resort, has received approval for the resort's master plan. The plan features a a multi-year expansion including ski terrain and retail and residential development. The primary feature of the plan are trails to connect the mountain, which will change its name to Hu...

SAM Magazine - Girdwood, Ak., December 3, 2008 - After a dry November across North America delayed some openings and forced snowmaking crews to work overtime, winter seems to finally have arrived. Alaskan resort Alyeska received more than 117 inches over the last week, pushing the ski area's total to more than 200 inches on the year. "This is t...

SAM Magazine-Zermatt, Switzerland, Nov. 26, 2008-Huge snowfalls in recent weeks have brought fantastic early-season conditions to ski resorts across Europe, according to Patrick Thorne's www.Skiinfo.com. Resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland have reported more than three feet in the past five days, and more than 200 ski...

SAM Magazine-Durango, Colo., Nov. 25, 2008-Winter resorts received a record 18 A grades in the Ski Area Environmental Scorecard this year, compared to 12 last year, thanks to increased efforts to reduce energy consumption, install green energy technologies and reduce greenhouse gases. "Ski areas have accelerated their efforts to become more ener...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Ut., Nov. 25, 2008 -While many areas have opened across the Eastern U.S., thanks to a persistent cold wave, resort openings are mixed across the west, where warm weather has delayed the start of skiing at The Canyons (to Dec. 5) and Park City (to Nov. 28). Many Colorado resorts are open, though, and Whistler will open a day ...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 25, 2008-Frank DeBerry has become president and chief operating officer at Mountain Creek, N.J. DeBerry will be responsible for all aspects of Mountain Creek's resort operations and will report to Hugh Smythe, Intrawest's senior vice president of mountain resorts, as do Intrawest's other eastern mountain resorts. ...

SAM Magazine--Aspen, Colo.., November 21, 2008, 2008 --The Aspen Skiing Company has developed a partnership with shipping company UPS to create a program which allows guests to ship skis and snowboards, bypassing the latest baggage fees implemented by airlines. Resort guests can save approximately $50 to $300 depending on the number of bags bei...

SAM Magazine - West Dover, Vt., November 21, 2008 - Mount Snow has announced that the resort is tweaking its snow reporting methods and will no longer list "runs open", focusing instead on acreage available for skiing. The ski area says that the move will increase snow and condition reporting accuracy, and give guests a better feel for exactly what...

SAM Magazine-Breckenridge, Colo., Nov. 12, 2008-Colorado's Breckenridge resort will host the first stop of the 2008-09 Winter Dew Tour on Dec. 18. The tour will also make stops at Vermont's Mount Snow (Jan. 8) and California's Northstar-at-Tahoe (Feb. 19). The tour will feature many of park and pipe's biggest names, including Simon Dumont, Tanner H...

SAM Magazine-Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 12, 2008-Charlie Locke, the former owner of Lake Louise, has reacquired a 50 percent share in the resort from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR). As part of the agreement, Locke will assume the role of managing partner for Lake Louise. Locke was instrumental in creating the resort as a primary investor ...

SAM Magazine-San Francisco, Nov. 12, 2008 -Call it a sign of the times: online lift ticket discount retailer Liftopia has doubled the number of resorts that use the service, to more than 80, for the 2008-09 season. The roster includes Park City, Crested Butte, Taos, Snowbird, and Arapahoe Basin. "We hope that we can help get more people on the hill...

SAM Magazine-Jackson, Wyo., Nov. 12, 2008-Tom Fortune has joined Snow King Resort as director of recreation, a new position that includes overall management of the Snow King ski area as well as summer operations and management of the Snow King Center, a year round ice skating arena and conference center which is owned by the city of Jackson and ope...

SAM Magazine-Bozeman, Mont., Nov. 11, 2008-The Yellowstone Club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, with a combined debt of $344 million and assets listed at $1.1 billion. The club is seeking court approval for a $4.5 million loan from Credit Suisse-to which it already owes $307 million-that would allow the resort to remain open a...

SAM Magazine-Mt. Crested Butte, Colo., Nov. 7, 2008-Crested Butte Mountain Resort is teaming up with Crested Butte Mountain Guides to offer a new "Adventure Guide Program" this winter. The program will combine backcountry ski skills and education with guided in-bounds and out-of-bounds skiing. "This is the perfect addition to our programs," says...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Nov. 7, 2008-Despite the flurry of recent negative economic news, Wachusett Mountain Ski Area has seen several positive indicators this fall. Among them: attendance at the resort's several fall festivals was up more than 20 percent, including record attendance at some events. Sales during the annual Columbus Day eq...

SAM Magazine-Copper Mountain, Colo., Nov. 7, 2008-The North American ski season has kicked off in earnest, with resorts opening across the continent. Early openings include Snowbird, which is taking advantage of more than 40 inches of snow this month to chalk up the second earliest opening in the ski area's history to open today. Colorado ski ar...

SAM Magazine-Snowmass, Colo., Nov. 3, 2008-The snow blanket experiment at Snowmass ski area was a success. The resort utilized the blanket, called Ice Protector Optiforce and produced by the Swiss flooring firm Landolt, over the summer to preserve snow in the ski area's terrain park. According to Rich Burkley, Aspen's general manager of mountain...

SAM Magazine-Franconia Notch, N.H., Nov. 3, 2008-SE Group received the New England Ski Museum's Spirit of Skiing Award at the Museum's 31st annual meeting Oct. 25 at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. The 50-year-old SE Group, originally named Sno-engineering, was founded in Franconia, N.H, home of the Ski Museum. But there's more to the...

SAM Magazine -Windham, N.Y., Nov. 3, 2008-Eastern ski resorts got a jump on the ski season after an October storm brought snow and colder temperatures to the region. The storm dropped more than two feet of snow in parts of the region. Windham Mountain in the northern Catskill Mountains reported 27 inches of snow on the ski area's upper elevation...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Nov. 3, 2008-Skiers and snowboarders took the slopes Monday morning as Mammoth Mountain officially kicked off the 2008-09 winter season, 10 days prior to its scheduled opening. A powerful storm hit the area over the weekend, dropping up to 18 inches of snow. On Monday morning hundreds of skiers and riders ...

SAM Magazine-Ludlow, Vt., Oct. 30, 2008-Not all the economic news is bad. At the Oct. 13 close of the resort's early savings cutoff date, Vermont's Okemo recorded a 12 percent increase in season pass units sold and a 16 percent increase in revenue. In addition, destination bookings at the resort are holding steady, while group sales are 40 percent ...

SAM Magazine-Crested Butte, Colo., Oct. 30, 2008-In the wake of economic headlines, resorts are stepping step up efforts to woo winter visitors with aggressive promotions, including free airfare. Crested Butte's Vacation Stimulus Package rewards vacationers with free airline tickets when booking additional activities such as lift tickets, spa tr...

SAM Magazine-Newry, Maine, Oct. 29, 2008-Sunday River will open for the Halloween weekend. It's the second year for the resort to drop the ropes for Halloween, and the second year that anyone who shows up in a costume on Halloween will ski for free. The opening has been bolstered by recent cold temperatures ideal for snowmaking. "We have been ad...

SAM Magazine-Strandafjellet, Norway, Oct. 28, 2008-Five Norwegian ski areas are launching a new joint pass, giving access to a combined 25 lifts and 53 slopes in the Sunnmore region. The "Alpepass" will be available this season, and includes the ski resorts of Strandafjellet Skisenter, Sunnmørsalpane Skiarena Fjellseter, Stordal Alpinsenter, ...

SAM Magazine-London, England, Oct. 28, 2008-The United Kingdom ski and snowboard market has grown over the past year by three percent, according to the Ski Club of Great Britain's annual Snowsports Analysis, with more than 1.35 million people taking ski and snowboard holidays from the UK. The research report, published for the eighth year, showe...

SAM Magazine-Taylor's Falls, Minn., Oct. 28, 2008-With colder temperatures across the nation, resorts are starting to drop the ropes and fire up the lifts. The latest is Minnesota's Wild Mountain, which opens today at 1 p.m. The resort usually leads the pack when it comes to early openings in the region, and this week's opening date is no exception...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Oct. 28, 2008-Several resorts are banning employees from using the Primo and Love series of Burton snowboards while on the job. The Primo series features gory images of self-mutilation, while the Love series features images of Playboy models. While there is no graphic (only suggestive) nudity in the Love series of board...

SAM Magazine-Maggie Valley, N.C., Oct. 27, 2008-Colder temperatures in the Southeast have sparked snowmaking at both Snowshoe and Cataloochee ski areas, with the latter announcing an Oct. 28 opening day. That will make Cataloochee Ski Area, located in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina, the first ski resort in the Mid-Atlantic regi...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Colo., October - In the wake of headlines around the globe proclaiming an economic meltdown, resorts are scrambling to bolster business via a wide variety of creative discounting programs from burritos to free lift tickets. The discounts are as varied as the resorts that offer them, but all have a singular purpose: to bring gue...

SAM Magazine - Malone, N.Y., October 24, 2008 - New York ski resort Titus Mountain and the ski area's former manager, Zachary L. White, have been charged with one felony and three misdemeanor violations of Environmental Conservation Law by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Division of Law Enforcement. The charges s...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Oct. 23, 2008-Intrawest successfully completed an agreement to refinance a $1.7 billion loan which was due today when it received unanimous support from its existing lender group. "We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with our lenders, particularly given the challenges of the global credit markets," sai...

SAM Magazine - West Dover, Vt.., October 12, 2008 - Taking advantage of cold temperatures at the end of last week, Mount Snow was able to open Launch Pad, a learning hill near the base area over the weekend. The resort set up a small park with half a dozen features, becoming the first ski area to open in the East. The Launch Pad terrain ...

Snow Hunter - Stockholm, Sweden, November 1, 2008 - Visitors to Stockholm this winter will be able to enjoy a spot of city centre skiing thanks to the opening of Skistar's Hammarbybacken skiing complex. Skistar is Scandinavia's leading ski resort operator, owning the region's top resorts of Are, Trysil and Hemsedal amongst others. Convenie...

Snow Hunter - Demark, November 1, 2008 - Despite global warming, Denmark's rather low lying hills and the global growth of indoor snow centres, the country has opened its first outdoor snow ski resort. Local media reports say that Danish businessman Ole Harild received a 100,000 Euro grant from the European Union to construct his ski run on the ...

Snow Hunter - New Zealand, November 1, 2008 - Snow was still falling last week as New Zealand's Mt. Hutt prepares for its final weekend opening of the winter from Friday, October 24th until 4p.m. on Monday, October 27th after closing during this week. Ski Area Manager Dave Wilson commented, "It's been one of the best seasons in decades," he said...

SAM Magazine-McCall, Idaho, Oct. 21, 2008-Brundage Mountain has upgraded the ski area's grooming fleet, adding new terrain parks and enhancing food and beverage operations for the 2008-09 season. Improvements include a new mid-mountain refuge, the Bear's Den, an eight-sided 1,300 square-foot log building with seating for approximately 88 people. Th...

SAM Magazine -Aspen, Oct. 21, 2008-Mountain operations crews at Snowmass have been experimenting with a product called Ice Protector Optiforce, a "snow blanket" which covers existing snow, insulating and preserving it. Produced by the Swiss flooring firm Landolt and distributed by Eiger International, Ice Protector Optiforce is used in Europe to pr...

SAM Magazine-Copper Mountain, Colo., Oct. 17, 2008-Copper Mountain will open Nov. 7, one week ahead of its scheduled opening date. Traditionally, the mountain has run the lifts in late October and early November, but the sessions are reserved for race training and other private access, including PSIA demo team training. Expected open terrain includ...

SAM Magazine-Palm Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2008-Michael Strauss, who was the voice of skiing in The New York Times for two decades, died Oct. 11 at the age of 96 in Palm Beach. In his extensive and remarkable 75-plus years as a sports journalist, Strauss covered everything from archery to yachting, but he especially loved skiing. He served as The Time...

SAM Magazine-Ishpeming, Mich., Oct. 16, 2008-American ski mountaineering pioneer and famed instructor Bill Briggs joins the U.S. Ski Team's Liz McIntyre, Nelson Carmichael, and Cary Adgate as this year's inductees into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place in April. Briggs became a fully certifi...

SAM Magazine - Heber, Utah, October 14, 2008 - Deer Valley ski resort has teamed up with Utah Valley University's Heber campus to offer a ski instructor training course. The course will include six hour-and-a-half classroom sessions at the UVU Heber campus and two full days of on-mountain training. The sessions will be lead by Deer Valley Resort D...