SAM Magazine--August 30, 2006, Woodbury, CT--In response to recent survey results, SAM Magazine has hired an on-line editor, Tom Winter, to bring more original content and breaking news to its website at www.saminfo.com. "The survey results showed that SAM readers have come to rely on the breaking news service as its primary online source of up-to-...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colorado August 28, 2006-The National Ski Patrol board of directors unanimously chose Mark Dorsey to become executive director of the NSP. Dorsey has been the acting interim director for the past eight months. Jim DeWeerd, NSP's recently elected national board chairman, said, "We've spoken directly to members, staff, and i...

SAM Magazine-New York, Aug. 24, 2006-The news that Ski and Skiing have shifted significant portions of their circulation from "paid" to "verified," a new circulation category recognized by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), has reminded industry advertisers once again of the need to evaluate the various types of circulation reported (verified ...

SAM Magazine-Silverton, Colo., Aug. 24, 2006-Silverton Mountain owners Aaron and Jen Brill have acquired 164 acres of new ski terrain adjacent to the area's existing boundaries from Aspenite Jim Jackson, who has long harbored dreams of building his own ski area in Silverton. The purchase ends a seven-year battle over the control of the ski terrain ...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Aug. 23, 2006-NSAA is partnering with Renewable Choice Energy to offer renewable power to all members at below-market rates of less than 1 cent per kWh. The aim is to make it easier for resort and supplier members to purchase green power and join an industry-wide effort to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that c...

SAM Magazine--Thompsonville, Mich., August 22, 2006--Joining the wind power wave, Crystal Mountain, Mich., announced that it will power its high-speed quad, the Crystal Clipper, entirely with wind power this coming season. By purchasing the wind credits for the lift, Crystal will prevent 174,000 pounds of carbon Dioxide pollution from entering the ...

SAM Magazine--Government Camp, Ore., August 22, 2006--Skibowl and Timberline Lodge have joined together to offer the Mt. Hood Fusion Pass, a season pass good at both areas all days, all nights, all winter. The pass will be sold to a group of two people from any age group starting September 5 and are priced as follows: $199 for a youth pass (age ...

SAM Magazine-Thompsonville, Mich., Aug. 21, 2006-Crystal Mountain became the first Michigan ski area to commit to renewable wind energy today. The resort will purchase enough renewable energy certificates from Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy to power its Crystal Clipper high-speed quad entirely with wind power this season. Crystal owne...

SAM Magazine-Squaw Valley, Calif., Aug. 21, 2006-Alexander C. Cushing, who founded Squaw Valley and brought the 1960 Winter Olympics to the resort, died from pneumonia Aug. 20 at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island. He was 92. Cushing grew up in the East, where he attended Groton School, Harvard University, 1936 and Harvard Law School, 1939...

SAM Magazine-Ludlow, Vt., Aug. 17, 2006-Tim and Diane Mueller, owners of Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, and Mount Sunapee Resort, in New Hampshire, have entered into an agreement with Gunnison County Electric Association to purchase 27 million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates from Sterlin...

SAM Magazine-Keystone, Colo., Aug. 17, 2006-White River National Forest Supervisor Maribeth Gustafson has signed a Decision Notice approving the Upper Independence Cat Skiing proposal at Keystone Resort. Gustafson stated in the Decision Notice, "I believe that the EA has adequately and clearly addressed the issues relevant to the proposal and do...

SAM Magazine-Snowmass Village, Colo., Aug. 17, 2006-The Snowmass base village partnership (Intrawest Corporation and Aspen Skiing Company) has signed a letter of intent with WestPac Investments for the purchase and development of both residential and commercial components of the $400 million Snowmass Base Village. The LOI could evolve into a bindin...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Aug. 11, 2006-Fortress Investment Group is buying 100 percent of Intrawest Corporation for $35 a share. The total value of the transaction, including the existing debt of Intrawest, is approximately $2.8 billion. Fortress is a global investment and asset management firm with approximately $23 billion in equity capit...

SAM Magazine-Teton Village, Wyo., Aug. 10 2006-Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) will replace its original 60-passenger tram with a new 100 passenger state of the art Doppelmayr/CTEC aerial tramway. Like its predecessor, the new tram will be a gig back reversible and rise 4,139 vertical feet from the base in Teton Village to the summit of Rendezv...

SAM Magazine--Sandpoint, ID, August 2, 2006--Schweitzer Mountain Resort has announced that Tom Chasse, president and managing director of Attitash, N.H., has accepted the position of president and CEO of Schweitzer effective August 14, 2006. Chasse has been with Attitash for 14 years, eight of them as managing director. In all, he has worked in ...

SAM Magazine--Vail, CO, August 1, 2006--Vail Resorts Inc. announced that the company will offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing nearly 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy for its five mountain resorts, its lodging properties, all of its 125 retail locations and its new corporate headquarters in Broomfield, CO. By purchasing renewable...

SAM Magazine--August 1, 2006, Killington, VT--Killington's long-awaited ski village suffered a setback when its developer pulled out of the project. According to the Rutland Herald, Centex Destination Properties, who signed on a year ago to build out a village at the base of Killington that would have included 1,400 vacation homes and condominiums,...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Aug. 1, 2006-Storm Mountain Publishing Company (SMP), parent of Freeskier magazine, has crafted a long-term partnership agreement with Global United Publishing (GUP) to publish Snowboard magazine. GUP had said earlier that it would not publish its September issue due to financial constraints. The parties expect to final...

SAM Magazine--August 1, 2006, Middlefield, CT--Powder Ridge Ski Area in Connecticut may have a new lease on life after the town of Middlefield's board of selectmen reached an agreement to purchase 300 acres of land the area sits on for $3.6 million. Powder Ridge owner Ken Leavitt had approached the town several times about buying the land and l...

SAM Magazine--Wolf Creek, Colo., July 14, 2006--The Regional Office of the Forest Service upheld the Rio Grande National Forests' April 3rd decision to allow two access roads across Forest Service land that will access developer Red McCombs' proposed village site at Wolf Creek Mountain. Administrative appeals had been brought by Colorado Wild, t...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, July 14, 2006-The board of directors of American Skiing Company (ASC) has retained investment advisors to initiate a strategic review of business options for the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation, including the potential sale of the resort. "Steamboat's status as a world-renowned destination resort, combined with...

July 12, Great Britain (Snow Hunter)--The UK's annual Ski Industry Report has been published by leading tour operator Crystal. The Report notes that the British ski market recorded one of its strongest periods of growth last winter, with seven per cent more UK skiers taking a ski holiday abroad than the previous winter. More than 1.15m ski holi...

SAM Magazine-Scranton, Pa., July 11, 2006-Snow Mountain LLC, a consortium of Philadelphia investment bankers, developers, and accountants, has agreed to purchase Montage Mountain Ski Resort from Lackawanna County. Sno Mountain LLC will pay a reported $5.1 million for the resort. Last month the group offered $4.1 million, but increased its offer ...

July 10, France (SnowHunter)--The first half of Compagnie des Alpes' fiscal year (October to March) combines the positive figures of the ski operations with the normally negative figures for the group's growing clutch of leisure parks, since most of the major sites are closed during this accounting period. However, first-half sales up to end Dec...

July 10, Italy/Switzerland (snowHunter)-- For the coming winter season 2006/2007, there'll be a re-launch of the 'International' ski area of Breuil-Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy and Zermatt in Switzerland with the construction of six new lifts and an increase in the artificial snowmaking cover and therefore a total of 24 lifts in the Breuil...

SAM Magazine-Canmore, Alta., July 8, 2006-Canadian Mountain Holidays helicopter skiing founder Hans Gmoser, 73, died July 5, two days after he broke his neck and was paralyzed in a bicycling accident on the 1A highway near Lake Louise. Gmoser was riding alone when he apparently fell. Gmoser, 73, founded the heli-skiing business in 1965. In recen...

July 10, New Zealand (SnowHunter)--Lake Wanaka Ski Tourism Boost New Zealand's Lake Wanaka is looking forward to an increase in visiting skiers and snowboarders, thanks to a multi-million dollar investment in winter sports infrastructure. Over the last three years, the town's ski areas of Cardrona, Snow Park and Treble Cone have jointly inves...

July 10, Austria (Snow Hunter)--Year Round Skiing Ends at Sölden Sölden in Austria has followed other glacier ski areas like Tignes in France by deciding to end 365 day ski lift opening. The resort previously boasted that one of its twin glacier ski areas, either the Rettenbach or Tiefenbach glacier, was open for skiing on every day of ...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, July 7, 2006-The American Skiing Co. (ASC) is in a legal tussle with Wolf Mountain Resort, from whom ASC leases much of the terrain that makes up The Canyons, over who will control the resort. Wolf has alleged that ASC defaulted on its lease and that Wolf is therefore entitled to repossess the resort. A judge has issue...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., June 28, 2006-Mark Dorsey is the new executive director of the Professional Ski Instructors of American (PSIA) and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI), according to The American Snowsports Education Association (ASEA). Dorsey, previously the assistant executive director, replaces Stephen Over, who ...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., June 28, 2006-The National Ski Patrol's board of directors elected Dr. James DeWeerd Jr. as national chairman at the annual board meeting here late last week. DeWeerd is one of five new board members seated Mar. 1, 2006, as a result of the special election held in February. DeWeerd hails from the North Central regio...

SAM Magazine-Killington, Vt., June 20, 2006-Vermont ski areas recorded 4,147,467 skier visits for the 2005-06 season, a nearly 6 percent decline from 4.4 million visits in 2004-05, according to the Vermont Ski Areas Association. Despite the decrease in skier visits, Vermont remains the number three ski state behind Colorado and California, the asso...

SAM Magazine-Steamboat Springs, Colo., June 19, 2006-Colorado resorts tallied 12.53 million visits in 2005-06, more than 500,000 better than the previous record and more than 700,000 better than the prior year, according to Rob Perlman, president of Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) at the organization's annual meeting here. Perlman noted that r...

SAM Magazine-Champion, Pa., June 19, 2006-After 74 years of ownership, the Dupre family is selling Seven Spring Mountain Resort to another longtime family business from the region, Ogden Newspapers, operated by the Nutting family. Ogden publishes 21 daily newspapers and 20 phone books with a circulation of more than one million households within a ...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, June 15, 2006--American Skiing Company (ASC) released its third quarter figures and the news was good on a quarter to quarter comparison, but the company's debt load still runs high. Net revenues for resort operations for the 13 weeks ended April 30, 2006 were $132.8 million, compared to $132.3 million during the s...

SAM Magazine-North Woodstock, N.H., June 14, 2006-New Hampshire and New Mexico both saw visitor numbers drop for the 2005-06 season. Weather challenged skiers and riders in the two states. N.H. visits dropping 10 percent from last year's near-record level, to 2,021,098. New Mexico visits tumbled more than 50 percent, to 416,617 visits, down from 95...

SAM Magazine-Homewood, Calif., June 14, 2006-JMA Ventures, the company that built Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, has purchased Homewood Mountain Resort. The resort occupies 1,260 acres on Tahoe's West Shore. The move comes after 4th District Congressman John Doolittle, R-Roseville, blocked a possible sale of the property to the U.S. Forest Se...

SAM Magazine--June 1, 2006, Donnelly, Idaho--The newest four-season ski area, Tamarack in Idaho, announced the closing of a $250-million senior credit facility arranged by Credit Suisse. The financing allows for reinvestment of the proceeds from real estate sales against a pre-approved business plan for a period of five years, provided that certain...

SAM Magazine--Marco Island, Fla., May 25, 2006--The National Ski Areas Association announced that, based on prelimary estimates, national skier visits for the 2005/06 season will set an all-time record at 58.8 million visits. The previous record was set in 2002/03 with 57.6 million visits. Confirmation of the record will be made once all resorts...

SAM Magazine--Marco Island, Fla., May 25, 2006--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) got a new chairman when Vail COO Bill Jensen was elected to the position during the national trade show and convention in Marco Island, Florida. Jensen most recently served as vice chairman and will replace outgoing chairman, David Crowley from Wachusett Mount...

Newry, Me., May 26, 2006-Dana Bullen has become president and managing director of Sunday River resort in Newry, Maine, effective immediately. He has served as GM of the resort since September 2004 and brings more than 20 years of ski industry and resort management experience to the job. Bullen, who spent several years working his way through the r...

SAM Magazine-Salt Lake City, May 16, 2006-Utah resorts achieved their third consecutive record-breaking year for skier visits in 2005-06 as they topped 4 million for the first time. Utah skier days are at 4,045,030, up 3.8 percent over the previous season, with Snowbird sure to add a few thousand more before it closes at the end of May. Visits to U...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 16, 2006-Overall sales for the winter sport market (including specialty and chain stores) rose 4 percent, to $2.3 billion for the August 2005 through March 2006 period, compared to $2.2 billion a year earlier, according to the SIA Retail Audit. Unit sales were up 6 percent. For the season, strong sales through December...

SAM Magazine--May, 15, 2006, Oregon--The Pacific Nortwest Ski Areas Association announced that Oregon is on track for a record-breaking year and Washington had its second best. On the heels of one of the worst seasons in memory in 2004/05, great snow conditions allowed areas in the Pacific Northwest to rebound nicely. Oregon still has three areas i...

SAM Magazine--Blakeslee, Penn., May 12, 2006--Peak Resorts announced that Jesse Boyd will take on the GM position at Big Boulder and Jack Frost ski areas. Peak Resorts took over the operation of both areas during the winter of 2005-06 under the direction of Dave Grenier, executive VP of Peak Resorts. Grenier will continue to be involved with Jesse ...

SAM Magazine--May 12, 2006, New Hampshire--Wildcat Ski Mountain in Pinkham Notch, N.H., is up for sale again. The area features 225 acres of sliding on 47 trails and 2,112 feet of vertical. Accessing the terrain are three triples and a quad. The area operates on a 40-year extendable lease and there are 37 years remaining on the current lease. ...

SAM Magazine--May 10, 2006, Vancouver, Canada--Thanks to the sale of real estate holdings at Mammoth Mountain, Intrawest saw its total company EBITDA for the third quarter jump to $136.5 million, up from $109.5 million for the same period last year. (EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, income taxes, non-controlling interest, depreciation an...

SAM Magazine--May 8, 2006, Portland, Maine--Maine's assumption of risk law was tested last week when a tuber brought her case all the way to the state's Supreme Court. The Court threw out the lawsuit and upheld the definition of skiing which includes "sliding downhill on snow or ice on skis, toboggan, sled, tube, snowboard..." In its decision, t...

SAM Magazine--May 8, 2006, Missoula, Montana--It's back to the drawing board for the proposed Bitterroot Resort in Montana. According to published reports, the Forest Service rejected, for the second t ime, a proposal by rancher Tom Maclay to develop Forest Service land above his ranch into a ski resort. Last year, the resort submitted a proposa...

SAM Magazine-Bretton Woods, N.H., April 28, 2006-The Mount Washington Resort at Bretton Woods, which includes the ski resort as well as the Mount Washington Hotel and golf course, has entered into an agreement with Celebration Associates and CNL Income Properties, Inc., to sell the resort, subject to the completion of further due diligence. U...

SAM Magazine-McCall, Ida., April 28, 2006-Brown's Industries, Inc. and Snowy Peaks, LLC, both owned by long-time Brundage Mountain Company co-owners Judd and Diane DeBoer and their family, have purchased the 50 percent ownership stake previously held by the J.R. Simplot Company. The purchase givefs the DeBoer family full ownership of the resort. ...

SAM Magazine-Government Camp, Ore., April 25, 2006-Richard L. Kohnstamm, who transformed Timberline Lodge into a national skiing institution in the 1950s, died last Friday after becoming ill at his family's cabin on Mount Hood. He was 80 years old. Kohnstamm assumed management of the Depression-era Timberline Lodge in the early '50s, after it h...

SAM Magazine-Missoula, Mont., April 25, 2006-Rancher and would-be resort developer Tom Maclay last week resubmitted a special-use permit application for a scaled-down resort on National Forest land adjacent to his 3,000-acre property in the Bitterroot Valley. Maclay seeks to develop 1,780 acres in the Bitterroot National Forest for skiing and ri...

SAM Magazine--Woodbury, Conn., April 20, 2006--SAM Magazine is pleased to announce this year's SAMMY Future Leadership Awards. First up is Alexa Bernotavicz, mountain operations director at Wildcat Mountain, N.H. Next is Yves Juneau, sales and marketing director of Quebec's Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham resorts. Third is Steve Kruse, director of mo...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va.. Apr. 19, 2006-Retail winter sports sales remained sluggish in February, but overall sales for specialty and chain stores nonetheless totalled $2.2 billion for the August 2005 through February 2006 period, up 6 percent from $2.1 billion a year earlier, according to the SIA Retail Audit. Unit sales were up 7 percent. Sales r...

SAM Magazine-Calaveras County, Calif., April 10, 2006-A court here ruled late last week that Bear Valley Ski Company is not liable for a 2000 terrain park accident that left former employee Charlene Vine paralyzed from the waist down. Vine had sued the ski resort after she broke her spine in 2000 during an employee party while attempting to ride he...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Lakes, Calif., April 10, 2006-Three Mammoth Mountain ski patrollers died last Thursday while working to fence off a geothermal vent following a heavy snowfall. The snow they were standing on collapsed and they fell into a 20-foot-deep well around the vent. Two patrollers, John McAndrews and James Juarez, were attempting to r...

SAM Magazine--April 4, 2006--Crotched Mountain, N.H., was refinanced for $8 million with Entertainment Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust. Crotched Mountain was resurrected in 2002 when Missouri-based Peak Resorts signed a lease to run the area. Peak made significant investments in snowmaking, lifts, a new base lodge and more, and...

SAM Magazine-St. Sauveur, Que., Mar. 21, 2006-Jacques Hebert, chairman of Mont Saint Sauveur International, which operates Jay Peak and several Quebec areas, died Mar. 17 after a brief illness. He had been involved in managing the company since the 1960s and was an icon in the Quebec ski industry. Under his leadership, the company purchased Jay Pea...

SAM Magazine-Londonderry, Vt., Mar. 20, 2006-An investment group led by a Connecticut lawyer is set to purchase Magic Mountain ski area here for about $3 million, according to the current owners. A report in the Brattleboro (Vt.) Reformer termed the deal "imminent." The sale would give Magic its fourth owner in the last 10 years. Magic general ...