SAM Magazine-Sandpoint, Ida., July 11, 2005-The two partners who comprised Harbor Resorts, MIG and Harbor Properties, have dissolved their partnership. As a result, Schweitzer Mountain Resort is now wholly owned by MIG (the estate of Keith McCaw, whose family established a regional cellphone company later bought by AT&T). Stevens Pass, Wash., rever...

SAM Magazine-Big Sky, Mont., June 28, 2005-Big Sky Resort and its new neighbor on Lone Peak, Moonlight Basin, will give visitors next winter the option to purchase tickets and passes allowing unlimited access to both resorts. The resorts shared several trails and a lift in the past. But previously, it was necessary to purchase a ticket or season pa...

SAM Magazine-Jackson Hole, Wyo., June 28, 2005-Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will retire its Aerial Tramway, estimated to have carried over 2 million passengers winter and summer since 1966, in September 2006. A replacement for the lift has not yet been determined. Owners of the resort, the Kemmerer Family, and the mountain's management decided t...

SAM Magazine-South Lake Tahoe, Calif., June 24, 2005-Prodigious and early snowfall helped lift California ski areas to record visits of 8.1 million, far surpassing the previous mark of 7.6 million recorded in the 1997-98 El Nino season, according to the California Ski Industry Association. Among individual areas, Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra-at...

SAM Magazine--West Dover, Vt., June 17, 2005--The Vermont Ski Areas Association announced its skier/boarder visit numbers for the 2004-05 season, which were 4.4 million. The total makes Vermont the third largest ski/ride state behind Colorado and California. This year's numbers represent a five percent increase over the 2003-04 season, which cam...

SAM Magazine--Tannersville, Pa., June 16, 2005-- Camelback Ski Corporation, located in Pennsylvania's Poconos Mountains, was sold to a local entrepreneur, Arthur B. Berry III. In the acquisition, Berry will take over Camelback's winter operations and its large waterpark, which draws nearly as many visitors in the summer as the ski area does during ...

SAM Magazine--June 16, 2005--American Skiing Company (ASC) and Vail Resorts both announced their third quarter results and the numbers seem to be on the rise. ASC, thanks to good conditions across the board at all of it resorts, saw an increase in resort revenue of $16 million over the same period last year, and an increase in skier visits of 3 ...

SAM Magazine--June 10, 2005--David Rowan, founder of the industry's trade publication Ski Area Management (SAM Magazine) died on Wednesday, June 8, from a rare cancer, mesothelioma. Rowan started his industry career in 1949 when he joined Ski Magazine as editor, interim publisher and ad salesperson. Rowan stayed with Ski until 1961 when the maga...

SAM Magzine-Denver, Colo., June 9, 2005-Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) resorts reported their third best year ever as record numbers of international skiers and snowboarders helped drive visits to 11.81 million, up more than 550,000 from a year ago. International visits grew 28 percent, indicating that the after-effects of 9/11 have disappeared....

SAM Magazine-North Woodstock, N.H., June 9, 2005-New Hampshire resorts posted 2,270,106 alpine skier and snowboarder visits during the 2004-05 season, the state's second-best winter on record, just short of the all-time record of 2,357,000 visits in 2000-01. The season got off to a slow start with erratic weather in early December. But as the wi...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., June 9, 2005-Vail Resorts (VR) saw total revenues grow by 13.5 percent in its fiscal third quarter ended April 30, and resort revenue rise by 10.1 percent. Net income, however, dropped to $58.8 million, compared to $62.5 million for the same period last year, due to a favorable one-time real-estate transaction in 2004. ...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., June 6, 2005-Whistler Blackcomb closed June 5 after a season of record-breaking highs and lows. Heavy snowfall through the latter half of March and early April delivered exceptional conditions that lasted well into the spring, and set the base for summer glacier skiing and riding. The resort had its share of weather ...

SAM Magazine--Fort Collins, Colo., May 27, 2005--The skiing and snowboarding season isn't over yet. Fourteen North American resorts will be in operation this Memorial Day weekend, according to SkiTown.com. In California, seven areas are operating at least through Memorial Day: Alpine Meadows, Donner Ski Ranch, Mammoth Mountain, Sierra Summit, Sq...

SAM Magazine--Scottsdale, Ariz., May 25, 2005--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) estimates 56.4 million skier/snowboarder visits at U.S. ski resorts for the 2004/05 season, based on preliminary results of the Kottke National End of Season Survey. If these figures hold up in the final Kottke report, 2004-05 would be the fourth best season on...

SAM Magazine--Scottsdale Ariz., May 25, 2005--Whistler/Blackcomb earned the 2005 Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence, presented at the NSAA national convention here. The resort, which also won the Golden Eagle in 2003 and is a five-time Silver Eagle award winner, was nominated in four other Silver Eagle categories. Whistler r...

SAM Magazine--Scottsdale, Ariz., May 25, 2005--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) honored D. Grady Moretz Jr., president of Appalachian Ski Mountain, and Brian H. Fairbank, president, CEO and co-owner of Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, at the annual convention here. Moretz received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Fairbank earned the Sherman ...

SAM Magazine--McLean, Va., May 18, 2005--Retail sales at winter sports specialty and chain stores rose 1.9 percent, to $2.25 billion for the August 2004 through March 2005 period, compared to $2.20 billion a year ago, according to the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Retail Audit. Unit sales dropped 7.8 percent. The trend toward higher-priced me...

SAM Magazine--Salt Lake City, Utah, May 17, 2005--Thanks to great snow that came early and often, increased marketing efforts and the unfortunate lack of snow in other regions, Utah logged 3,895,578 visits--a new all-time record. The visits represent a 12 percent increase over last year which logged the state's second-most skier visits at 3,386,141...

SAM Magazine--Portland, Ore., May 5, 2005--The Amer Group of Finland is acquiring the Salomon winter sports division of Adidas-Salomon for about 485 million euros (approximately $627 million). The deal is expected to be completed by the end of September.   The sale includes Bonfire and Arc'Teryx apparel, Mavic (cycling components) and Cliché ...

SAM Magazine--Snowshoe, W.V., May 5, 2005--Bill Rock will become vice president and general manager at Intrawest-owned Snowshoe Mountain effective June 6. Rock moves to Snowshoe from Durango Mountain Resort, where he has been chief operating officer and general manager for the past two years. He replaces Bruce Pittet, who is moving within Intrawest...

SAM Magazine--San Clemente, Calif., April 27, 2005--Allen Crolius has been named vice president and group publisher of the four-title Adventure Sports Network (ASN), including Powder and Bike magazines, which is part of the Primedia empire. Crolius is responsible for the business operations of the ASN, and will also assist the larger Action Sports ...

SAM Magazine--Woodbury, Conn., Apr. 21, 2005--Jon Mahanna, Carla Marcus, Jay Roberts, and Bill Rock are the 2005 SAMMY Future Leadership Award recipients, chosen for their accomplishments to date and for their potential for even greater achievements in the future. This is the eighth year for this annual awards program, created by SAM Magazine. A...

SAM Magazine--Stevens Pass, Wash., Apr. 5, 2005--In a fitting end to a winter of wacky weather, several areas in the Pacific Northwest have reopened-some after more than a month of being closed. And in the East, areas that were planning to extend their seasons abruptly called it quits last weekend after warm weather and heavy rains washed the seaso...

SAM Magazine--Wilmington, Vt., Mar. 31, 2005--American Ski Company (ASC) subsidiary Mount Snow is selling the Haystack ski resort to Tyringham Ridge, Inc. for $5 million. Tyringham also receives a two-year right of first refusal for the Howe farm, which could become a real-estate development in the future. The deal is expected to close later this s...

SAM Magazine--Copper Mountain, Colo., Mar. 29, 2005--Perkins Miller, formerly director of business development for Mountain Sports Media, will become VP of marketing and sales for Intrawest Colorado in mid-April. Miller will assume responsibility for conference and leisure sales, business development, call center operations, corporate partnershi...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., Mar. 24, 2005--Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc., reported net income of $1,155,000 for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 28, 2005, a decrease of more than 90 percent from the $12,482,000 net income in the corresponding period of 2004. The company attributed the sharp drop to the poor season at the Summit areas in Washington sta...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Mar. 24, 2005--Colorado resorts reported little change in skier visits in January and February compared to the previous year, according to Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA). However, early-season gains place year-to-date visits at 7.9 million, 2.3 percent ahead of 2004. CSCUSA president Rob Perlman said that destination and in...

SAM Magazine--Paris, France, Mar. 22, 2005--Quiksilver is buying a majority stake in Rossignol from the controlling Boix-Vives family for 241 million euros ($318 million), paying with cash and shares. The acquisition will create one of the world's biggest suppliers of outdoor clothing and equipment, to be called Quiksilver Rossignol. The two firms ...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, Mar. 18, 2005--American Skiing Company (ASC) reported a $22.1 million net loss for the 14 weeks ended January 30, 2005, compared to a net loss of $21.7 million for the 13 weeks ended January 25, 2004. The loss from resort operations was $21.4 million for the 14 weeks ended January 30, 2005 versus a loss of $17.7 milli...

SAM Magazine--Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 12, 2005--Bode Miller clinched the overall World Cup title today with a second-place finish in GS . Miller is the first American to win a World Cup overall title in alpine since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney in 1983. Outdoor Life Network will have coverage of all the action from World Cup Finals Sun...

SAM Magazine--Seattle, Wash., Mar. 11, 2005--The ski and ride season is winding down in Washington state this weekend. Today, only Mission Ridge and Mt. Baker are operating, and both plan to close at least for the midweek period following the weekend. With little prospect for a change in the warm, dry weather that has plagued the Northwest since la...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., Mar. 10, 2005--Vail Resorts achieved a revenue gain of 7.2 percent in its fiscal second quarter compared to the year-earlier period as both mountain and lodging revenue grew. However, increased expenses served to offset much of the gain. Mountain revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2005 was $214.2 million, a 7 per...

SAM Magazine--McLean, Va., Mar. 8, 2005--Overall sales for the entire winter sport market (including specialty and chain stores) were up 2.8 percent in dollars to $1.76 billion for the August 2004 through January 2005 period, compared to $1.71 billion reported for the same period last year, according to the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Retai...

SAM Magazine--Oceanside, Calif., Mar. 4, 2005--The second-ever Snow Industry Summit will focus on growth markets--ethnic Americans, women, kids, and "Generation Active"--Mar. 29-Apr. 1 at Copper Mountain. And it will address the key means of reaching these markets: one-to-one marketing, advertising, websites, and branding, with advice from sources ...

SAM Magazine --- Jackson Hole, Wyo., Mar. 1, 2005 --- A 16-year-old snowboarder was charged with manslaughter Feb. 25 following a fatal collision with a 28-year-old woman at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, according to published reports. According to the Teton County Sheriff's Office, the crash occurred just after 11 a.m. Feb. 24 near the bottom o...

SAM Magazine --- Ludlow, Vt., Mar. 1, 2005 --- The snow gods blessed the Northeast for the all-important President's Birthday holiday week, helping to fuel a strong turnaround in resort visits and a solid President's holiday nationwide. However, low snow has continued to dampen visits in the Pacific Northwest. In Vermont, Okemo set single-day, f...

Just how bad has it been? The Summit at Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass have operated for three weeks or less for the season. In Oregon and Idaho, areas have fared better--though some areas have been closed for long stretches here, too. Among those operating in early February were Timberline, Mt. Bachelor, Mount Hood Meadows, Mt. Ashland, and Anthon...

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (February 11, 2005) -- From February 2-3, 2005, Ski Area Management (SAM) and Pepsi hosted a small group of senior executives from established corporations in the travel, communication and winter sports industries to discuss the subject of multi-cultural diversity as it relates to winter resorts. Companies and organizations...

SAM Magazine--Boulder, Colo., Feb. 16, 2005--Storm Mountain Publishing Company, parent of Freeskier Magazine, is launching a national ski title this fall aimed at the hard-core youth market, ages 12 to18. The new magazine complements Freeskier, which targets skiers ages 18-30 with more diverse editorial. The as-yet-unnamed magazine will have a r...

SAM Magazine--Salt Lake City, Utah, January 25, 2005--The lift supplier field just got smaller as Doppelmayr CTEC announced its acquisition of certain assets of Partek Ski Lifts, effective January 22, 2005. The acquisition includes the design and manufacturing rights of Partek lift systems, as well as Partek's rights to the older Borvig lift system...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., Jan. 17, 2005--Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) reports 2,928,353 skier visits for the period from Oct. 15 through Dec. 31, 2004, an increase of 8 percent compared to the same period last year. "We are encouraged by strong patterns in out-of-state visitation for domestic and international markets alike," said Rob P...

SAM Magazine--McLean, Va., Jan. 17, 2005--Overall sales for the winter sports market were flat at $651 million for August through November 2004 compared to the previous year, according to the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Retail Audit. Higher dollar sales per item were offset by lower unit sales, with overall unit sales down 5.5 percent. S...

SAM Magazine--South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Jan 12, 2005--Snowfall of up to 19 feet in the past two-plus weeks has left many Sierra resorts stocked with nearly a winter's worth of snow and created a publicity bonanza. But in the short run the storms have dampened travel and visits. The snowfall total in the Tahoe area is the greatest since 1916, acc...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., Jan. 8, 2005--In spite of up-and-down weather in the East and Midwest, massive snows in California, and a snow drought in the Northwest, holiday traffic at ski areas nationwide was on a par with, or above, last year. And despite some continuing nasty weather in the week after the holiday, most areas are optimistic for a...

SAM Magazine--Durango, Colo., Jan. 8, 2005--Snow Monsters and Monster Cable have amicably resolved their dispute over any possible trademark infringement over the two companies' use of the word "monster." As a result, Snow Monsters has withdrawn its complaint against Monster Cable. According to Jack Turner of Sirdar, Snow Monsters' parent compan...

SAM Magazine--Seattle, Wash., Dec. 31, 2004--Winter resorts nationwide report strong visitation for the Christmas holiday week. The only exception to this cheery news is the Pacific Northwest, where low snowfall kept several resorts closed until Christmas Day or later. Several resorts are reporting the largest crowds in years. Learn-to programs are...

SAM Magazine--Beaver, Utah, Dec. 28, 2004--The Nimbus Loan Fund has repossessed Elk Meadows ski area in southwestern Utah from former owner Wayne Case for $1 million, with hopes that new management can turn it into a going concern. Nimbus is said to be seeking a new management group for the 450-acre area, located 250 miles northeast of Las Vegas. ...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., Dec. 22, 2004--Sirdar, the company that created the Snow Monsters skier/rider development program, is seeking a declaratory judgment action for non-infringement and non-dilution of a trademark in Denver Federal Court. Monster Cable, a manufacturer of speaker wire, audio, video and other electrical cables, is trying to c...

SAM Magazine--Bretton Woods, N.H., December 22, 2004--The Mount Washington Cog Railway fired up its engines this past weekend and transported the first sliders part way up the hill for a 500-foot beginner run. The company anticipates being able top open the entire length of the track by December 26. The main trail, which is groomed and has snowm...

SAM Magazine--McLean, Va., Dec.17, 2004--Retail sales for skiing and snowboarding for the August through October period were up 3 percent in dollars to $323.3 million while unit sales declined 3.6 percent, according to the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Retail Audit. Strength in carve skis, integrated ski-binding systems, Twintips, tele gear, ...

SAM Magazine--Enfield, N.H., December 15, 2004--Whaleback Mountain has seen a lot of tire kickers since it closed in 2001. Many have viewed the small hill, which is tucked in behind Sunapee off of route 89, as a failing prospect given all the competition in Vermont and New Hampshire for snow sliders. Others see the small area as an untapped resourc...

SAM Magazine--Wrightwood, Calif., December 15, 2004--Oaktree Capital Management, owners of southern California's Mountain High ski area, have retained a financial advisor, Houlihan, Lokey, Howard and Zukin, to explore all of their options as it relates to returning invested capital to the original investors. This could include a sale, a merger or a...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, Dec. 2, 2004--American Skiing Company (ASC) has completed its long-sought goal of refinancing its existing resort senior credit facility and its 12 percent Senior Subordinated Notes (both due in 2006). The result is a new $230 million senior secured credit facility co-led by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and GE Co...

SAM Magazine--Denver, Colo., Nov. 19, 2004--Despite warm and/or dry conditions across much of the U.S. for the past week, more resorts are opening this weekend, ahead of the Thanksgiving onslaught. Here's a roundup of the upcoming action. Today, Vail joins several other Colorado areas that opened previously. Skiing and riding are underway off th...

SAM Magazine--Bridgton, Me., Nov. 12, 2004--Shawnee Peak Ski Area is offering free 2004-05 family season passes to the spouse and children of deployed soldiers. To encourage new or lapsed skiers and riders to take advantage of the offer, family are also eligible for $10 first-time lessons and $10 rental equipment. Shawnee's program is open to sp...

SAM Magazine--Dillon, Colo., Nov. 12, 2004--Resort openings are beginning to grow at an exponential rate as more areas across the country will join the ranks of the operating by tomorrow. Keystone opened today with 36 hours of continuous skiing and riding, thanks to its lighted slopes. This is the first time Keystone will launch with an all-nigh...

SAM Magazine--Vancouver, Nov. 9, 2004--Intrawest saw revenue decline for the fiscal 2005 first quarter ended September 30, 2004 to $206.5 million from $276.6 million for the same period last year, due to an expected drop in real estate sales. But revenues and profits increased in the resort, travel, and management services divisions. The company in...

SAM Magazine--Copper Mountain, Colo., Nov. 5, 2004--Copper and Snowbird, Ut., have joined the ranks of open areas in the U.S. today, with Killington, Vt., planning to open early next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday. Copper opened with 2,300 vertical feet of top-to-bottom skiing and riding, nearly 60 acres of terrain and 20 inches of man-made a...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Ut., Nov. 1, 2004--American Skiing Company improved its financial results for the 2004 fiscal year and fourth quarter ended July 25, 2004, compared to year-earlier periods. But the company also acknowledged that its independent accounting firm, KPMG, had not been able to determine "whether substantial doubt exists about the...

SAM Magazine--Oceanside, Calif., Nov. 1, 2004--Freeze Magazine will cease publication with its January 2005 issue, TransWorld Media (TWM) vice president/general manager Brad McDonald told SAM. In addition to the Freeze staff, TWM has cut loose director of marketing and business development Mike Jaquet and vice president of marketing and sales Al...