SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., Sept. 6, 2022—Bluebird Backcountry, Colo.; Chestnut Mountain, Ill.; and Snowriver, Mich., have joined the Indy Pass starting in winter 2022-23. With the additions, Indy Pass holders will have two days of access to 96 alpine ski areas and 13 Nordic ski areas in North America and Japan. "The addition of Chestnut and ...

SAM Magazine—Hunter, N.Y., Sept. 6, 2022—Vail Resorts, in partnership with SAM magazine and Ski NY-Ski PA, has invited pro skier Drew Petersen to share the story of his mental health journey on Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. EDT during the Ski NY-Ski PA Expo at Hunter Mountain, N.Y.  The session will also be broadcast on Zoom as part of a special...

SAM Magazine—Wrightwood, Calif., Sept. 1, 2022—The Powder Alliance has added two New Zealand resorts to its 2022-23 affiliate program lineup. The Tūroa and Whakapapa ski areas, both located on Mt. Ruapehu, the country's largest active volcano, join 19 other destinations in North America, Japan, and Canada as part of the reciprocal pass part...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Sept. 1, 2022—Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass has added Lotte Arai Resort in Japan and Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia. With the additions, the pass will provide access to more than 50 destinations in 10 countries for the 2022-23 season. Full Ikon Pass holders will have access to seven days at both reso...

SAM Magazine—Duluth, Minn., Aug. 29, 2022—Charles Skinner Jr. has closed on the acquisition of Big Snow Resort, which includes Indianhead and Blackjack ski areas, all of which will be renamed with new branding. Big Snow will transition to Snowriver Mountain Resort, the Indianhead area will be called Jackson Creek Summit, and Blackjack will be B...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 23, 2022—In a tight race, the lift maintenance team from Arizona Snowbowl and its featured lift mechanic Nick Gilbertson have won the 2022 Rise Up Challenge, sponsored by Leitner-Poma of America. Gilbertson and the Snowbowl team will be awarded a $3,500 education grant. More than 4,500 votes were cast in the c...

SAM Magazine—West Bolton, Quebec, Aug. 24, 2022—Former owner Peter White has entered into an agreement to purchase Mont Glen for CAD $6.1 million and plans to reopen the ski area in southern Quebec to the general public for operations this winter.  According to a report from Le Reflect du Lac, the acquisition is expected to close Oct. 31. W...

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., Aug. 24, 2022—With the likelihood that another bidder (or more) for Jay Peak will surface in the next few days, the resort’s federal court appointed receiver, Michael Goldberg, filed a motion Aug. 18 proposing a new deadline for the sale of the resort.  The motion states that any bidders must identify themselves and s...

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., Aug. 24, 2022—Indy Pass has added two more resorts to its growing list of partners for the 2022-23 season: Mountain High and Dodge Ridge, Calif. Dodge Ridge, Calif.The additions bring Indy Pass’s total alpine and Nordic resort partners to 106.  The partnerships are part of Indy’s strategy for growth in the We...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 23, 2022—Vail Resorts has updated its Covid protocols, dropping vaccine requirements for guests and staff, and will limit day ticket sales for the upcoming winter season, according to its 2022-23 operating plan.Covid protocols. Across all its resorts, the company will no longer require face coverings, vaccin...

SAM Magazine—Mars Hill, Maine, Aug. 17, 2022—The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Big Rock Mountain to boost tourism by supporting investment into a new chairlift and increased snowmaking capacity at the Mars Hill, Maine, ski area. Big Rock Mountain is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit...

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Aug. 16, 2022—President Biden signed the $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act today. The package includes the largest climate, energy, and environmental justice investment ($370 billion) in U.S. history, from which the U.S. ski industry stands to benefit.  The legislation, which addresses health care and taxes ...

SAM Magazine—Stowe, Vt., Aug. 12, 2022—Daily rates at western mountain destinations are hovering at near record highs despite continued declines in occupancy totals for summer 2022, according to the Monthly Market Briefing from DestiMetrics, the Business Intelligence division of Inntopia. The downward trend in occupancy started as early as las...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Aug. 9, 2022—After only 13 months on the job, National Ski Patrol (NSP) CEO Chris Castilian resigned last week, Aug. 5, 2022, having reached an impasse with the organization’s board of directors.  “Over the last several months, it has become clear that the board and I have vastly different visions for the fut...

SAM Magazine—Keystone, Colo., Aug. 5, 2022—Work on Keystone Resort’s Bergman Bowl Express will move forward after the U.S. Forest Service approved the resort’s plan to restore environmental damage to a high alpine area incurred during construction. However, the lift will not be completed as scheduled in time for the 2022-23 winter season du...

SAM Magazine—Vail, Colo., Aug. 5, 2022—The Vail town council approved an emergency ordinance this week that suspended all permits for any activity on Vail Resorts’ 23-acre property in East Vail where the company planned to build a $17 million affordable housing development. The housing project was slated to be completed for winter 2023-24, bu...

SAM Magazine—Boyne Falls, Mich., Aug. 3, 2022—Boyne Resorts has tapped Nick Herrin to lead its new snowsports division. Herrin joined the company in the newly created role of senior vice president of snowsports on Aug. 2.  “We are excited to again reinforce the importance of our instruction programs as we work to grow winter sports,” said...

In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight recent personnel moves made in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to supplier news, awards, and obits, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive.     PEOPLE MATT PETERSON, PALISADES TAHOE, CA Palisades Tahoe hired Matt Peterson as its senior director ...

 SAM Magazine—Gilford, N.H., Aug. 2, 2022—The Gunstock Mountain Resort senior leadership team is back to work today after the Belknap County Delegation voted 9-1 to accept acting Gunstock Area Commission (GAC) chair Dr. David Strang’s resignation following the appointment of Denise Conroy to the GAC at an emergency meeting last night. Strang...

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., Aug. 2, 2022—Scott Leigh was appointed as general manager and chief operating officer of Bluebird Backcountry, effective Aug. 1. In his new role, Leigh, a ski industry veteran of 20-plus years, will focus this season on the chairlift-free ski area’s revenue and operational growth goals.  “I'm impress...

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., Aug. 1, 2022—A motion for approval has been filed for Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) to enter into a $58 million asset purchase agreement (APA) to acquire Jay Peak Resort, Vt. A judge has 10 days to accept or deny the motion; if accepted, the asset purchase agreement would become the initial bid in a potential auction...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 1, 2022—Voting is now open for the second annual “Rise Up Challenge,” a video contest highlighting a few skilled, young lift mechanics who will keep ski area lifts spinning for decades to come. This year’s contest includes videos from six resorts, each featuring an up-and-coming mechanic from the resort’...

SAM Magazine—Ludlow, Vt., July 27, 2022—Resorts across North America have eased into summer this year, with the Fourth of July holiday weekend serving as a litmus test for the state of “typical” traveler behavior amid fluctuating Covid infection rates and persistent recession and inflation concerns. Courtesy of OkemoThe long weekend and the...

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., July 26, 2022—Indy Pass will now include Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore. The ski area is Indy’s largest resort partner by skier volume, and it brings the pass’ total resort partners to 105 for the 2022-23 season. Meadows VP of sales and marketing Dave Tragethon anticipates that the pass partnership will spur new busines...

SAM Magazine—Aspen Snowmass, Colo., July 26, 2022—The Mountain Collective Pass has added Marmot Basin, Alberta, to its winter 2022-23 roster. Marmot Basin is the seventh Canadian resort to join the pass partnership. (Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec signed on in June.) Its addition brings the total number of Mountain Collective resort partners...

SAM Magazine—Gilford, N.H., July 21, 2022—The senior management team at Gunstock Mountain Resort resigned Wednesday night at a Gunstock Area Commission (GAC) meeting. Escalating tensions between Gunstock staff and the GAC, a five-member board appointed by the Belknap County Delegation to manage the ski area, precipitated the resignations.  Th...

SAM Magazine—Milwaukee, Wis., July 18, 2022—In a claim involving an unseated passenger who fell from a lift at Sunburst Ski Hill, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently ruled that the waiver signed at the time the plaintiff purchased her lift ticket could be enforced for part of the plaintiff’s claim because the day-pass release included bif...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., July 18, 2022—The booking pace for lodging at Western mountain destinations improved slightly during June, but occupancy is still down compared to both last summer and the pre-pandemic summer of 2019—and bookings remain below the pace of 2021—according to DestiMetrics, the business intelligence division of I...

SAM Magazine—Roxbury, N.Y., July 14, 2022—A direct lightning strike on July 12, 2022, started a fire in the bottom lift shack of the Plattekill Mountain Northface double, destroying the structure and its contents, including the lift’s drive control. No one was injured in the incident, but the Hall double chair will need a new low-voltage cont...

SAM Magazine—Roxbury, N.H., July 14, 2022—Keith Kreischer will join Granite Gorge ski area as its new general manager. New ownership group Granite Gorge Partnership, LLC (GGP) acquired the mountain—which has been shuttered since 2020—at a foreclosure auction on June 3, 2022, for $430,000 and aims to reopen the property this coming winter. ...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, July 13, 2022—Todd Bennett will become president and chief operating officer of Deer Valley Resort, Utah, effective Aug. 1, 2022. A ski and hospitality industry veteran of 23 years, with experience at The Walt Disney Company and Vail Mountain, Bennett brings an extensive leadership background to the Alterra Mountai...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., June 27, 2022—SAM's twelfth Summer Ops Camp—an immersive, hands-on networking and educational event—is heading to Tremblant, Quebec, Sept. 7-9, 2022, for three days of learning about the serious business of summer fun. This year’s camp curriculum will focus on developing a sustainable year-round business mod...

SAM Magazine—South Pomfret, Vt., June 29, 2022—Vermont’s Suicide Six ski area will retire its name this summer due to its negative connotation.A new name has already been determined and will be announced in the coming weeks. “Our resort team embraces the increasing awareness surrounding mental health and shares the growing concerns about t...

SAM Magazine—Truckee, Calif., June 24, 2022—Amy Ohran will join Vail Resorts as the new vice president and general manager of Northstar California, effective July 25. She will report to Tom Fortune, VP and COO of the Tahoe Region and Heavenly Mountain Resort. Ohran has been a ski industry leader for 22 years and was previously with Powdr Corp....

SAM Magazine—Rangeley, Maine, June 22, 2022—Saddleback Ski Resort has named senior vice president of mountain operations Jim Quimby as the resort’s new general manager, effective immediately. Quimby succeeds Andy Shepard, who stepped down from the role this spring to expand the mountain’s philanthropic mission; Saddleback is owned by the Ar...

SAM Magazine—Aspen Snowmass, Colo., June 21, 2022—Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) senior vice president of strategy and business development, Rich Burkley, will leave the company to take on the role of CEO at Lake Louise, Alberta, in the coming months.  Burkley joins the Lake Louise team as it moves toward the completion of a major lift, terrain, ...

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., June 21, 2022—The Indy Pass will now offer two free days of skiing, riding, and cross-country skiing at 100 resorts for winter 2022-23 with the addition of eight new partners—five alpine and three cross country—in the Upper Midwest, New England, and the Pacific Northwest.  Alpine ski areas joining the coalitio...

SAM Magazine—Cambridge, Vt., June 17, 2022—Although the Summer Solstice—the official start of summer—is still a few days away, summer operations are in full swing at resorts across the United States.Sugar Mountain Resort Festivals, barbecues, concerts, clinics, and more fill resort activity schedules. There are, of course, a few exceptions ...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 16, 2022—The Park City Planning Commission granted an appeal of a previous decision to approve two Park City Mountain (PCM) lift upgrades in a 3-1 vote on Wednesday night, effectively blocking the projects until 2023.  The upgrades were appealed on the basis that the proposed eight-place and six-place chairs...

SAM Magazine—Palisades Tahoe, Calif., June 16, 2022—The Ski California Lift Maintenance and Operations Education (LMOE) Conference drew 329 attendees to Palisades Tahoe for three days of educational sessions, a trade show, and networking.  “The theme of the conference was ‘leadership,’ and we offered several classes on the theme,” sai...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., June 16, 2022—Vail Resorts (VR) is up 32 percent in net revenue and 9 percent in early season pass unit sales as compared to last year, according to its fiscal 2022 third-quarter report (period ending April 30, 2022). The growth comes on the heels of a turbulent winter for the company, which reckoned with weather...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 16, 2022—Ski Utah’s 15 member resorts reported a total of 5,829,679 skier visits during the 2021-22 winter season, breaking the record set in 2020-21 by more than a half million visits—an increase of about 10 percent. Utah has set visitation records in three of the last four seasons, with only the pandemic...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., June 14, 2022—As post-pandemic demand eases and inflation continues to loom large, lodging properties at 17 mountain destinations across seven western states are recording notable occupancy declines for the first time in nearly two years, according to the latest report from DestiMetrics, the Business Intelligenc...

SAM Magazine—Conway, N.H., June 13, 2022—Visits to New Hampshire ski areas during the 2021-22 winter season for alpine, cross-country, and tubing overall totaled 2,220,102, down 3 percent compared to the 2,295,424 visits in 2020-21. Courtesy of Dave Gibson The overall decline is almost entirely attributed to variable weather, according to Ski...

SAM Magazine—Montpelier, Vt., June 13, 2022—Alpine ski areas in Vermont welcomed 3.76 million skier visits during the 2021-22 winter season, up 6.5 percent year-over-year, but 6 percent below the state’s 10-year average, according to the Vermont Ski Areas Association (Ski Vermont), which shared numbers at its annual meeting last week at Sugar...

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 10, 2022—Skier visits for the 2021-22 season at the 22 Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) member resorts were up 14 percent year-over-year, and CSCUSA is projecting a new statewide skier visit record—including non-CSCUSA member resorts—edging out the previous record of 13.8 million visits in 2018-19 by a few hundred...

SAM Magazine—Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Quebec, June 8, 2022—Le Massif de Charlevoix has signed a three-year agreement with the Mountain Collective, according to Radio Canada. Le Massif is the first eastern Canadian ski area to join the pass coalition, which includes 22 other properties across North America. “This is part of our busine...

In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight recent personnel moves that have been made in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to supplier news, awards, and obits, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive.   PEOPLE JJ TOLAND, SUGARBUSH, VT Sugarbush Resort has brought on JJ Toland as vice presiden...

SAM Magazine—Victoria, Australia, June 8, 2022—The winter season has begun in the Southern Hemisphere. Historically early and abundant snowfall this year in Australia has allowed several ski areas to drop ropes ahead of the traditional June 11-13 opening weekend. Courtesy of Falls Creek Resort's Instagram Mount Hotham in Victoria opened June ...

SAM Magazine—Beaupré, Quebec, June 3, 2022—The preliminary results of the 34th Economic and Financial Study of Ski Areas show 6.3 million visits were recorded at Quebec ski areas during the 2021-22 winter season, an increase of 3 percent compared to 2020-21. The recipient of the Réal-Boulanger Award, Mr. Eddy Zajac, surrounded by Mr. Yves Jun...

SAM Magazine—Cambridge, Vt., June 2, 2022—Many of North America’s resorts opened later than they would have liked this winter, but a few standout areas made up for the deficit and leveraged late-season snow to offer late-season turns. There are a still a handful of resorts across the country operating after Memorial Day Weekend, and a few hon...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., May 31, 2022—Six lift maintenance teams have been chosen to participate in the second annual Rise Up Challenge, supported by Leitner-Poma of America (LPOA): Arizona Snowbowl, Ariz.; Boston Mills Brandywine, Ohio; Magic Mountain, Vt.; Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.; WinSport, Alberta; and Winter Park, Colo. The teams are co...

SAM Magazine—Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, May 31, 2022—One of the two new tram cabins being installed at Snowbird, Utah, fell to ground on Saturday, May 29, leaving it damaged beyond repair. The cabin was being lifted by a crane onto the hanger when it fell, according to Snowbird general manager Dave Fields, who said he is grateful no one wa...

SAM Magazine—Lutsen, Minn., and Wausau, Wis., May 25, 2022—Charles Skinner, the owner of Minnesota’s Lutsen Mountains Ski Area and Wisconsin’s Granite Peak Ski Area, has entered a definitive purchase agreement to acquire all of the assets of Big Snow Resort, including more than 1,000 acres of private land, from owner Art Dumke. Big Snow Res...

SAM Magazine—Denver, May 25, 2022—Alterra Mountain Company president Jared Smith will be promoted to chief executive officer, effective Aug. 1, 2022. Current CEO Rusty Gregory will step back from day-to-day operations to become vice chairman of the board. Smith joined Alterra Mountain Company in June 2021, tasked with operating and further dev...

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., May 24, 2022—Outside Inc., owner of several active outdoor media brands and related publications, including SKI magazine, will reduce print production by 80 percent across the company, according to internal communications from company leadership. This includes reducing SKI to one print issue a year, plus the annual ...

SAM Magazine—Nashville, Tenn., May 24, 2022—The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) held its annual national convention in person for the first time since 2019, and more than 870 ski area operators, industry suppliers, association representatives, and other mountain resort industry people came out for the event in Nashville, Tenn., May 12-15,...

SAM Magazine—Vadito, N.M., May 18, 2022—The largest recorded fire in New Mexico history is threatening two prominent ski resorts and potentially a third. Sipapu and Angel Fire are implementing action plans to mitigate imminent danger from the merged Calf Canyon and Hermit Peaks fires, while Taos Ski Valley is monitoring fire activity. At Sipapu...

SAM Magazine—Bolton, Vt., May 18, 2022—Bolton Valley, Vt., chief financial officer and finance director Nathaniel Mathes will assume the role of vice president and chief operating officer for the company, effective immediately. Mathes had spent eight years as Bolton Valley’s finance chief, and now shifts to overseeing all operating department...