SAM Magazine--October 11, 2006--Ski Utah has announced a new initiative to combat global warming. Called KeepUtahCool.com, the new website offers information on global warming, how warming impacts the ski industry and what individuals can do to help combat global warming. In addition, the site also has coverage of what Utah ski resorts are doing to...

SAM Magazine--Lakewood, Colo., Oct. 10--The National Ski Area Association (NSAA) has announced that 45 ski resorts across the nation are currently buying green energy. The list of mountains that have taken this proactive step is diverse, and ranges from Aspen, Colorado to Okemo, Vermont. Green power is generated from renewable and nonpolluting en...

SAM Magazine-Beaver, Ut., Oct. 5, 2006- CPB Development has proposed a $3.5 billion plan to local planning authorities for a Yellowstone Club-style resort at Elk Meadows, which hasn't operated for four years. Resort property owners, who would lose their access to the mountain, are rising in opposition. The resort, which opened in 1971, went ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 5, 2006-Vail Resorts, Inc. reported record net income of $45.8 million for the fiscal year ended July 31,2006 compared to net income of $23.1 million for fiscal 2005, a rise of 98 percent. Much of the increase stemmed from mountain operations, plus reduced depreciation and interest expense and a gain on the sale...

SAM Magazine-Banff, Alta., Oct. 3, 2006-An investment group which includes legendary Canadian skier Ken Read has purchased Mt. Norquay Ski Area outside of Banff. The group includes Read, who currently serves as president of Alpine Canada Alpin, the governing body of ski racing in Canada, as well as Stephen Ross of Devonian Properties in Canm...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo.-Sept. 29, 2006-Vail Resorts (VR) is creating a new program focused on ethnic youth in Eagle and Summit counties as well as the Front Range. The program is intended to expand on the Company's joint effort with Alpino over the past two years to introduce skiing and snowboarding and the winter mountain experience to peop...

SAM Magazine-Eugene, Ore., Sept. 29, 2006-Chelsea Gerlach and Stanislas Meyerhoff, accused of involvement in arson that destroyed Vail's Two Elk lodge in 1998, have cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for consideration in their sentences and cases pending against them. Both individuals were part of a group of 13 individuals responsible for 18 se...

SAM Magazine-Sugarloaf, Me., Sept. 28, 2006-As part of a $1 million summer makeover, Sugarloaf is enhancing its terrain parks, recreational racing facilities, and base village. A new terrain park, 400 feet wide and nearly a half a mile long, will accommodate a series of jumps, features and rails. "This new park will let us build bigger, better, ...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Sept. 26, 2006-Wachusett Mountain, the most accessible ski area in the eastern USA according to SKI Magazine, is becoming more so. For the 2006-2007 season, the area is teaming with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) and the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Company (MBCR) to operate commuter rail service to...

SAM Magazine-Turin, N.Y., Sept. 26, 2006-Pennsylvanian Russell Horn is purchasing Snow Ridge ski area from Peter Harris, who also owns Song Mountain Resort in Tully. Horn is consolidating his position at Snow Ridge; he purchased the Towpath Inn at the base of Snow Ridge in 2005. Horn will put Snow Ridge under the management of his son Keith and ...

SAM Magazine-Keystone, Colo., Sept. 26, 2006-Keystone will open Independence Bowl, almost 300 acres of expert-only hiking and snowcat terrain south of the summit of Dercum Mountain, for the 2006-07 season. The U.S. Forest Service issued the final approval Sept. 21, just before early-season storms dropped more than a foot of snow on the resort. The ...

SAM Magazine-Hemlock Valley, B.C., Sept. 25, 2006-Ice hockey entrepreneur Ralf Berezan, owner of the Junior A Surrey Eagles ice hockey team, has purchased British Columbia's Hemlock Valley Resort and expects to have the mountain open this season. Berezan, who also owns a variety of pubs in British Columbia, purchased the resort out of receivership....

SAM Magazine-Alta, Utah, Sept. 25, 2006-It is one of the very few areas in the U.S. that don't allow snowboarding, and, it appears, doesn't need a terrain park, either. While most resorts have been pumping investment dollars into their parks, contrarian resort Alta has decided to ax its park altogether. "We found that our skiers were curious abo...

SAM Magazine-Silverton, Colo., Sept. 23, 2006-Silverton Mountain Ski Area hosted the first skiers of the year yesterday after receiving two major storms Thursday and Friday. Skiers and snowboarders were waiting and ready to ride Friday when they woke up to what looked like February storm conditions. After two days of heavy snow, Silverton Mountain'...

SAM Magazine-September 22, 2006--Powder Ridge, located in Middlefield, Connecticut, will remain closed this winter pending sale of the ski resort. The 500-vertical-foot mountain featured 18 trails spread over 75 skiable acres served by six lifts, including two triple chairs and two double chairs. The announcement that the resort is ceasing o...

SAM Magazine-Georgetown, Colo., Sept. 21, 2006-Over the past twenty-four hours, a cold front has moved through Colorado, dropping snow across the state and allowing Loveland to start snowmaking operations. Loveland, which has been the first resort to open on an ongoing basis for the past seven seasons, is aiming to extend that record. Last year, th...

SAM Magazine-Pagosa Springs, Colo., Sept. 21, 2006-Wolf Creek is replacing its venerable 34-year old Dickey lift with a Doppelmayr-CTEC detachable quad. The new "Raven" lift will have an initial capacity of 1,200 skiers per hour and should be operational by the start of the the coming season. The lift, which will serve approximately the same terra...

SAM Magazine-Truckee, Calif., Sept. 20, 2006-In an innovative program designed to allieviate some of the problems its employees face when looking for seasonal housing, Northstar has developed the "Rental Rewards Program," which offers free lift tickets or season's passes to homeowners who rent to the resort's employees for the season. The program r...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Sept. 18, 2006-NSAA is introducing SmartStyle 2.0 this fall, sporting new information, a new logo, and an updated video. The program builds on SmartStyle's three main messages with new information added to each. The video also includes new rider interviews, to update the athletes and keep the message fresh. The new log...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Sept. 18, 2006-Vail has returned to the number-one spot in Ski Magazine's annual "Top 50 Resort Guide." Vail has taken the top spot in 14 of the survey's 19 years. Perennial Eastern favorite Tremblant, Que., is ranked No. 1 on the East Coast for a record-setting tenth consecutive year. Results of the highly influential ...

SAM Magazine-Sandpoint, Ida., Sept. 14, 2006-Add Schweitzer Mountain to the growing list of areas whose summer operations are growing. Labor Day Weekend marked the grand finale of the area's summer season. Measured by chairlift rides and hotel occupancy, Schweitzer had record-setting summer traffic. Fall Fest, held on Labor Day Weekend, was the big...

SAM Magazine-Bridgton, Me., Sept. 14, 2006-Shawnee Peak has joined the growing ranks of wind-powered ski areas. The electricity consumption of Shawnee's lifts, snowmaking equipment, lights, lodges and administrative offices will be supplied entirely from zero-emission wind power through an agreement with Community Energy, Inc., a wind energy market...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, Sept. 13, 2006-Intrawest Corporation reported its full-year profit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 rose to $115.2 million from last year's $32.8 million, largely on gains from the sale of Mammoth Mountain. Income from continuing operations totalled $55.3 million, compared with $24.1 million in 2005. Total company EBI...

SAM Magazine-New York, Sept. 13, 2006-Time Inc. has put 18 of its titles, including Ski, Skiing, and Warren Miller Entertainment and the TransWorld group, up for sale. A spokeswoman said the company hopes to complete a deal by early 2007. "While these titles are good performers, Time Inc. is focusing its energy, resources and investment on our l...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Sept. 13, 2006-The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) and Snowsports Industries America (SIA) are working with the U.S. Congress to secure a White House Proclamation declaring January "National Ski and Snowboard Month." The designation is intended to call attention to the need for all people to exercise and get outs...

SAM Magazine--Ashland, OR, September 14, 2006--Mt. Ashland is jumping on the renewable energy bandwagon by announcing that the area is purchasing enough renewable energy to offset 100 percent of its annual electrical use. The program is called the Green Chair Renewable Energy Program and under that name, the ski area has contracted to purchase 780,...

SAM Magazine--Donnelly, Idaho, September 8, 2006--Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, through their company Agassi Graf Development LLC, and Bayview Financial LP, finalized an agreement to develop a luxury mountain project at Tamarack Resort. Called the Fairmont Tamarack, the development will include a resort and spa, with 285 units, located in Tamarac...

SAM Magazine--Wrightwood, CA, September 9, 2006--Mountain High kicked off its season pass sale with 80 tons of snow, seven features and a few thousand riders--giving guests a small taste of winter in the 90-degree heat. North Hollywood Ice Company trucked in 80 tons of blocked ice to Mountain High's East Resort, then ran the ice through giant chipp...

Sept. 1, Great Britain (SnowHunter)--On the 5th September the British Snowlife Schools Tour, now in its second successful year, hits the road again to educate and inspire over 8,000 school pupils to give snowboarding and skiing a go for the first time. The team of professionals - among them Olympians and British Champions - will visit a lucky 16 sc...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Sept. 1, 2006-Intrawest Corporation has acquired Whistler Heli-Skiing in a transaction that increases Whistler Blackcomb's skiing and snowboarding terrain to more than 500,000 acres. The purchase adds Whistler Heli-Skiing's permit area of 494,000 acres to Whistler Blackcomb's 8,171 acres of in-bounds skiing. The pre...

SAM Magazine-Beaver Creek, Colo., Sept. 1, 2006-Beaver Creek plans to open 180 acres of new terrain in the Stone Creek area for the coming season. By bringing these expert-oriented south facing chutes and glades within the resort's patrolled and controlled terrain, the resort removes a favorite poaching shot from the "off-limits" category. In prior...

SAM Magazine--Utah, August 31, 2006-- Three consecutive record breaking seasons for skier days in Utah have afforded ski areas the capitol to continue adding new features and making improvements. From new lifts to more terrain to North America's first ski area tunnel, Utah's ski resorts will welcome visitors with a host of new amenities for both wi...

SAM Magazine-Donnelly, Ida., Aug. 31, 2006-Tamarack Resort will offer guided backcountry services on 5,000 acres of terrain north and south of the resort boundaries this season under a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service. The permit expands Tamarack's available terrain five-fold. The new National Forest terrain includes chutes, cliff...

SAM Magazine-Mount Prospect, Ill., Aug. 31, 2006-Wonder where resort prospects are likely to reside? The density of snowboarders is twice as high in California and New York as in other states; skiers are twice as likely to call New Jersey home than other states, according to a new report from the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). The "...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Aug. 31, 2006-Vail Resorts is partnering with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), a non-profit partner of the U.S. Forest Service that helps the USFS improve the health of the national forest system, to raise funds for conservation projects in both the White River National Forest and the Lake Tahoe Basin areas. The two groups...

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...