Antitrust Suit Filed in Aspen
At the heart of the action is a plea that Aspen Skiing Corporation, operator of three areas in the region, unfairly refused to allow Aspen Highlands to participate in a 4-area package in 1978-79 and 1979-80. The suit asks the court to compel ASC to participate in such a program.
Alternatively the plaintiff asks the court to order ASC to divest itself of its three areas, and enjoin it from developing any further areas in the region.
In support of its plea the plaintiff claims that ASC conspired with Aspen Reservations, Inc. (ARI) to put them out of business. The claim is made that ASC paid ARI $75,000 to sell ASC’s tickets at the expense of the plaintiff’s. It further claims that evidence of this is the fact that ARI sold $33,000 worth of Aspen Highlands tickets last season compared to over $1 million for ASC.
Aspen Skiing Corp. officials were saying nothing for publication at presstime other than to point out the irony of being sued to join in 4-area ticket when they were sued in 1976 by the State Attorney General under the exact same statute to cease and desist from participating in the 4-area ticket that existed then because it tended to reduce competition through price fixing. A consent decree was entered in that case that permitted the 4-area ticket, but only after individual area ticket prices had been set.
It is expected that ASC will claim that there was always an invitation to Aspen Highlands to be a part of a 4-way package provided that Aspen Highlands contributed one way or another to the costs previously borne by ASC in administering the ticket program. It will also probably claim that the $75,000 paid to ARI was solely to keep that organization financially afloat at a time when it could no longer otherwise keep going.
If it ever comes to court, the case will be tried in District Court in Denver.
Ski Magazine Introduces SKIwee
Ski Magazine is introducing SKIwee, a franchize program for U.S. ski resorts built around “a high-quality kids’ instruction program in which the subscriber resort can promote itself as a SKIwee area, and parents can be satisfied, before heading for an area, that the kids’ ski-learning experience is tops,” according to Dick Needham, Ski‘s editor.
National Coordinator for the program is Christi Northrop, author of Skiing with Kids. At the heart of the program is a syllabus explaining the goals of SKIwee, skill-building exercises, non-ski activities (when the weather doesn’t cooperate), a primer for parents, and a SKIwee learning progress chart a “report card,” much like a Red Cross swimming-ability card, that the child can use to build on his skills at any SKIwee area. Included are regular consultation visits by the national SKIwee staff, regional SKIwee clinics and SKIwee bibs, banners, pins and ID cards to identify youngsters, and the area, as participants in the SKIwee program.
For more information, contact SKI Magazine, 380 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017.
Nordic summit meeting held
Fifteen representatives of nine major ski organizations held a two-day meeting at Cabot Camp, Mass., for a National Nordic Conference, the first of its kind.
The conference hammered out a resolution on the snowmobile industry that called for “a firm alliance of communication.” It stressed land planning and environmental protection; coordination of policies on such areas as trail etiquette, signage, safety and rescue; and affirmed “that individuals have a right to enjoy their choice of recreation.”
Much of the discussion centered around the development of a public land use policy. It was pointed out that positions espoused by the touring community might be incompatible with the lobbying efforts of the American Ski Foundation and the rest of the ski industry. It was pointed out, for instance, that to many ski tourers, Mineral King was not “lost to skiing,” but “saved for ski tourers.” The delegates did call for the “development of trails on public lands utilizing public funds and existing public work agencies and programs.”
The moderator of the meeting was Howard Peterson, Director of Program Development of the U.S. Ski Association. Other organizations represented included the Ski Touring Council, NSPS, National Ski Touring Operators Assoc., U.S. Ski Team, SIA, PSIA, Eastern Professional Ski Touring Instructors and the Ontario Ski Council.
The National Nordic Conference voted to continue on a regular basis, and set an immediate goal of amassing an inventory of all present nordic-related programs and activities.
Instructor School Set for Killington
Killington Ski Resort will hold its 9th Annual School for Instructors November 12-16.
Top graduates get a shot at teaching positions at Killington and Mt. Snow. Other ski schools also scout for potential instructors. “This is a big meat market for hiring instructors,” said Foster Chandler, Killington’s director of marketing.
The Program, which instructs in the techniques of how to be a ski instructor, includes five hours daily of on-slope and classroom training. Tuition is $125.
For information, write 9th Annual School for Instructors, Killington, VT 05751, or call 802-422-3333.
“Idea Exchange” for Food Service Directors
The fourth annual free seminar for directors of food service in the recreation field will be held from noon September 26 to 3:30 September 27 at the Quality Inn Riverview, Covington, KY, which is about ten minutes from the Cincinnati airport.
The well-attended seminars, which are sponsored by Gold Medal Products, feature an “idea exchange” for greater profitability between food service directors. Meals and seminar materials are free, leaving lodging and transportation as the only expense.
For further details, contact Gold Medal Products, 1825 Freeman Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45214.
Web Ottman, of Dutch Hill, Dies
A pioneer Vermont ski area operator, Web Ottman, died in early August at the age of 76. He had started with ski tows in 1939, and in 1964 put in a 1,200 ft. rope tow on 30 acres purchased by him and his partners in Heartwellville, Vt. A year later, a 2,000 ft. T-bar was installed. The corporation eventually acquired 450 acres.
Ottman, who managed the area with his wife, Madelon, until his retirement in 1968, pioneered many of the modern grooming techniques used today, and the area always enjoyed a reputation for being well-groomed and efficiently operated.
Ottman served as president, vice president and director at various times for the Vermont Ski Area Operators Association and the New England Ski Area Operators Association.
People
Killed in an auto crash in Australia on July 29 was Herman Muckenschnabl, the director of the Bolton Valley, VT. ski school. Nicholas Sciurba is lodge GM for that resort and John McCann Jr. is the new chef…new management structure at Garibaldi Lifts, operators of Whistler Mt., B.C. shows Franz M. Wilhelmsen president, Peter C. Adler GM, Dave Balfour Comptroller, John G. Creelman marketing director and Allen Turner mountain manager…Michael D. Schoenfeld appointed assistant director at the Whiteface Alpine Training Center…Bruce G. Simons, formerly GM at Lutsen Ski Resort, has been appointed executive director of Spirit Mt. Authority, Duluth, MN; Marilyn Petter becomes Spirit’s director of marketing and promotion…Scott McCrea “announced with glee” his return to Colorado to become the Aspen Chamber of Commerce’s director of marketing.
Two Area Suppliers Get Olympic Status
Globe Ticket Co., of Horsham, Pa., and the Georgia-based Chicopee Lumite have become official suppliers to the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid, N.Y. Globe is supplying the computer ticket reservation and admission control system for the games, while Chicopee will supply their fabric fencing, trade-marked Kontrol Fencing, for crowd and course control.
Globe is providing total facilities management, including necessary financial accounting, ticket allocation, ticket printing and ticket distribution for customers, both domestic and abroad. There are at least thirteen categories of tickets for each of the 90 sporting events and an average of four prices of tickets for each event. This results in 5,850 ticket combinations.
Globe says its computer will provide highly secure verification of the proper ticket holder. All tickets sold will be identified with buyer’s name, address and date of purchase. This information is available both at the Olympic Committee headquarters in Lake Placid and Globe Ticket in Horsham, Pa.
Over 26 miles of Chicopee’s Kontrol Fencing will be used at Lake Placid to line alpine and nordic courses, for crowd control at the ski jump and biathalon areas and for various applications by the transportation and security division of the Olympic organizers.
The Olympic fencing is being manufactured in red, white and blue, according to Kontrol Fencing’s Product Manager, P.J. Richardson, and will carry both the Olympic and Chicopee logos.
Inventex Reshuffles
P. William Polk, Jr. has been named General Manager of Inventex Corp., a distributor of leisure-time products and services, including the Alpine Slide.
According to Board Chairman, Stig Albertsson, Polk will oversee manufacturing, sales and on-site operations of the Alpine Slide, Water Slide and other divisions of the corporation. Inventex also produces a monorail system called Trans-Mobil, designed for transporting people up mountains or on level terrain, and is eastern distributor of Kool-Kat, the new over-snow trail grooming vehicle.
David McCutchen, as controller for Inventex, assumes responsibility for all accounting-related and office management activities.
DeLorean Buys Thiokol Over-Snow Vehicle Line
Thiokol Corporation has sold its Logan Division, with its Utah-based product line of over-snow vehicles, to the DeLorean Manufacturing Company. The product line had sales of $16 million in 1978.
There will be no immediate changes as a result of this change. The management, many with over 20 years with Thiokol, have elected to stay in their present positions with DeLorean.
The 54-year-old John Z. DeLorean is no stranger to the ski world. When he was head of the Chevrolet Division of General Motors, and widely considered heir apparent to the GM presidency, he made his division official supplier to the U.S. Ski Team. He was also an early sponsor of freestyle competition, and gave the Grand Prize for what was then known as World Hot Dog Championships.
“Skiing has a unique appeal in the high-ticket durables business,” DeLorean told SAM. “You have to be active and well-to-do to ski.”
DeLorean himself is an enthusiastic skier, “but not very good,” he quickly adds. “My friends tell me I look like an octopus falling out of a tree,” the 6′ 4″ DeLorean adds.
Since quitting General Motors five years ago, DeLorean has raised almost $200 million in capital to start his own automobile line. Manufacturing is done in Northern Ireland thanks largely to a tax incentive package worked out with the British government.
DeLorean expressed confidence in the future of the ski business, and expects to expand “wherever and whenever it’s right.” In the meantime, he emphasized that he wanted the Logan Division to “keep doing what it’s been doing so well. I am most impressed with management,” he concluded.
Spaa Industries Expands
Dave Curtis, general manager of SPAA Industries International, has announced they will be marketing three new product lines in addition to the lift safety controls and switches of Metraplan SPAA.
First, they will be sales representatives for Conap’s line of ski area related products, principally sheave liners and re-treaded drive sprockets and tires for over-snow vehicles.
SPAA has also taken on the ski area market for Nibco Valve. Nibco’s product lines include brass and cast iron valves, copper and PVC fittings and sprinkling systems.
Thirdly, Duncan Supply, of Jersey City, N.J., will be using SPAA for ski industry sales of their Grainger line of products. “This catalog alone has over 300 pages of everyday ski area needs,” says Curtis, “including electrical motors, switches, power tools, shop compressors and so forth.” The catalog is available through SPAA Industries for $3, refundable on first order. Write SPAA Industries, Rte 515, Vernon, N.J. 07462.
