New Skier Visit Record?
The National Ski Areas Association announced that, based on preliminary 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 have closed and reported final numbers.


Bretton Woods/Mount Washington Sold
The Mount Washington Resort at Bretton Woods, which includes the ski resort as well as the Mount Washington Hotel and golf course, entered into an agreement with Celebration Associates and CNL Income Properties, Inc., to sell the resort, subject to the completion of further due diligence.

Under the terms of the agreement for the 2,200-acre resort, Celebration Associates and Crosland, Inc., its financial partner, will purchase more than 900 acres of land and other assets, including two golf courses, equestrian stables, and a Nordic ski center. The transaction is expected to close this summer.

CNL will acquire 991 acres including Bretton Woods Ski Area, The Mount Washington Hotel, the Bretton Arms Country Inn, The Lodge at Bretton Woods, and other related assets. CNL plans to enter a long-term lease agreement with Celebration Associates and Crosland, which will engage National Resort Management Group to market and operate all of the properties.

Celebration Associates is a developer and operator of master-planned, mixed-use communities. Crosland, Inc. is a financial partner of Celebration Associates.


Assumption of Risk Upheld in California
A court ruled in early April 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 during an employee party while attempting to ride her snowboard off of a jump. The trial was the second for this incident. In 2002, a court awarded Vine $4.4 million after jurors were told to make their decision based on comparative negligence, rather than the assumption of risk doctrine that has largely applied in such situations. That initial settlement was voided in 2004 when a state appeals court ruled that jurors were not properly instructed on assumption of risk. In the most recent trial, jurors were instructed to apply the doctrine, and they ruled in favor of Bear Valley.

The decision is important because it reaffirms the assumption of risk doctrine. A contrary verdict could have caused great uncertainty over liability issues regarding terrain parks.


Proposed Montana Ski Area Hits Another Snag
It’s back to the drawing board for the proposed Bitterroot Resort in Montana. The Forest Service rejected, for the second time, a proposal by rancher Tom Maclay to develop Forest Service land above his ranch into a ski resort.

Last year, the resort submitted a proposal for 11,000 acres. This time around, Maclay sought to gain use of 1,680 acres for ski runs on Lolo Peak. However, the Bitterroot National Forest land use plan only allows for added skiing at nearby Lost Trail/Powder Mountain should the need for more downhill terrain arise. As far as building something new, the Forest Service supervisors cited resource and environmental concerns as the reason for rejecting the proposal.


Wildcat For Sale
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.


Homewood Resort Sold
Homewood Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe, Calif., was sold to JMA Ventures, a development company. Originally, Homewood owner Jeff Yurosek had hoped to sell the 1,086-acre resort to the Forest Service for between $60 and $65 million. The Forest Service appealed to Congress for the funds, but Representative John Doolittle, R-Rosewood, added a provision to a 2007 spending bill that put a stop to the sale. Under the new deal with JMA, Yurosek still retains a minority stake.

JMA Ventures has not released plans for the area, but the company is still hoping to strike a deal with the Forest Service for some of the land.


N.Y. Area Gets State Funding for Expansion
Ski Bowl, a small ski area next to Gore Mountain in New York, received $5.5 million from the state government for a new chairlift and new trails. The funding had originally been vetoed by Governor Pataki but was reinstated by overrides in the Senate and State Assembly.

Ski Bowl was closed in 1976 as skiers flocked to nearby Gore instead. The area has since been turned into a tubing center. However, the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which runs the two areas, has been discussing the possibility of connecting the two areas with a gondola and trails. In fact, a developer has plans to build ski-in, ski-out condos at Ski Bowl.

For now, the new funding will get the small area a new lift and some trails. The actual connection would cost a further estimated $5 million.


Seven Springs Sold
After 74 years of ownership, the Dupre family is selling Seven Springs 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 four-hour drive of the resort. Terms were not disclosed.

The Nuttings expressed confidence in the current management team and their vision for the future growth of the resort, which will include an attempt to obtain a gaming license. The Nuttings are also conservationists and publish several environmental lifestyle magazines.


Tamarack Gets Funding
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 covenants are met.

The credit facility nearly triples the resort’s borrowing capacity and is enough to complete most of the 2,043 units Tamarack is authorized to develop. The other key to the five-year plan is the build-out of the resort’s village.


Brundage Gets Sole Owner
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 gives the DeBoer family full ownership of the resort.

Area president and GM Rick Certano, who joined the Brundage team last fall, retains those posts. Judd DeBoer will become chairman of the board of directors. The company’s top priority will be continued expansion of runs and lifts, an initiative the resort started several years ago. A pending land exchange with the Payette National Forest would give Brundage land in and around the base area for future development.


Awards
At the National Ski Areas Association annual trade show and convention, Dick Bass, CEO and chairman of Snowbird, Utah, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. . .Allen Kryger, CEO of Greek Peak Mountain Resort, N.Y., took home the Sherman Adams Award.


Obituary
Richard L. Kohnstamm, who transformed Timberline Lodge into a national skiing institution in the 1950s, died in April after becoming ill at his family’s cabin on Mount Hood. He was 80 years old. Kohnstamm was also inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1992.


People
The National Ski Areas Association announced the election of a new chairman and four new board members. Bill Jensen, COO of Vail, is the chairman of the board, replacing David Crowley of Wachusett Mountain. . .The four new board members are: Blaise Carrig, COO of Heavenly Valley; Burton R. Mills, from Moonlight Basin; Brad Moretz, GM of Appalachian Ski Mountain; and Charles Santry, president of Snow Economics.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association named Richard Coe as its new COO.

Randy Mezzano announced his retirement from Gogebic Community College in Michigan. Mezzano was the director of the college’s ski area management program for the past 33 years.

American Skiing Company named Dana Bullen as president and managing director of Sunday River in Maine.

At Attitash, N.H., John DeVivo was named VP of Mountain ops; Renetta Cassell is the F&B director; and Cathy Roy is the new financial controller.

Jesse Boyd is the new GM at Big Boulder/Jack Frost in Pennsylvania.

At Wild Mountain, Minnesota, Kevin Starr became GM.

At Angel Fire Resort, N.M., Eric Guth takes on the director of development position.

In Colorado, Steven Fitzgerald was named senior VP of human resources for Vail Resorts. Keith Fernandez was made president of Vail Resorts Development Company. . .At Aspen, Doug Mackenzie will be special projects manager at Snowmass; Steve Sewell is the new mountain manager at Snowmass and Peter King takes on the same role at Aspen Mountain.

At Tamarack, Idaho, Tom Altmann is the director of golf for Osprey Meadows. Tim Wolfgram is the new director of The Club.


Supplier News
Comptrol Systems, a software solutions provider, has joined forces with RepeatSeat Inc. RepeatSeat is a Microsoft-managed software development shop specializing in ticketing.

Robin Smith has started his own consulting company called SnowConsult. He can be reached at (303) 842-2495. Or, check out his website at www.snowconsult.com.