Peek’n Peak Sold
After being on the market for a year, Peek’n Peak Resort has announced the sale of the western New York ski area to Kiebler Recreation, LLC, a real estate development and management company. Peek’n Peak has been owned by brothers Eugene and Norbert Cross since the mid-80s. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Future plans for the area will likely include real estate and retail expansions. The new owners are not planning on changing the management team.


Arizona Snowbowl Gets Nod for Snowmaking
After three years of analyses, public hearings, and court rulings, Arizona Snowbowl finally got the nod to use reclaimed water for snowmaking and make other on-hill improvements. At the core of the issue was the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was invoked by six Native American tribes, to try to stop the Snowbowl from using reclaimed water on what they deemed was sacred land. In addition to the Native American tribes, several environmental groups got involved.

In the end, the judge ruled in favor of the ski area and ruled that the Forest Service’s decision to allow snowmaking at the resort would not be a substantial burden to tribal religious beliefs or penalize religious activity. Ironically, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, owns and operates Sunrise Ski Park, which uses reclaimed waste water from their day lodges for snowmaking and in their casino.

Unfortunately, the go-ahead for snowmaking will not help Arizona Snowbowl this year—one of the worst on record. As of mid-February, none of the area’s 32 trails were able to open due to lack of snow.


Ecoterrorists indicted
Eleven suspects were indicted in late January for 17 acts of arson and vandalism, including the 1998 fire at Vail, which destroyed a restaurant and several smaller buildings and cost the area $12 million. Only eight of the suspects have been found and arrested. One suspect committed suicide in an Arizona jail in December 2005.

The federal indictment came out of Portland, Oregon, where most of the suspects are based and lists attacks carried out between 1996 and 2001.


Tremblant Strike Hurts
On December 17, 2005, 1,500 workers at Quebec’s Mont Tremblant resort began a strike that lasted through early January. Employees were hoping that the Christmas strike would get management to bend on issues ranging from pay raises to pension plans and were specifically looking for a 15 percent salary increase over three years—the average hourly wage at the time of the strike was $13.90 CDN.

Details were not available on the agreement to end the strike, but one thing is for sure, Tremblant and the area’s businesses took a major hit. About 200 management personnel manned the lifts and cafeterias in order to keep the area going through the holiday season, but the resort saw only 5,000 skiers per day as opposed to its normal 12,000. Tremblant hopes to be able to salvage the rest of the season, without the benefit of strong Christmas coffers.


Obituaries
The Slutzky family announced the death of one of the resort’s founding fathers, Israel Slutzky. He died of natural causes in the early morning hours of January 8, 2006. He was 92. Israel (Izzy), along with his brother Orville, provided the vision for Hunter Mountain in 1959, and over the last 47 years grew the facility into one of the region’s premier mountain resort destinations.

Aaron S. “Woody” Liswood, long known for his work at the Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nev., died recently. Liswood helped shape many of today’s industry personnel through his ski area management program at the college.

Otto Lang died in late January at the age of 98. Lang had a lifelong passion for the wintersports industry and directed movies, wrote books and started many ski schools in the Northwest.


People
In Vermont, David Dillon will leave his position as president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association (VSAA) to take on the role of president at the Haystack Club. Replacing Dillon at VSAA is Parker Riehle who was promoted from within. Also promoted at VSAA was Victoria Provost to VP Marketing. . .Stowe promoted Chris Gross to director of hospitality and Dave Merriam becomes the new director of mountain recreation.

At Attitash, N.H., Jesse Mosston is the new marketing and brand manager of the area and the Grand Summit Hotel and Conference Center. Krissy Fraser also joins the marketing team as communications manager. . .Wildcat named Alexa Bernotavicz to the position of director of mountain operations.

At Jiminy Peak, Mass., Betsy Strickler is the new director of marketing and Jim Bronson takes on the director of food and beverage role.

In New York, Ted Blazer will go back to the position he recently vacated as CEO of the Olympic Regional Development Authority.

Sam DeGonge, a New Jersey attorney who has been defending ski areas, manufacturers and ski shops in the state, is retiring after 40 years on the job.

Indianhead, Mich., hired Barry Bolich as resort manager. . .Also in Michigan, Pine Mountain Resort has hired Rick Gregorio as the resort’s general manager.

In Colorado, Jennifer deBerge is the new communications director at Winter Park.


Supplier News
Ski Racing International, LLC, under the leadership of Gary Black Jr., has reached an agreement with Inside Communications, Inc., to acquire the assets of Ski Racing magazine and SkiRacing.com. Black originally sold the magazine to Inside Communications in April 2003.

XCSkiResorts.com has announced a redesign of its Website, which is tailored to consumers wanting to learn more about recreational and travel-oriented cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.


Supplier People
Ski Press Media, Inc., announced that Ben Warner will take on the role as publisher of Ski Press USA and VP of global business development.

At Turbocristal, Joe Doczi comes on board as sales representative for the Ontario and Midwest territories.