ASC SELLS MOUNT SNOW, ATTITASH, KILLINGTON AND PICO RESORTS
Ending weeks of speculation, in mid February American Skiing Company (ASC) announced the sale of Mount Snow and Attitash to Peak Resorts for $73.5 million. Three days later, ASC announced the sale of Killington and Pico to SP Land Company for $83.5 million. SP Land Company will be partnering with Powdr Corp. in the Killington/Pico deal. Add to these the recent sale of Steamboat to Intrawest and ASC has a lot of money in its cash drawer. The company plans to use it to pay off all debt and take care of some long overdue upgrades at its three remaining resorts: Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine and The Canyons in Utah. As for further dismantling the company, there were no plans in the works at presstime.


A Public Fortress
When Fortress Investment Group purchased Intrawest last fall, wags immediately began speculating about when the company would take the resort division public again. They didn’t have long to wait to get an inkling: Fortress, a private equity group and hedge fund, recently took itself public—making it the first hedge fund to do so. The company’s main goal was to raise additional capital, and to get it from smaller investors; most hedge funds cater to the wealthy.

This move is not exactly the same thing as taking Intrawest public, but still. Fortress is not known for taking a long-term interest in its acquisitions. In describing the company’s latest move, one business writer noted that Fortress’ equity group typically buys a controlling interest in public companies, takes them private, and then sells them for a profit. Let the speculation continue!


Celebrating 25 Years of Hot Dogging
Twenty five years ago, a Hollywood cast and crew descended on Squaw Valley to film what has become the ultimate party ski flick, Hot Dog. The unlikely hit opened in January of 1983 as number two at the nation’s box offices. Today, Hot Dog is a sort of kitschy time capsule with a cult following, and Squaw Valley hosted an appropriately celebration.

The festivities included the “Undie 500,” in which anyone foolish enough donned only their undergarments and raced around the icy shores of Lake Cushing. The salute continued with Hot Dog Celebrity Karaoke, 80s trivia and bar games, nostalgic drink specials, and an air guitar contest. Plus a special screening of Hot Dog, for those who have somehow missed it or failed to memorize it. A formal anniversary party, including the “Sylvia and Harkin Speedsuit and Stretch Pant Competition,” judged by the original cast members capped the foolishness.


The Selling of Skiing, 2007
More than half of the world’s ski resorts now sell lift tickets online—the first year the majority has been selling in cyberspace. And the age at which seniors receive discounts/freebies has been rising, or disappearing entirely. These and other tidbits are catalogged in “The World Lift Ticket Price Study,” an annual survey of lift ticket prices from 400 ski areas around the world conducted by Snow24 plc (www.snow24.com).

The study’s main goal is to track ticket prices. It includes 40 categories of pricing data for each of the 400 areas, but the short story is: prices, as reflected by the six-day adult Christmas holiday ticket, have been steadily rising. This year, the top price hit $325 in Europe, $550 in the U.S.


Chicks Who Rip
Whistler Blackcomb is onto something here. The resort’s “If Ullr Was A Girl” contest (see “Grrl Power,” SAM January 2007) attracted more than 420 women to strut there stuff on the resort’s website, where their fans voted for their favorites. The top six, joined by 10 others chosen by the Whistler staff, are now vying for the title of Ullr Girl. The crown will be settled during the resort’s annual spring superfest, the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival, in April. Check out the current balloting at ifullrwasagirl.com.

Word of mouth has driven big traffic, fueled by the girls’ enterprising initiatives. Local amateur snowboarder Alison Pasemko enticed Much Music’s 969 television program to profile her quest for the crown; the segment aired Canada-wide.

Votes will count for one-quarter of the final score. Big-mountain and slopestyle events during the festival will also count one-quarter, as will a “mountain culture” talent show: each finalist must prove adept at photography, film, art or music. Waitressing and bartending skills, the true staples of mountain culture, were somehow omitted from the criteria.


The Little Company that Could
Six months ago, little-known local developer Pat Smith shocked Aspen Skiing Company and Intrawest by offering to buy the entire Snowmass Village development from the two superpowers. Smith owned a few smaller parts of the Village, but nothing on the scale of the whole enchilada. But that’s pretty much what he has now.

Related WestPac, Smith’s development company, was expected to close the deal with Aspen/Intrawest in late February. While the change in ownership won’t affect the scale or scope of the Village—it would be nearly impossible to make major changes to the plan, which took years to gain approval—we can’t wait to see how Smith markets and sells the project.


Where Were You When We Needed You?
A company called Storm Risk Solutions wants to help resorts, among others, protect their cash flow from the financial impact of adverse weather. How, you ask? Via a complex-sounding insurance plan of sorts. Storm’s mathematicians are whipping up standardized indices of weather data (temperatures, snowfall, etc.), which allow companies to analyze and track the impact of seasonal volatility on their business results, and then price and execute a weather-indexed derivative OTC to reduce weather-related losses. One possible use: resorts can buy a derivative and offer season’s pass buyers a rebate if snow or weather conditions fail to meet pre-established levels. Weather insurance for customers, in short. The company says it will focus on ski and outdoor companies, and is set to launch on Apr. 1.


Global Warming? Bah, humbug!
In defiance of the laws of nature, Coca-Cola will sponsor Snow Mountain, a “major new attraction” at Stone Mountain theme park in Georgia. The “family snow park” will be open for the Christmas season, from late November through late January, and include a 400-foot tubing hill and 13,000 square-foot snowplay area.

The aim is to bring the Currier & Ives vision of a white Christmas to the nearly 70 percent of Georgian kids who never experience real snow. Snow Mountain will give them 10 tubing lanes, places to play in the snow, make snowballs, and otherwise frolic in the white stuff.

Without revealing exactly how, Coke plans to provide 200 tons of fresh snow daily. Given that temperatures will likely not support traditional snowmaking, Snow Mountain will be built with something like Snow Magic’s machines, which enabled Tenney Mountain to offer summer sliding of a sort a few years ago. But folks from Coke are mum on the details, claiming they are “confidential.” Perhaps they know something about the laws of physics that the rest of us can profit from.


Short Swings
A bomb threat from an anonymous environmental organization forced the Bulgarian resort of Bansko, a popular resort with Brits, to close for two days last month. The terrorists were believed to be protesting the rapid development of the resort, much of which is on public land. . . a Maine doctor collided with a deer while skiing at Sugarloaf; neither was injured. . .the Yellowstone Club is in the planning stages for what could be the world’s most expensive vacation home, a 53,000 square-foot, $155 million mansion on 160 acres with its own private lift (that at a resort that is private to begin with).