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January 2008

Industry Reports :: January 2008

RED LODGE SOLD... NUMBERS UP DOWN UNDER... SIA MOVES TO DENVER... VAIL HITS DEAD-END AT THE CANYONS... WINDHAM AND HUNTER OFFER JOINT TICKET... NEW VILLAGE FOR BANFF... CRYSTAL HONORED BY SIERRA CLUB... MORE AWARDS... PEOPLE... SUPPLIER NEWS.

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Red Lodge Sold
An affiliate of JMA Ventures, LLC, has purchased Red Lodge Mountain Resort, Mont., for an undisclosed sum. JMA has, in the past eighteen months, also bought Homewood and Alpine Meadows, Calif. JMA is a San Francisco-based real estate investment company.


Numbers up Down Under
The Australian Ski Areas Association announced that the 2007 ski season in Australia was up 17 percent in visits, making it the third highest on record. A total of 2,034,000 skier days were logged, which is a 2.6 percent above the 10-year average.


SIA Moves to Denver
Snowsports Industries America (SIA) is moving its annual trade show to the newly-expanded Colorado Convention Center in Denver in 2010, ending more than three decades in Las Vegas. For SIA, the new location offers more space and a closer connection with the mountains.

The deal is expected to bring $300 million to Denver over the next decade and the 10-year commitment makes this the largest convention booking in the history of Denver’s Convention Center.

The move will also make it possible to hold pre- or post-show on-snow demos and other events, an idea that Colorado resorts have championed in the past.

Show dates for the first few years in Denver will remain in SIA’s late-January time frame.

Upcoming SIA show dates:
Jan. 29–Feb. 1, 2008, Las Vegas
Jan 27-30, 2009, Las Vegas
Jan. 28-31, 2010, Denver
Jan. 25-28, 2011, Denver


Vail hits dead-end at the canyons
After Vail spent approximately $2 million in an attempt to prevent the American Skiing Company (ASC) from selling The Canyons ski resort to Talisker Corporation, a Denver judge has backed Talisker and ASC and nixed VR’s attempts to stop the sale.

At presstime, ASC planned to proceed with the sale to Talisker, and was anticipating that the deal would close before the end of 2007. However, several pending lawsuits were not resolved.


Windham and Hunter Offer joint ticket
A mere eight miles apart, Hunter Mountain and Windham are offering visitors an inexpensive way to sample the disparate vibe of both with a single ticket package. The resorts are offering guests The Winter Card ($119), which gives skiers two days of skiing and riding at Hunter and two days at Windham. The deal works out to just under $30 per day.


new village for banff
Colorado-based East West Partners and Morgan Stanley Real Estate have acquired Three Sisters Mountain Village, a 1,800-acre partially completed Canadian Rockies resort community near Banff, adjacent to the historic mining town of Canmore (site of Nordic events at the 1988 Olympics). Colorado-based East West Partners is a resort real estate development company, which has projects at Beaver Creek, Colo., and Lake Tahoe, Calif.


Crystal honored by sierra club
In recognition of Crystal Mountain, Michigan’s commitment to the environment, the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club honored the area with the White Pine Award, given to one non-member group or organization. Crystal Mountain purchases enough wind energy credits to power its high-speed lift and is a member of Green Lodging Michigan.

In other news at Crystal, the area announced a new resort-wide, no-smoking policy, which will apply to all indoor areas.


More Awards
The U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame named the 2007 inductees: Jake and Donna Carpenter of Burton; Boyne USA’s Everett Kircher; aerialist Eric Bergoust; Ski racer Doug Lewis; Tom Jacobs of Reliable Racing Supply; and Mitch Cubberly of Cubco bindings.

Gary Black Jr., longtime publisher of Ski Racing Magazine, received the International Ski Federation Journalist Award.

Paul Maloney, VP and COO at Jiminy Peak, Mass., was given an Eastern Division Lifetime Achievement Award by the Professional Ski Instructors of America.


People
NSAA hired Ann George as its new education director. . .The International Skiing History Association selected Dean R. Ericson to be its new president.

Boyne Resorts appointed Mark Hall to the new position of director of development for its newly-acquired Maine resorts, Sunday River and Sugarloaf USA.

Okemo announced three promotions: Crystal Stokarski was promoted to VP of human resources; Scott Clarkson to VP of marketing; and Ted Reeves to VP of development and real estate.

In New Hampshire, Chris Bradford was promoted to GM of Crotched Mountain. . .David Mosher moves to Dartmouth Skiway as mountain operations manager.

At Jiminy Peak, Mass., Cathy Kennedy was appointed assistant director of snowsports. Vikki Fairbank was named SkiWee supervisor, and Lisa Carr moves up to front desk manager of the Country Inn.

Hunter Mountain, N.Y., appointed John Iannelli VP of finance and revenue management.

In Colorado, Crested Butte has a new mountain manager in Jack Gibbons.

Snowbird, Utah, promoted Brett Duncan to director of ticket services. Pamela Renee joins the team as the activity center manager. David McFate joins the area as manager of the Aerie Restaurant and Lucette Barbier is the new manager of the Seven Summits Club. Rounding out the list is Brett Pelletier, who was promoted to energy conservation coordinator.

At Panorama, B.C., Intrawest named Kirby Brown as president and COO.


Supplier News
Leitner-Poma of America and Prinoth, both Leitner Technologies companies, began construction on a $15-million, two-building, 90,000 square-foot office, factory and warehouse on an 18-acre site adjacent to the Grand Junction Regional Airport. The new facility, which will double the company’s space, is scheduled for completion in late 2008, and will be home to about 175 employees.

Turbocristal recently welcomed new members to its team: Ismael Fréchette, sales manager, can be reached at 1-800-613-4546; Jason Sawin will be an agent for the western U.S. and can be reached at (303) 818-5923; Louis Gauthier climbs on board as a sales agent for western Canada and can be reached at (250) 368-7018.

Head USA announced that Guy Peterson will be expanding his representation to include Alpine ski products in the northern California region.

Halti, a European sports clothing company for over 30 years, is open for business in the U.S. The newly-formed Halti USA will locate its offices in Lake Placid, N.Y., with Paul Van Slyke at the helm. Taking on the VP of marketing and sales position is Dirk Gouwens. Halti is currently the exclusive clothing supplier for the FIS. The number for Halti USA is 1-866-780-1575.