PCMR,TALISKER DUEL OVER ... WHAT?
Perhaps the strangest news this past winter came from Park City Mountain Resort, when the area said it might lose its land lease, which covers nearly all the on-mountain terrain. Park City said that unless the lease, held by neighbor Canyons owner Talisker, is renewed on terms acceptable to the resort, the area may not open next winter.

The issue has roots in Park City’s mining past and the complexities of land ownership in the area. Park City’s lease dates to 1961 and was up for renewal in April 2011. Since 2009, Park City had been negotiating a new lease with leaseholder United Park City Mines and its owner, Talisker Corp., which also owns neighboring Canyons resort. The parties discussed a variety of property transactions, business opportunities, and infrastructure investments, including a lift connecting Park City and Canyons, but never reached a new agreement. Nonetheless, Park City sent in a check for its annual payment last summer and claims surprise when it was informed, in December 2011, that its lease had expired. The resort continued to operate normally this past winter, but in March, filed a lawsuit to force extension of the lease through 2051.

"If we do not prevail . . . Park City Mountain Resort could be forced to close," Jenni Smith, the president and general manager of PCMR, said in a prepared statement in March.

Talisker first purchased the majority holdings of UPCM, and became PCMR’s landlord, in 2003, then bought Canyons in 2008. It responded to Park City’s claims with a prepared statement of its own, saying it was not forcing PCMR to close. Talisker said it had offered new lease terms, and that the parties have been in discussions about them. “We had hoped to reach terms on the new lease that would be fair to both parties,” Talisker said. “Unfortunately it appears that PCMR is attempting to use litigation to better its position, and avoid reaching a mutually fair outcome.”

There are a few points of agreement between the two companies: both have professed to have no clue as to what the other wants, and both refused to explain those statements, citing a legal requirement for confidentiality.

Since neither party has been talking, speculation has been rampant. It’s widely assumed that Park City has enjoyed a below-market lease rate, and that Talisker is seeking a higher payment. But Talisker officials have hinted that their lease offer is quite reasonable. Some have postulated that water rights for snowmaking, which Park City holds, may be part of the issue. Whatever the truth is, it must be momentous for Park City to say the dispute could be its death knell, though the situation will likely see some resolution during the off-season.


LSSM STANDS OUT IN A DOWN SEASON
This past season has shown once again the importance of beginner programs, and not just as a way to maintain or increase the total market of downhillers. As Skip King points out in “The Wake-Up Call,” page 45, learn-to programs were one of the bright spots, businesswise, this past winter. Beginners were emboldened to venture out on snow- and icefree roads, in balmy temperatures. The desire to take up our sports was still strong, and the intimidating factors were much reduced.

Thanks to Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month, we have some good metrics to judge this impact. Visit totals came to 100,000 this season, up from 75,000 the prior year, and visits to the program’s website were up 38 percent. LSSM has been the most cost-effective promotion ever.

For 2013, LSSM is adding a Bring a Friend campaign, aimed at industry members and current participants.


THOSE SHRINKING SENIOR BENEFITS
One of our favorite barroom fixtures is a faded, chipped signboard promising “free beer tomorrow.” It reminds us of the state of senior lift-ticket discounts: as Boomers approach their golden years, the age at which skiers become “seniors” and reach the promised land of a free ticket always seem to be just a year or two away.

A month or so ago, Purgatory was in the news for reducing its senior benefits and raising the qualifying age. The area noted that skiers in their 60s and 70s are leading more active, healthier lives, and the number of seniors on the slopes is rising exponentially. It can’t afford to give the sport away to so many.

What struck us about the story, though, was that someone considered this news. Resorts have been slowly raising the “senior” age and turning “free” into discounts for years now. Even so, the cost of skiing for seniors isn’t a big deal. With the current discounts, seniors can easily get a smokin’ deal--often on a par with that afforded their 6-and-under grandchildren. Do any seniors really believe that their grandkids should pay more than them? Plus, the feeling that seniors have paid through the nose for years and earned their loyalty discounts is not as strong as it was when season’s passes routinely cost in the thousands.

That said, those of us who are approaching our golden years thank all of you who still offer free skiing to those 70 and older: Monarch, Mountain High, Angel Fire, Whitefish, the Boynes, and Bogus Basin, along with the many smaller areas that remain true to the old ways. But will that still be true tomorrow?


IS SYNTHETIC BETTER THAN THE REAL THING?
It’s been just two and a half years since Liberty University, Virginia, installed its Snowflex dry slope, and it has already proved to be an effective year-round training facility. The Liberty Ski and Snowboard Team competes in the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboarding Association (USCSA), where it won two team events in February against other university teams from the South--Virginia, Maryland, Duke, Appalachian State, and James Madison among them. At the USCSA national championships in March at Sunday River, Liberty team members finished fourth in men’s ski slopestyle, top-15 in men’s and women’s snowboard slopestyle, and 30th in boardercross. "Three years ago, what we thought was impossible, we’re doing," says team coach Will Scheren. Maybe snow isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, after all.


WAIVERS, WAIVERS EVERYWHERE
Yes, your insurer and legal counsel have been urging you to extend your waivers as far as possible. And it seems they have a point. A few years ago, Mountain Creek added a clause to its season pass agreement that waives liability for all past injuries. A passholder who was injured during the 2010-11 season, say, and who signed the waiver agreement when buying a pass for 2011-12, could no longer sue over the earlier injury.

That’s what Derek Dearnley learned after he was injured during the 2008-09 season and filed suit against the area. However, when he purchased his 2009-10 Mountain Creek season’s pass, he signed the agreement and waived any prior claims. The court therefore dismissed his suit, and an appellate court upheld the decision.

The key clause states, “I further release and give up any and all claims and rights that I may now have against Mountain Creek Resort, Inc. This releases all claims, including those of which I am not aware and those not mentioned in this release. This release applies to claims resulting from anything which has happened up to now.”


AND YOU THOUGHT YOU LOGGED SOME MILES
Warm weather, rain, thaws, and other obstacles failed to keep longtime Sugarloafer Tom Hanson from beating his goal of skiing three million vertical feet last season. Hanson eventually logged more than 4.2 million vertical feet and earned the mountain’s annual Ironman Award. His efforts also raised $2,500 for the Ski Museum of Maine, which Hanson serves as treasurer.

The 60-something Hanson and his arthritic knees covered an astounding 4,239,462 vertical feet and a distance of 6,346.9 miles, roughly the distance from Sugarloaf to Alyeska, Alaska (with its record season) and back. At Sugarloaf alone, Hanson accumulated 3,885,000 vertical feet. With the season still underway at press time, Hanson had already skied more than 105 days, including 10 in British Columbia.

To track his progress, Hanson recorded all of his skiing stats with the Sugarloaf Replay app, which measures speed, vertical, airtime, and more on any mountain. The app, powered by AlpineReplay.com, showed Hanson bested the thousands of other, mostly younger members of the AlpineReplay community by at least two million vertical. Way to go, Tom!


UTAH TO GET CONNECTED?
The Utah legislature has passed a bill supporting a multi-resort lift interconnect among the Wasatch ski areas, which has been an elusive goal over the past two decades. The proposal has drawn considerable public opposition in the past; the bill lauds the project’s positive economic and environmental impacts, which stem from increased visits and reduced auto travel.