Greek Peak and Snö Mountain Auctioned
A federal judge has approved the sale of Greek Peak, N.Y., after a private auction on March 19. The highest bid was $6.76 million by two local businessmen, John Meier and Marc Stemerman. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which became the main lender and receiver after the resort’s main lender went under, did not register any objection.

Some creditors were not happy and filed objections. Greek Peak sought Chapter 11 protection in August 2012, with debts totaling $47 million, much of that related to the construction of a hotel and water park.

In Pennsylvania, a local real estate group, Jefferson-Werner, headed by developer Charlie Jefferson, was said to be close to buying Snö Mountain winter resort and water park at presstime. The group plans to restore the area’s original name, Montage, and bolster marketing efforts.

Jefferson-Warner is expected to pay $8 million for the resort, which was bought out of bankruptcy by National Penn Bank, the largest creditor at the time, for $4.6 million on March 1.


WHALEBACK CLOSES DOORS
Whaleback Mountain shut its doors for the year, and as a business, on March 17. Owners Evan Dybvig, Frank Sparrow, and Dylan Goodspeed posted a letter on their website that said, “We sincerely hope that our departure is not the end of skiing and riding at Whaleback. On the contrary, we believe that this is an opportunity for the community to Save the Whale and continue to maintain this beloved place. We strongly believe that Whaleback could be a sustainable and vital resource with appropriate funding and leadership, especially after our eight years of developing strong programs and relationships.” Plans are emerging to raise money through a non-profit to purchase the mountain and continue operating, the letter said.


LSSM reports big 2013 Numbers
More than 153,000 children and adults from 34 states registered for beginner lessons during January 2013 as part of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month/Bring a Friend (LSSM/BAF)—an increase of more than 50,000 compared to 2012, and an increase of more than 130,000 since the initiative’s first effort in January 2009.

The majority of participating ski and snowboard areas offered discounted lift, lesson and rental equipment beginner's packages. Most made their LSSM offer available to consumers for the entire month, and 70 percent reported that participation was higher than last year.

Despite a fair amount of promotion, just 175 adults (ages 18 and older) took the BAF challenge to sign up skiing and snowboarding newcomers for lessons. Those who did, though, had a good chance to win prizes: more than 20 registrants won BAF goodies from suppliers, retailers, reps and industry media.


SAMMY AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Four new names join the list of SAMMY Leadership Award recipients in 2013. They are: Ryan Bell of CNL, which owns 17 winter resorts; Ross Boisvert, GM and operator of McIntyre Ski Area, N.H.; Rob McSkimming, VP of business development at Whistler Blackcomb; and Justin Rowland, director of Ski Apache, N.M.


N.Y.’S ORDA TO BE AUDITED
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced in late March that he will launch a full financial audit of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) after a report by his office found that financial issues persist at a time when its operations have been expanded to include Belleayre Mountain.

ORDA was created in 1981 and runs Whiteface, Gore and, now, Belleayre.

According to the report, in the last reported fiscal year, ORDA spent $40.4 million and took in $39.7 million in revenues, largely from the ski areas, skating and other activities, as well as state and local financial contributions. ORDA receives financial support from the state, the town of North Elba, the Empire State Development Corporation and the New York Power Authority. The authority’s financial statements identified an operating loss of $16.9 million in 2012. ORDA has maintained up to a $7 million private line of credit, which it uses to fill periodic funding shortfalls in operating revenues, and to fund projects while it waits for grant funding. As of fiscal year end March 31, 2012, ORDA reported 304 active procurement contracts totaling nearly $27.5 million, of which 167, valued at nearly $7 million, were either not competitively bid or were non-contract procurements.


OBITUARY
Richard “Dick” Butler died in March 2013 at the age of 73 after a two-year battle with melanoma. Dick was a long-time ski writer and was a featured writer for Ski Magazine. He also served as president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association and was VP of North American Snow­sports Journalists Association.


People
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame inducted six new members: Horst Abraham, Jeremy Bloom, Kirsten Clark, Hans Geier, Craig Kelly and Wayne Wong. . . The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame announced that Tom Kelly, VP of communications of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and the U.S. Ski Team, will become chairman in the spring of 2014. At this time, Kelly will share the chairmanship with the current chairman of the Hall of Fame, Bernie Weichsel.

At the Vermont Ski Areas Association, Kyle Lewis was promoted to director of marketing and Hilary DelRoss was hired as marketing manager. . .Q Burke Mountain Resort, LLC, the owners of Burke Mountain Resort, Vt., appointed Ary Quiros as president and CEO.

Wisp Resort, Md., announced the promotion of Jerry Geisler to general manager.

At Afton Alps, Minn., Vail Resorts named Joe Yasis GM and Amy Reents as director of marketing. Eric Simon was named VP of urban resorts and oversees Afton Alps and Mount Brighton.

Park City Mountain Resort, Utah, announced the appointment of Matt Gebo as the resort’s new director of marketing and communications.
At Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Ron Cohen was promoted to VP, human resources and administration.

Red Mountain Resort, B.C., announced the appointment of Tim Petrick to its board of directors.