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January 2016

Publisher's Memo - January 2016

Superstars everywhere you look

The start of a new year is a time to take stock of the past and look to the future. Here’s to those leading the way.

Written by Olivia Rowan | 0 comment

The winners of SAM’s 2015 Terrain Park contest are Snowshoe Mountain, W.Va., for best feature, and Holiday Valley, N.Y., for best event. Snowshoe’s jib was designed by terrain park supervisor Kevin Sprecher and built by the Mountaineer park staff. The winning park event, the RedBull All Snow series, offered a skate-style course constructed of all snow. Both winning resorts receive a package of goodies from our contest sponsor, Burton. Check out all of this year’s entries at www.saminfo.com/terrain-park-contest.

It’s SAMMY time! Nominations are open for the 19th annual SAMMY Leadership Awards (saminfo.com/sammy-awards). The SAMMYs recognize leaders who are making a difference at their resorts, in the community at large, or on a broader level. They are creative, passionate individuals who possess the leadership skills to see us into the future. A big “thank you” to Leitner-Poma and Wells Fargo who help make this award possible, as they have every year since our inception in 1998.

Please welcome Dave Meeker and Sarah Ebbott (above) to the staff at SAM. Both have worked in the resort business: Dave at Mount Snow, Vt., and Sarah at Okemo Mountain Resort, Vt. Dave will be working with our Editor, Rick Kahl, on both SAM and our newest magazine, Adventure Park Insider. Sarah will be managing circulation for both magazines and working in many other roles, from marketing to events. We are excited to have them join the team and bring their infectious smiles.

Finally, we invite you to a couple of events at the SIA Snow Show Jan 28-31. The Rental World breakfasts Jan. 28-3o, and the rental seminar Jan. 30, are all excellent reasons to stop by and see the complete picture of rental + backshop (booth 4501). We also encourage you to attend The Assembly’s “Destination Summer—Managing the Peaks & Valleys” conference on Friday, Jan. 29. Our own Rick Kahl will head up a discussion based on what we have learned at our Summer Ops Camps. Details are at siasnowshow.snowsports.org and assembly.destimetrics.com.