SAM Coverage
Linda Goodspeed
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Status Quo for J-1 Visas, for Now
Ski area recruiting via the J-1 visa program shaped up well for this winter, but the future is less certain. Despite a new application…
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Snow Gains, Market Pains
Weather was a win for resorts this season, but inflation, recession fears, and trade tensions could make next year a tougher sell. Question: Can…
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Party Time
Unique events drive business in the early and late season. In December 2023, when Jay Peak, Vt., unveiled its first WinterShine event—a month-long celebration…
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Summertime is not Slumbertime
Resorts look to weddings, mountain biking, and more to bolster summer operations, a small but growing piece of the revenue pie. In early June,…
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Can We Still Count on Christmas?
Is Christmas week still the best benchmark for the season? December and the all-important Christmas holiday period were a bust for many North American…
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Positive Energy
As energy prices continue to spiral, ski resorts are creatively managing costs and consumption. Ski areas everywhere are being slammed with rising energy costs, and there seems…
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Great Expectations
After two record-breaking seasons, ski area operators expect—and are preparing for—continued growth. Despite last winter’s mediocre snow year everywhere but in the West, U.S.…
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The Age of the Employee
Resorts look to housing, increased wages, and even wellness benefits to bridge lingering post-Covid staffing gaps. After three tough years of Covid, the winter ski season…
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Summer Booking, Summer Not
As of late spring, summer business was looking up, down, or on par-—for many different reasons. Remember the good old days when there were pandemic…
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Season Pass Plays
The 2023-24 season pass sale is underway with lots of new offerings and more multi-area passes than ever before. Ski areas continue to innovate with…
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Durable Demand
Despite weather extremes, the 2022-23 season reached the halfway mark with strong demand and visits. This story is from the SAM print archive Subscribers…
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A Balancing Act
What is the status—and future—of the day ticket? It wasn’t long ago that resorts wanted skier visits to be on day tickets—a higher-yield product…
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Post-Pandemic Predictions
After two years of Covid, what do resort operators expect this winter? “Covid has been very good for us. We’ve had a great couple…
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Built for the Games
Beijing spared no expense, enlisting the expertise of several familiar resort equipent suppliers and planners to build state-of-the-art 2022 Winter Olympics venues. The future…
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Hiring in the New Era
A labor shortage borne of the pandemic poses both challenges and opportunities for winter resorts. Staffing up for winter—always a challenge for ski…
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Digital Embrace
The 2020-21 season pushed the snowsports industry to adopt technology on a whole new scale. Before Covid, Bolton Valley, Vt., did about 70 percent…
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The Evolution in Pass Plans
2021-22 season pass products aim to capture last season’s surge in demand and, in some cases, manage it. Amid the uncertainties of this…
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High Expectations Met
Many smaller local resorts saw record visits through the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Are we on the cusp of a Covid skier boom?…