SAM Magazine—Snowmass, Colo., Sept. 21, 2016—After several years of uncertainty, the dormant Base Village project at Snowmass is being acquired from Related Companies by a joint venture that includes an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners, LLC, East West Partners, and Aspen Skiing Company. The partnership expects to close on the transaction by the end of 2016.

Welcome to the September edition of Snow People, where we highlight happenings to prominent ski industry and supplier personnel. 

SAM Magazine—Denver, Sept. 19, 2016—Summer business continues its record pace at several western destination mountain lodging properties, according to a recent DestiMetrics report. As of Aug. 31, aggregated occupancy for the six-month summer period from May through October was up 7.3 percent and revenues showed a stellar 14.7 percent increase compared to the same time last year.

You can tell that winter is right around the corner when ski industry operators and suppliers gather at the annual New England Summit. This year’s event attracted nearly 420 ski industry personnel, exhibitors, and speakers at Sunday River in Newry, Maine, Sept. 13-15.

Randy MacDonald, managing partner at Windham Mountain Resort, N.Y., died last Friday after a long battle with cancer. Mentor, visionary, leader, loving husband, devoted father and grandfather, Randy leaves behind a rich legacy.

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., Sept. 13, 2016—Rich McCoy has been promoted to director of operations at Pico Mountain, Vt., which is owned and operated under Killington’s umbrella. McCoy joined Killington in 1999 and managed the retail operations for several years. He will continue to oversee revenue management of the resort’s mountain bike park and adventure center during the summer months.

SAM Magazine—Bridgton, Maine, Sept. 2, 2016—Ralph Lewis has been named general manager of Shawnee Peak Ski Area. Lewis succeeds long-time GM Edward Rock, who is retiring after 34 years at Shawnee Peak, and who will become a senior advisor through 2017. Lewis will officially start in late September.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 1, 2016—Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass now includes a few days of skiing at several resorts in Europe. To varying levels and with certain requirements, passholders can now access Les 3 Vallees, Paradiski and Tignes-Val d'Isere in France, Skirama Dolomiti Adamello Brenta in Italy, 4 Vallees in Switzerland, and Arlberg in Austria.

SAM Magazine—Waterville Valley, N.H., Aug. 30, 2016—The Green Peak expansion project, which gained permits in 2013, is finally underway at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. The resort is cutting 10 new trails that will add 45 skiable acres, served by a new fixed-grip triple that is scheduled to be open for the coming winter season.

About 400 ski area and supplier members attended the 2016 Midwest Ski Areas Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show, Aug. 21-24, at Shanty Creek Resorts in northern Michigan. The event addressed a wide range of issues, from beginner trial and conversion to leadership succession, lift maintenance and safety.

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 29, 2016—Registration for SAM’s seventh annual Summer Ops Camp—a series of seminars, workshops, and site visits that explore the state of the art in summer operations—closes Sept. 6. A few spots are still available for the Camp, Sept. 14-16 at Park City, Utah.

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., Aug. 25, 2016—An ambitious, top-to-bottom enhancement project called “Big Sky 2025” with an anticipated price tag of $150 million is underway at Big Sky, Mont.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 25, 2016— The Winter Park Express will once again ferry skiers and riders round-trip from Denver to Winter Park every mid-winter weekend this season, for the first time in seven years. The ski train was a popular mode of transportation from the city to the resort and back from 1940 to 2009.

SAM Magazine—Wildwood, Mo., Aug. 24, 2016—Peak Resorts has reached an agreement to sell $20 million of its Series A cumulative convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase common stock to CAP 1 LLC, a family client of Summer Road LLC. Summer Road will also have the right to nominate a person for election to Peak’s board of directors. Peak plans to use the proceeds from this offering for working capital and for future growth, including expansion through acquisition.

SAM Magazine—Rossland, B.C., Canada, Aug. 24, 2016—Red Mountain, the oldest ski resort in Western Canada, is turning to a new funding source: the internet. In what may be an industry first, it is turning to equity crowdfunding.