SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 30, 2015—Total mountain revenue for Vail Resorts (VR) increased 11.6 percent to $1.4 billion for the 2015 fiscal year, fueled largely by a 10.1 percent increase in season pass and ticket prices and a 6.5 percent increase in total skier visits. The results also include one month of peak season operat...

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., Sept. 30, 2015—Chamonix’s Mont-Blanc Valley is now part of the Mountain Collective 2015/16 season pass program. Chamonix is the Collective’s first European resort, and the fourth international destination, joining Thredbo, Australia; Hakuba Valley, Japan; and Valley Nevado, Chile. The Collective no...

SAM Magazine—Kelowna, B.C., Sept. 30, 2015—According to CBC.ca, Crystal Mountain, a day ski area in West Kelowna, B.C., will not open for the 2015-16 winter season. In March 2014, one of Crystal’s chairlifts incurred a deropement, and three chairs fell to the ground. Four guests were taken to the hospital. As a result, the BC S...

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., Sept 29, 2015—In the never-ending debate over which resort is the best, Ski magazine released its 2016 Top 10 list of Western North American resorts today. The publication’s readers voted Whistler Blackcomb, B.C., as number one for the second straight year. The resort is celebrating its 50th anniversar...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Sept. 29, 2015—There are only two days left to enter SAM’s 11th Annual Terrain Park contest, sponsored by Burton Snowboards. The magazine aims to showcase the most unique terrain park features and innovative park contests from last season. Start sorting through your creations and submit your entry for the feature and/or events categories.

Mount Sunapee's Bruce McCloy and Jay Gamble proudly display their "trophy" on a Pats Peak-mobile. SAM Magazine—Newbury, N.H., Sept. 29, 2015—Golf lore is filled with a number of classic slugfests played out on the greens, like the 1949 Motor City Open between Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum, or the 1981 Millio...

The annual ISKINY-PSAA Expo Sept. 21-23, 2015, at Lake Placid, N.Y., attracted more than 370 ski resort, vendor, and guest attendees from across North America. Two major themes dominated the gathering: the guest experience and risk management. Before diving into business, though, the fun kicked off with a tour of the operational areas at Whitefa...

The near-record turnout at this year's New England Summit Sept. 15-17 showed how much excitement there is in the region as resorts anticipate what El Nino will bring—including the possibility the Northeast is looking at another record-breaking snowfall year. Show organizer Bo Bigelow of the Ski Maine Association said the Summit drew 290 s...

SAM Magazine—New Hampshire, Sept. 21, 2015—It’s been a busy year with multi-resort companies and independent ski areas rolling out new pass partnerships (see Blue Pages, SAM Sept. issue). And now, it’s about to become even busier with the entry of the MiniMIX pass in New Hampshire. Available for only $199, the pass includ...

The continued growth in summer resort operations lured more than 160 attendees representing 50 resorts, along with 34 vendor partners, from across North America to SAM’s 6th annual Summer Ops Camp at Camelback Resort, Pa., Sept. 9-11. The three-day conference addressed several aspects of “The Serious Business of Summer Fun” and provided several opportunities to demo a variety of summer activities and different ways to program them.

SAM MAGAZINE—Zanesfield, Ohio, Sept. 18, 2015—The lodge at Mad River Mountain caught fire and was destroyed Wednesday night. The resort was closed at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported. There is currently no information as to the cause of the fire. Reports indicate that part of the A-frame brick and mortar building i...

SAM MAGAZINE—Cortland, N.Y., Sept 16, 2015—Greek Peak is purchasing Toggenburg. During a press conference at Toggenburg today, former owner Jim Hickey and the new owners—who are also co-owners of Greek Peak Mountain Resort—Marc Stemerman and John Meier, addressed the details. Greek Peak Mountain Resort owners Marc Stemerm...

SAM Magazine—Taos, N.M., Sept. 16, 2015—Taos Ski Valley is increasing its minimum wage to $10 an hour, making it one of the higher paying resorts in the country for entry-level employees. As one of the largest private employers in the state, the resort decided to increase the minimum wage to ensure it retains and recruits the best em...

SAM Magazine—Mt. Hood, Ore., Sept. 16, 2015—Mt. Hood Meadows has appointed three employees, Steve Warila, Jeremy Riss and Matt Troskey, to new vice president roles in an effort to restructure and provide year-round recreational and hospitality experiences. Meadows COO Jake Bolland said, “This reorganization is designed to prope...

SAM Magazine—Toronto, Ont., Sept. 16, 2015—The C.J. Group of Companies has acquired the media brands of Toronto-based SBC Media. The acquisition includes eight magazines, all SBC websites, social media accounts and assets, which will now operate under C.J. Oyster Publishing, a division of the C.J. Group. The titles and brands now own...