SAM Magazine—Kensington, Minn., June 2, 2015—Under the strain of tighter profit margins, two ski areas in the Midwest are looking for local government funding to continue operations. In Minnesota, the Douglas County commissioners recently voted to investigate turning Andes Tower Hills, currently owned by brothers Vern and Paul Anders...

SAM Magazine—Nagano, Japan, May 28, 2015 —Hakuba Valley in the Japanese Alps has joined the Mountain Collective for the 2015-16 season. The Collective now provides access to 18 mountains in five countries that combined have more than 41,000 skiable acres of terrain and 244 lifts. Hakuba Valley is comprised of 10 distinct areas that e...

SAM Magazine – Salt Lake City, Utah, May 20, 2015 – The Utah ski and snowboard industry closed the 2014-15 winter season with a total of 3,946,762 skier days, down 4.9% from the previous season's 4,148,573. This year's number represents a 2.2% decrease vs. Utah's 5-year average of 4,037,349. Nationally, skier days were do...

SAM Magazine – Butler, Ohio, May 18, 2015 – Clear Fork Resort will go on the market via a sheriff’s sale in early June after a judge ordered foreclosure on the property to recover nearly $2.5 million in loan debt. On Feb. 13, Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese signed a foreclosure paving the way for five land parc...

SAM Magazine – Whistler, B.C., May 18, 2015 – Whistler-Blackcomb announced it will roll out a new smoke-free policy May 31 coinciding with World No Tobacco Day. The policy will prohibit smoking anywhere on Whistler-Blackcomb property including lift lines, chairlifts, gondolas, ski runs, hiking trails, valley base areas, parking lots, th...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., May 15, 2015—A number of leadership changes first detailed by Vail Resorts last fall are currently underway. John Buhler, current COO of Keystone, is transitioning to COO of Breckenridge. Buhler joined Vail Resorts in 1994 as manager of the Breckenridge ski school. He became ski school assistant direct...

SAM Magazine—South Lake Tahoe, Nev., May 15, 2015—The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board added the final stamp of approval to an extensive expansion of on-mountain summer activities at Heavenly Mountain Resort. Billed as Epic Discovery, new attractions will include multiple zip line canopy tours, a ropes course, an alpine coa...

SAM Magazine—Mill Valley, Calif., May 13, 2015—The California Ski Industry Association (CSIA) board of directors has chosen Michael Reitzell, an experienced attorney representing the ski and outdoor recreation industries, to be the new president of CSIA. Reitzell succeeds longtime CSIA chief Bob Roberts, who retires this month. Reitzell...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., May 13, 2015—Bolstered by last fall's aquisition of 100 percent interest in Blue Mountain, Ontario, Intrawest reported consolidated revenue increased $36 million, or 12.6 percent, to $321.8 million, for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2015. On a same-store basis, treating Blue Mountain as if it was fully owned...

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., May 13, 2015—Skier and snowboarder visits to Whistler Blackcomb fell 9.3 percent, to 1.52 million compared to last season, according to Whistler Blackcomb Holding’s second quarter financial report, for the season through Mar. 31, 2015. Revenues, though, rose 1.5 percent, to $191.4 million, as the decli...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—NSAA handed out a variety of awards at the National Convention here. Left: Bob Roberts (on left) accepting his award from Michael Berry, president of NSAA. Right: Dave Ingemie (on right) with Michael Berry. 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award: NSAA pre...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—The U.S. ski industry tallied an estimated 53.6 million skier and snowboarder visits this past season, making 2014-15 the second-worst since 2000-01, according to the National Ski Areas Association. The results represent a 5 percent decrease from 2013-14, and are down 3.8 percent from the five-sea...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—The U.S. Ski Team is assuming operational control of NASTAR through a partnership with the program’s owner, Active Interest Media (AIM). NASTAR is featured at 115 resorts nationwide, with more than 165,000 racer days each year. Tiger Shaw, ski team CEO, said the integration will capitaliz...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—Thredbo, Australia, has joined The Mountain Collective as a full resort partner for the 2015-16 season, making it the first resort outside of North America to be added to the multi-resort pass. The news comes on the heals of Vail Resorts’ purchase of Perisher last month and further indicates...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., April 28, 2015—Vail Resorts has reported that for the 2014-15 season, total lift revenues, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue, were up approximately 8.5 percent, while total skier visits for the company's nine mountain resorts were down 2.8 percent compared to 2013-14. Additional...