SAM Magazine—West Windsor, Vt., July 10, 2015—An eight-member committee is working to form a non-profit organization that would manage and maintain the assets of the West Windsor Town Forest, including reopening Mt. Ascutney ski area. Officials estimate it will cost $905,000 to purchase Ascutney and the 1,581-acre town forest; and ab...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., July 7, 2015—Mark Dorsey, CEO of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI), is stepping down to assume a similar role with another association outside of the ski and snowboard industry. “This is a terrific opportunity for Mark, and...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., July 2, 2015—Vail Resorts is increasing its minimum wage for entry-level positions to $10 an hour. Effective Sept. 26, the pay hike will affect nearly 7,500 of Vail’s 25,000 employees in eight states, including workers in housekeeping, lift operations, food preparation, and retail sales.

Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but 29 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages above that level.

SAM Magazine–Donnelly, Idaho, July 2, 2015–Tamarack Resort will restart its mountain bike operation, which hasn’t been running since 2007, on July 4. But instead of providing uphill access via chairlift, Tamarack will offer a shuttle service and bike rentals. The services will begin July 4. The 10-passenger shuttle will run fro...

SAM Magazine—Athena, Ore., June 29, 2015—The listings of ski areas for sale recently grew by two, as Spout Springs, Ore., went on the market for $1.25 million and Marshall Mountain, located seven miles northeast of Missoula, Mont., is also for sale for $2.95 million. John Murray has owned Spout Springs since 1999, and said he wants t...

SAM Magazine—Sheridan, Wyo., June 29, 2015—The board of directors of the Antelope Butte Foundation (ABF) signed a purchase and sale agreement with the U. S. Forest Service on June 19, paving the way for the purchase of the ski area located in the Bighorn Mountains near Dayton, Wyo. Mark Weitz, ABF board president, said the Foundation...

SAM Magazine—Truckee, Calif., June 29, 2015—In a move to dampen the danger of accidental fires, the Tahoe Donner Association has implemented a smoking ban on all its properties. The ban, effective through the end of the year, prohibits smoking at all amenities, common areas, and other association-owned properties. The Truckee Fire Prote...

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., June 26, 2015—Rob Perlman has been named president and chief operating officer of Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation effective July 1, 2015, by parent company Intrawest Holdings. “After an extensive nationwide search and deliberate process, the Intrawest leadership team is proud to pro...

SAM Magazine—Mt. Ashland, Ore., June 24, 2015—Mt. Ashland has launched a $650,000 public fundraising campaign, primarily to help fund operation and maintenance costs until the end of November. The campaign, billed as the 2015 Local Mountain Fund, has already brought in $275,000, including $68,000 donated by Mt. Ashland Association board...

SAM Magazine–Santiago, Chile, June 24, 2015–The 2015 ski season is off to a slow start for some ski areas in the Southern Hemisphere, including those in Chile, where six ski areas remain closed due to lack of snowfall. Traditionally skiers and riders in the Southern Hemisphere start hitting the slopes by early to mid June. However, F...

SAM Magazine—Lincoln, N.H., June 16, 2015—Ski NH’s 33 alpine and cross-country resorts hosted more than 2.57 million alpine, X-C, and tubing visits during the 2014-15 season, according to Ski NH. Abundant snowfall in February and March resulted in numerous record-breaking spring skiing days for many New Hampshire ski areas. That h...

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., June 16, 2015—This coming winter, Whistler Blackcomb will conduct a snowmaking pilot project aimed at preserving the Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb Mountain. The area will operate four low-energy guns in the Horstman Hut area to determine if a full-scale snowmaking system is an option to prevent further reces...

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 16, 2015—Following a record season across much of the West, summer occupancies and revenues are continuing that momentum, according to the most recent data released by Denver-based DestiMetrics. As of May 31, summer occupancy and reservations were up 8.5 percent compared to the May through October period a year...

SAM Magazine—Jay Peak, Vt., June 12, 2015—Ski areas in Vermont tallied a record-breaking 4,670,903 million visits during the 2014-15 season. The visit totals were released during the Vermont Ski Areas Association’s (VSAA) 46th Annual Meeting here on Thursday. Early openings at ski areas, recent capital investments in new snowma...

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., June 12, 2015 – Skier and snowboarder visits at the 21 member ski resorts of Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) totaled 7.1 million during the 2014/15 season, about one-half of 1 percent fewer than last year’s record season and 6.5 percent more than the five-year-average. The figures were released durin...