SAM Magazine—Santa Fe, N.M., June 9, 2015—New Mexico’s 11 ski areas saw a 19.4 percent increase in skier and snowboarder visits in 2014-15 compared to 2013-14, to 909,357, contributing to a $98 million increase in local economic activity, according to Ski New Mexico. The net gain of 176,000 visits, to more than 909,000 total vi...

SAM Magazine—Calgary, Alberta, June 9, 2015—While final skier and snowboarder visits to Canadian ski areas have not yet been released, resorts in Western Canada had a poor to average season. The winter's warm temperatures, below average snow, and decreased days of operation have led a few ski areas to offer dramatically reduced rate...

SAM Magazine—Lausanne, Switzerland, June 8, 2015—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved big air snowboarding and an alpine team event as new event inclusions for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) had been among the nations lobbying for inclusion of big...

SAM Magazine—Dresser, Wis., June 8, 2015—Ski areas across the country are ramping up their summer operations with new aerial adventure parks, zip lines, canopy tours, water parks, mountain bike parks and more. With the slew of new year-round activities being offered (too many to report on here) it’s clear that ski areas have a bul...

SAM Magazine—Vernon, N.J., June 8, 2015—The Koffman family, one of four partners that purchased New Jersey’s Mountain Creek from Intrawest in 2010, became the sole owner of the resort on June 4. The Koffman family was also a partner in the original Great Gorge ski area in the 1970s. The transaction provides for improvement and exp...

SAM Magazine—June 5, 2015, Tannersville, PA—Registration for SAM's 6th Annual Summer Ops Camp officially opens today. The camp, which will take place at Camelback Mountain Resort Sept. 9-11, will explore the many benefits of and growing opportunities in summer recreation at winter resorts. Camelback is an exemplary host: it has a...

SAM Magazine—Terrebonne, Qué., June 5, 2015—Ski areas in Quebec tallied 5,887,000 skier and snowboarder visits this season, down 2.7 percent over last year ,according to the Quebec Ski Areas Association (ASSQ). The news was announced during the association’s annual meeting in the Laurentians at Manoir St-Sauveur, with more ...

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...