SAM Magazine--August 27, 2012--ESPN, the creator of the popular X Games series in both summer and winter, has made the decision to cut skier and snowboarder cross events for the coming year in Aspen, as well as the mono skier X. The X Games are largely credited with popularizing the events, in fact, they will still be held at the 2014 Olympics in S...

SAM Magazine--Pittsfield, MA--August 24, 2012--George W. Jervas died suddenly on August 20, at the age of 76, doing what he loved most: working at his ski area. Jervas, the owner of the Berkshire resort for over 30 years, reportedly suffered a cardiac arrthymia. Jervas originally bought the ski area as part of a four-member group, but has been the ...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Aug. 22, 2012—Registration for SAM’s third annual Summer Ops Camp—a series of seminars, workshops, and site visits that explore the state of the art in summer operations—closes on Aug. 27. A few spots are still available for the camp, which takes place Sept. 4 to 6 at Canyons, Utah. The...

SAM Magazine—Breckenridge, Colo., Aug. 22, 2012—Breckenridge received approval to add 550 acres of skiing and riding on Peak 6, thanks to a Record of Decision from the Forest Service which was made public yesterday. The terrain includes approximately 140 hike-to acres. White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams’ dec...

SAM Magazine—Middlefield, Conn., Aug. 17, 2012—Middlefield residents overwhelmingly voted to sell the Powder Ridge ski area to local businessman Sean Hayes, who operates a nearby adventure center, Brownstone Park, for $700,000. Powder Ridge opened in 1959, and last operated for the 2006-07 season. The town purchased the area in 2008 ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 16, 2012—Average occupancy for the month of July in 16 Western destination resorts was up 4. 7 percent compared to July 2011, with the average daily rate up 4.5 percent for the same time period, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). The data suggest that many mountain resorts have establish...

SAM Magazine--August 14, 2012--Alta, Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole and Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows have partnered to form the Mountain Collective, a pass for the 2012-13 season. The Mountain Collective Pass goes on sale today and is available online through an exclusive technology, distribution and marketing partnership with Liftopia at www.TheMount...

SAM Magazine--August 9, 2012--According to the Modesto Bee, a coalition of environmental groups will get together to buy the almost 3,000-acre Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort in California. Royal Gorge was put on the block after the area defaulted on its $16.7 million loan in June 2011. After spending the last year in receivership, Douglas Wil...

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Aug. 8, 2012—Dave Riley, CEO of Telluride Ski & Golf Resort for the past five years, has been reassigned to CEO of Newport Federal Financial, a subsidiary of Telluride’s parent company in Newport Beach, Calif. Riley starts his new job immediately. No replacement has been named at Telluride, where...

SAM Magazine--Cortland, N.Y., August 3, 2012--On August 2, 2012, Greek Peak Mountain Resorts, Peak Resorts, Inc (PRI) and affiliates, filed voluntary petitions in the Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This filing gives Greek Peak the time and protection needed for reorganization. Earlier this year, Greek Peak Mountai...

SAM Magazine—Burlington, Vt., Aug. 2, 2012—Both the new terrain park Task Group of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Snowsports Committee F27 and a group that is reviewing the NSAA Terrain Park Notebook met here July 17-18. And both are moving forward at an intentionally measured pace. The ASTM members adopted a w...

SAM Magazine--August 2, 2012--The owners of the Otsego Club in Michigan, Osprey S.A. Ltd., announced that they will not open for the 2012/13 season. Osprey's CEO, Michael Collins, wrote that after unsuccessfully trying to sell the 73-year-old ski area last year, the company was forced to make the decision to shut down operations for this coming...

SAM Magazine—Vail, Colo., July 31, 2012—Burton Snowboards is moving the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships to Vail, where it will take place Feb. 25 to Mar. 2, 2013. The move is aimed at continuing the progression of the event. The US Open had been held at Stratton, Vt., for the past 27 years. The US Open, which first took pla...

SAM Magazine--July 31, 2012--Potential buyers of the shuttered Powder Ridge ski area in Middlefield, Conn., were given the go-ahead by Middlefield selectmen. The Town, which owns the ski area, received a proposal from Sean Hayes, the owner of nearby Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park, to purchase the area, but the Board of Selectmen first as...

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., July 30, 2012—The fifth annual January Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (LSSM) initiative kicks off officially at the Midwest Ski Areas Association conference at Boyne Highlands, Mich., Aug. 5 to 8. Details of the new Bring a Friend (BAF) program and the national Bring a Friend Challenge will be unveiled a...