SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., July 7, 2011-Specialty Sports Venture (SSV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, has acquired the assets of Outdoor Outlet, LLC, which operates O2GearShop.com, an online outdoor/snowsports retailer that drew more than 2 million total visits last year. "The addition of O2GearShop.com is a significant opportu...

SAM Magazine-Durban, South Africa, July 6, 2011-The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics to Pyeongchang, South Korea, the first time the Winter Olympics has been hosted in the country and the third time for the Winter Games to take place in Asia. Pyeongchang has been campaigning for the honor for a decade. I...

SAM Magazine--July 5, 2011--The Utah Ski & Snowboard Association closed its 202-day 2010-11 winter season July 4 at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort. Utah's 14 ski and snowboard resorts recorded 4,223,064 skier/snowboarder day visits during the season. This marks a 4.23 percent increase over last year's 4,048,153 and is less than a percentage point (...

SAM Magazine-Boise, Idaho, July 5, 2011-Bank of America (BoA) is proceeding with its plan to remove and sell two Tamarack Resort lifts. The move could make it more difficult to find a buyer for the bankrupt resort. One lift provides access for homeowners, the second serves terrain on the resort's northern boundary. BoA is filing the necessary pa...

SAM Magazine--July 5, 2011--The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Monday evening that slopestyle skiing and snowboarding would make their Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Snowboarding parallel slalom was also added, while the proposed Alpine team event was not. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association played a key role i...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., July 1, 2011-SnowSports Industries America (SIA) reports that a total of 31 million Americans say they are winter sports participants. Of that total, 21 million were active winter sports participants in the 2009-10 season, including approximately 18.3 million skiers and snowboarders who visited alpine resorts, according to...

SAM Magazine-Truckee, Calif., July 1, 2011-A grand total of 12 North American ski areas will be open this weekend for the 4th of July and Canada Day holidays, following what was for many a record-setting winter and spring snowfall. California will have the most ski areas open-a total of six. Mammoth has been open daily, as it has been since last...

SAM Magazine--June 30, 2011--For the second consecutive season, the seven Ski Lake Tahoe resorts are reporting an increase in skier visitation numbers to 3.6 million, the second best season to date (2004-05 remains the best). The near-record snowfall both early and late in the season, led to one of the longest seasons on the books--in fact, Alpine ...

SAM Magazine--June 30, 2011--The stalled multi-billion-dollar shopping complex and entertainment complex that includes an indoor ski slope in the Meadowlands in N.J., is back on. The state's Legislature voted yesterday to make the Meadowlands eligible for the Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant program, clearing the way for up to $200 million ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, June 23, 2011-Advanced reservations for the summer season are up at many Western mountain destinations, according to the most recent data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). For the month of May, occupancy was up 5.6 percent, with the average daily rate (ADR) up 3.2 percent compared to May 2010. The bookin...

SAM Magazine-Jindabyne, Australia, June 21, 2011-The Southern Hemisphere's ski season is off to a slow start: the majority of Australian resorts are open and have just received 10-20 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, while resorts in New Zealand and South America have postponed their openings due to a widespread lack of snow. Australia ha...

SAM Magazine-Whitefish, Mont., June 21, 2011-Whitefish Mountain's Chair One, the main lift from the base area used for scenic lift rides and carrying mountain bikes in summer, has been closed indefinitely after a slump caused a tower to move. On Saturday, opening day for summer activities, Whitefish Mountain Resort's lift maintenance crew notice...

SAM Magazine-Bariloche, Argentina, June 21, 2011-A volcano in Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain erupted on June 4 after being dormant for decades, sending a cloud of ash into the air and blanketing the ski resorts above Bariloche in several inches of ash. The volcano and its aftermath have postponed the start of the ski season until the coming we...

SAM Magazine--June 20, 2011--Two of Mount Snow, Vermont's senior employees have been tapped to manage two other ski areas under the Peak Resorts umbrella. Greg Fisher, formerly marketing and event operations director, will take over the GM position at Mad River Mountain, Ohio. John Lowell, former director of lodging at Mount Snow and Attitash, will...

SAM Magazine-Bend, Ore. June 16, 2011-The July 4 weekend will see several areas open this year, and some are planning to take the novelty up a notch. Mt. Bachelor will open for skiing and snowboarding July 2-4, and present mid-day live music at the Pine Marten lodge on Saturday and Sunday. And Squaw, which had already planned a full plate of action...