SAM Magazine--April 28, 2010--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) named five member ski areas as the recipients of its annual Sustainable Slopes Grant program. The ski areas winning cash grants include Alta, Utah, Crested Butte, Colo., Grand Targhee, Wyo., Mt. Abram, Maine, and Stevens Pass, Wash. The grants, this year totaling $100,000, are...

SAM Magazine--April 26, 2010--Intrawest, a leader in the development and management of experiential destination resorts, today announced that it has successfully completed the refinancing of its corporate debt which was due in December 2009. The Company repaid its prior lenders in full and has completed a new loan, which is scheduled to mature in 2...

SAM Magazine--April 26. 2010--Thanks to passenger numbers that were off by about 9,000, the resort community at Steamboat Springs will have to pony up more than $2.4 million to the airlines. According to the "Steamboat Pilot," Steamboat's Local Marketing District (LMD) is in charge of the airline program and it is not unheard of that the community ...

SAM Magazine-Albuquerque, N.M., Apr. 27, 2010-El Nino lived up to its billing, bringing abundant snow across New Mexico this past winter. And that fueled a 23 percent increase in visits compared to 2008-09, according to Ski New Mexico. The visit total was 964,793, making this the best year since 2000-01. Ski New Mexico executive director George ...

SAM Magazine-Las Vegas, Apr. 27, 2010-Resorts as far-flung as Alyeska, Alaska, the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, and Sugarloaf, Maine, are operating into May this year. They are among dozens of areas that have extended their seasons this year. Late and abundant snow has enabled Alyeska Resort to operate well into May. The base at the top of ...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Apr. 27, 2010-Preliminary SIA Snow Sport RetailTRAK data show that snow sport retail sales increased 13 percent in March 2010 compared to March 2009, at the height of the recession. The sales spurt pushed sales for the entire 2009-10 season up 4 percent over 2008-09, according to the Leisure Trends Group. Nearly ever...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Apr. 22, 2010-Thanks to a late-season surge of destination visits, Vail Resorts (VR) saw business increase over the season's final weeks. Through Apr. 18, total skier visits at Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, and Heavenly were up about 2.3 percent compared to the previous year. In Idaho, Sun Valley saw vi...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Apr. 22, 2010-Andy Daly, who variously managed Copper Mountain , Eldora, Beaver Creek, and Vail Associates, has earned the 2010 Lifetime Achievement award of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). Daly's career began in 1970 when he took a job at Aspen Highlands. By winter's end, Daly accepted a job as a ski pat...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., Apr. 19, 2010-In some of the most solid results for the mountain travel industry during the past 12 months, lodging occupancy was up 9.6 percent in March compared to March 2009, according to the latest data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). This was the third consecutive month with year-over-year ...

SAM Magazine-Carroll Valley, Pa., Apr. 19, 2010-Liberty Mountain Resort has entered into an agreement to purchase the adjacent Carroll Valley Resort. The properties will be combined and operated under Liberty management. "We're extremely excited with this acquisition," said Eric Flynn, Liberty president and GM. "Years ago, both properties were d...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo.,Apr. 19, 2010-Dennis Eshbaugh, president and CEO of Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville, N.Y., has received the 2010 Sherman Adams Award from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). Over the past 23 years, under Eshbaugh's leadership, skier visits at Holiday Valley have grown more than fourfold. During this ti...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Apr. 16, 2010-The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has honored 12 member resorts with its annual Safety Awards, which recognize resorts that have done an outstanding job of educating employees and guests about skiing and snowboarding responsibly. The 2009-10 winners are: Best Safety Week Program (tie) Vail M...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Apr. 13, 2010-Indianhead, Ragged, Jay Peak, Crested Butte, and Copper have won the 2009/10 Marketing Awards presented by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). The 2009/10 Guest Service Awards winners are MacIntyre, Thunder Ridge, Sugar Bowl, Crested Butte, and Beaver Creek. The awards are presented annually to ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Apr. 7, 2010-Snow Sports market sales reached $2.7 billion in February, a 3 percent gain in dollars sold compared with August through February last season, according to the SIA Retail Audit conducted by the Leisure Trends Group. Warmer weather in states north of the Mason-Dixon Line, less snow in the Rockies and wetter and...

SAM Magazine-Ishpeming, Mich., Apr. 7, 2010-The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame has extended the deadline for submitting nominations for the class of 2010 to Apr. 30. The change was made to accommodate athletes who competed in the 2010 Olympic Games, but the extension applies to all potential nominees. Individuals nominated and elected to th...