SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., Jan. 9 2008-Following news of declining occupancy rates in Vail, Aspen lodging properties are reporting lower occupancy rates for the holiday season. In Aspen, a soft Christmas week holiday period saw occupancy at just 67 percent compared to last year's 87 percent. Advance reservations are similar reduced. As of the la...

Robert Drake  SAM: You guys had a near miss with a fire this summer, tell us about it. Robert Drake: We did. The Cascade Fire started at the far end of the West Fork Canyon behind the resort and quickly made its way down canyon toward us. It started over the weekend when there are typically not a lot of people on the mountain over the s...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Jan. 8 2009-Ski resorts across the U.S. have been reporting strong holiday visits as December snowfall brought out skiers and snowboarders in droves. In Vermont, Okemo Mountain Resort saw skier rise seven percent above of the same Monday-through-Sunday period over the Christmas holiday last year, and six percent ahead o...

SAM Magazine-Snoqualmie Pass, Wash., Jan. 8, 2009-Heavy rains and high snow levels have taken a toll on Washington ski resorts, with avalanches, mudslides and floods shuttering resorts and making access roads impassible. At Snoqualmie Pass, rain sparked a 300-foot-wide slide that toppled two lift towers on the resort's Keechelus chairlift. The debr...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Jan. 2, 2009-Two separate avalanches-in areas closed due to avalanche danger-have resulted in fatalities at Canada's Whistler/Blackcomb resort. The incidents occurred on separate parts of the resort. In the first case, a 37-year-old Whistler resident died after triggering a Class 2 avalanche with a three-foot crown, ...

SAM Magazine-Nederland, Colo., Dec. 30, 2008-Eldora Mountain Resort general manager Brian Mahon, 49, was the victim of an apparently random shooting this morning at the resort. The suspect, 24-year-old Derick Bonestroo, a lift attendant at Eldora, fled the scene and was pursued by a Boulder County deputy sheriff. After a brief chase, Bonestroo stop...

SAM Magazine-Jackson Hole, Wyo., Dec. 30, 2008-Routine avalanche control work at Jackson Hole on the resort's Headwall area triggered a substantial avalanche, which damaged the resort's Bridger Restaurant and forced the closure of the ski area's upper lifts. The slide, which occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, was triggered by patroller...

SAM Magazine - Squaw Valley, Calif., December 27, 2008 - In the second in-bounds avalanche fatality of the year, 21-year old Randall Davis died on December 21 after getting separated from a friend and caught in a slide in the Red Dog area. The victim was found by ski patrol who determined Davis had been caught by a slide after finding his ski prot...

SAM Magazine - Ludlow, Vt., December 27, 2008 - Vermont Resorts Okemo and Stratton are offering a joint lift ticket product that will enhance the destination visitor experience. The deal allows any purchaser of a three-day lift ticket to use on day at the other resort. The tickets can be purchased separately or as part of each resorts' skiing and l...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Dec. 24, 2008-The recent adoption of the ACL Prevention Program by Arapahoe Basin (see earlier report) is only the most recent case of what has been a broader spread of the program. Several resorts in Colorado and, more recently, California, are using it. So are Mt. Bachelor, Ore., Bogus Basin, Idaho, Red Lodge, Mont.,...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 24, 2008-Blackcomb's Excalibur Gondola reopened today after the BC Safety Authority reinstated the operating permit for the lower line of the lift. The gondola's tower 4 failed Dec. 16, and repair work was completed Monday. Testing and inspection took place throughout Tuesday in accordance with BC Safety Authority ...

SAM Magazine-Ogden, Utah, Dec. 24-Atomic Ski USA, Inc. is carrying out a voluntary precautionary recall of heel components of certain bindings manufactured between 1998 and 2002. This recall applies to the below listed models of the Atomic Race, Xentrix, Device, Centro and Dynamic ski bindings produced between 1998 and 2002. This safety recall i...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Dec. 24, 2008-Consumers are holding off on booking vacations to destination resorts, waiting till the last moment to make sure conditions are good and to get the best possible deal, according to Ralf Garrison of MTRiP, the travel tracking clearinghouse. MTRiP data show that bookings slowed dramatically last month. For the 250...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 22, 2008-The BC Safety Authority reinstated the operating permit for the upper line of Blackcomb Mountain's Excalibur Gondola on Saturday, following inspections earlier in the week in the wake of the tower failure on the lower portion of the lift. Repair work has commenced on the lower line, and crews are working t...

SAM Magazine-Carroll Valley, Pa., Dec. 22, 2008-Liberty Mountain Resort and Conference Center, which had announced its intent to purchase neighboring Carroll Valley Resort and Golf Course, has abandoned the deal. After two months of careful review and diligence, the two companies agreed to continue operations under separate ownerships. "It appea...