SAM Magazine-Crested Butte, Colo., Oct. 30, 2008-In the wake of economic headlines, resorts are stepping step up efforts to woo winter visitors with aggressive promotions, including free airfare. Crested Butte's Vacation Stimulus Package rewards vacationers with free airline tickets when booking additional activities such as lift tickets, spa tr...

SAM Magazine-Ludlow, Vt., Oct. 30, 2008-Not all the economic news is bad. At the Oct. 13 close of the resort's early savings cutoff date, Vermont's Okemo recorded a 12 percent increase in season pass units sold and a 16 percent increase in revenue. In addition, destination bookings at the resort are holding steady, while group sales are 40 percent ...

SAM Magazine-Newry, Maine, Oct. 29, 2008-Sunday River will open for the Halloween weekend. It's the second year for the resort to drop the ropes for Halloween, and the second year that anyone who shows up in a costume on Halloween will ski for free. The opening has been bolstered by recent cold temperatures ideal for snowmaking. "We have been ad...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Oct. 28, 2008-Several resorts are banning employees from using the Primo and Love series of Burton snowboards while on the job. The Primo series features gory images of self-mutilation, while the Love series features images of Playboy models. While there is no graphic (only suggestive) nudity in the Love series of board...

SAM Magazine-Taylor's Falls, Minn., Oct. 28, 2008-With colder temperatures across the nation, resorts are starting to drop the ropes and fire up the lifts. The latest is Minnesota's Wild Mountain, which opens today at 1 p.m. The resort usually leads the pack when it comes to early openings in the region, and this week's opening date is no exception...

SAM Magazine-London, England, Oct. 28, 2008-The United Kingdom ski and snowboard market has grown over the past year by three percent, according to the Ski Club of Great Britain's annual Snowsports Analysis, with more than 1.35 million people taking ski and snowboard holidays from the UK. The research report, published for the eighth year, showe...

SAM Magazine-Strandafjellet, Norway, Oct. 28, 2008-Five Norwegian ski areas are launching a new joint pass, giving access to a combined 25 lifts and 53 slopes in the Sunnmore region. The "Alpepass" will be available this season, and includes the ski resorts of Strandafjellet Skisenter, Sunnmørsalpane Skiarena Fjellseter, Stordal Alpinsenter, ...

SAM Magazine-Maggie Valley, N.C., Oct. 27, 2008-Colder temperatures in the Southeast have sparked snowmaking at both Snowshoe and Cataloochee ski areas, with the latter announcing an Oct. 28 opening day. That will make Cataloochee Ski Area, located in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina, the first ski resort in the Mid-Atlantic regi...

SAM Magazine - Malone, N.Y., October 24, 2008 - New York ski resort Titus Mountain and the ski area's former manager, Zachary L. White, have been charged with one felony and three misdemeanor violations of Environmental Conservation Law by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Division of Law Enforcement. The charges s...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Colo., October - In the wake of headlines around the globe proclaiming an economic meltdown, resorts are scrambling to bolster business via a wide variety of creative discounting programs from burritos to free lift tickets. The discounts are as varied as the resorts that offer them, but all have a singular purpose: to bring gue...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Oct. 23, 2008-Intrawest successfully completed an agreement to refinance a $1.7 billion loan which was due today when it received unanimous support from its existing lender group. "We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with our lenders, particularly given the challenges of the global credit markets," sai...

SAM Magazine -Aspen, Oct. 21, 2008-Mountain operations crews at Snowmass have been experimenting with a product called Ice Protector Optiforce, a "snow blanket" which covers existing snow, insulating and preserving it. Produced by the Swiss flooring firm Landolt and distributed by Eiger International, Ice Protector Optiforce is used in Europe to pr...

SAM Magazine-McCall, Idaho, Oct. 21, 2008-Brundage Mountain has upgraded the ski area's grooming fleet, adding new terrain parks and enhancing food and beverage operations for the 2008-09 season. Improvements include a new mid-mountain refuge, the Bear's Den, an eight-sided 1,300 square-foot log building with seating for approximately 88 people. Th...

Snow Hunter - New Zealand, November 1, 2008 - Snow was still falling last week as New Zealand's Mt. Hutt prepares for its final weekend opening of the winter from Friday, October 24th until 4p.m. on Monday, October 27th after closing during this week. Ski Area Manager Dave Wilson commented, "It's been one of the best seasons in decades," he said...

Snow Hunter - Demark, November 1, 2008 - Despite global warming, Denmark's rather low lying hills and the global growth of indoor snow centres, the country has opened its first outdoor snow ski resort. Local media reports say that Danish businessman Ole Harild received a 100,000 Euro grant from the European Union to construct his ski run on the ...