SAM Magazine-Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, May 15, 2008-Cardrona Valley has received approval to build New Zealand's first access gondola. The $16.6 million gondola project will transport visitors from the Cardrona Valley floor to the ski facilities on the Pisa Range-Snow Park NZ, Waiorau Snow Farm and a third planned ski area, Roaring Meg Resort. The ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., May 9, 2008-With Maine's Sugarloaf and Colorado's Loveland ceasing operations last weekend, several resorts remain open: Arapahoe Basin, Snowbird, Mammoth, Squaw Valley, Mt. Hood Meadows, Mt. Bachelor, and Brundage (and of course, Timberline, which operates year-round except for a few weeks in September for maintenance a...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 9, 2008-The snow sports products market grew by $280 million to reach $2.97 billion for the 2007-08 season, up from approximately $2.69 billion in all channels last season, according to the SIA end-of-season Retail Audit conducted by Leisure Trends Group. Above average snowfall for the season, and an early start in man...

SAM Magazine-Telluride, Colo., May 9, 2008-You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. Colorado's only heli operation didn't get everything it wanted from the Bureau of Land Management, but still received a preliminary nod from the feds for expansion. Telluride Helitrax had asked the BLM for a ten-year permit to serv...

SAM Magazine-Queenstown, N.Z., May 9, 2008-While resorts in North America are winding down their seasons, New Zealand areas are gearing up for opening day next month. Storms are starting to roll into New Zealand's mountains as resorts in the southern hemisphere: both Mt. Hutt and Coronet Peak are reporting more than 10 cm of snow from the first rou...

SAM Magazine-Peru, Vt., May 2, 2008-John Cueman, president of Bromley Mountain, is assuming the position of vice president of real estate planning and ceding the president's post to Richard Wiseman, formerly GM of Camelback Ski Area, Pa. "Bromley's real estate potential is critical to Bromley's future," Cueman said. Cueman started at Bromley in ...

SAM Magazine-Telluride, Colo., May 2, 2008-A Leitner-Poma quad will highlight Telluride's expansion this summer into Revelation Bowl. The quad will access above-treeline terrain on the other side of the ridge from the area's existing Gold Hill terrain. Situated above tree line, the wide-open bowl offers advanced and expert skiing. Constru...

SAM Magazine - Orinda, Ca., May 1, 2008 - A web poll conducted by OnTheSnow.Com, threw up some surprises for those who watch the industry. While the choice of Whistler Blackcomb as the top resort in North America may have been expected (the Canadian ski resort consistently scores high rankings in reader's polls conducted by such stalwarts as Ski an...

SAM Magazine - West Dover, Vt., May 1, 2008 - One hundred and fifty new fan guns highlight a $5 million snowmaking investment by Vermont's Mount Snow this summer. The upgrades come on the heels of substantial investments in snowmaking last summer, which saw the resort install 101 of the energy efficient SMI guns. Officials at the resort say that th...

SAM Magazine-McLean Va., April 25, 2008-Snow Sports product sales are closing in on $3 billion by season's end, according to Kelly Davis, director of research for SnowSports Industries America (SIA). Sales figures are from the SIA Retail Audit, conducted by Leisure Trends Group of Boulder, Colo. Through February, apparel and accessories showed g...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., April 23, 2008-North American search and rescue organizations are taking a harder look at RECCO technology as the system continues to prove itself across the Atlantic. The systems have been widespread in Europe for the last decade, with two avalanche victims being rescued alive this year using the system. According to ...

SAM Magazine-Alta, Wyo., April 25, 2008-Grand Targhee Resort has proclaimed its entire base area will become smoke free as of June 1. The resort's official summer operating season begins June 21. The policy asks all visitors and employees of the resort to refrain from smoking anywhere at the resort except for location at the east end of the mai...

SAM Magazine-Salt Lake City, April 22, 2008-Despite a slow start in November, Utah resorts had a very strong season, benefiting from excellent snow conditions from December through February. Final attendance figures at Utah's 13 ski and snowboard resorts should fall somewhere near last season's record-setting 4,082,094 skier days, said Ski Utah pre...

SAM Magazine-Ludlow, Vt. April 22, 2008-Okemo, Vt., Whiteface, N.Y., and Jiminy Peak, Mass., are reporting their best seasons in history, demonstrating that the rebound in visits in the northeast was widespread this winter. Okemo reported skier days up nearly 25 percent over the late-starting 2006-07 season, and up six percent over the resort's ...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., April 16, 2008-The Aspen Skiing Company is replacing the Sheer Bliss double at Snowmass with a new Leitner-Poma high speed quad, to the tune of $7 million. The new lift will be realigned to provide easy access to the entire Big Burn and Sheer Bliss areas. This region of Snowmass encompasses nearly 700 acres of terrain and...