SAM Magazine-Grand Targhee, Wyo., Sept. 11, 2007-Scott Pierpont has been named general manager of Grand Targhee. Pierpont has spent more than 30 years in the the ski industry, and makes the move to Targhee from Utah where he held positions as president and managing director of The Canyons, president of the Park City Chamber of Commerce and chairman...

SAM Magazine-Scheffau, Austria, and Hafjell, Norway, Sept. 11, 2007-Austria's Ski Welt has scored another six-pack, bringing the mega-resort's total to 8. The Ski Welt, which includes Brixen im Thale, Going, Hopfgarten, Itter, Kelchsau and Söll and Westendorf, is Austria's largest lift-linked ski region. With the addition of the new detachable l...

SAM Magazine-Albany, N.Y., Sept. 10, 2007-The State of New York has given the green light to a $400 million project to develop two hotels, 259 lodging units, a conference center, spa and organic golf course upon land adjacent to the state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center. The planned development will feature ski-in/ski-out opportunities and will...

SAM Magazine - Steamboat Springs, Co., September 5, 2007 - Intrawest has included Steamboat into the company's Colorado season pass offerings, allowing passholders to access Winter Park, Copper Mountain and this northern Colorado resort with a single pass. The Rocky Mountain Super Pass Plus gives skiers unlimited access to Copper and Winter Park, a...

SAM Magazine - Somerset, Pa., September, 2007 - The Buncher Company has announced that the organization has finalized the purchase of Hidden Valley Four Seasons Resort. The 1,500 acre resort was formerly owned by the Kettler family who has operated the resort since the early 1980's. Terms were not disclosed. The 1,500-acre ski area features 28 t...

SAM Magazine - Ketchum, Id., September 5, 2007 - The USFS has announced the containment of the Castle Rock fire, which burned nearly 50,000 acres and threatened the ski resort of Sun Valley. According to the USFS, mop up operations and rehabilitation of fire lines will be the primary focus of operations over the next few days. According to the U...

SAM Magazine-Sun Valley, Ida., Aug. 31, 2007-The western side of Sun Valley Ski Resort is under extreme pressure from the Castle Rock Fire, with crews struggling to prevent the unpredictable blaze from torching the ski area itself. The fire, which has kicked up several spot blazes on the resort itself, has also forced the evacuation of several Ketc...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 30, 2007-Skiers and snowboarders can buy four days at Keystone Resort or Arapahoe Basin for $129 with the 4-Pack pass, on sale through Oct. 14. The 4-Pack is non-transferable and must be purchased in person, and comes with major holiday blackout days-Christmas Martin Luther King, Presidents among them. The 4-Pac...

SAM Magazine-Val Gardena, Italy, Aug. 30, 2007-Val Gardena is replacing a fixed grip triple chair with a new high-speed detachable quad. The new Sole chair will have a capacity of 1,800 people an hour and is one of six being installed in the Dolomiti Superski region this summer. The Sole chair brings the total number of high-speed detachable quads ...

SAM Magazine-Wilmington, N.Y., Aug. 21, 2007-Whiteface will nearly complete development of its permitted skiing and riding options with the construction of 3.7 miles of additional terrain, for a total of 24.5 miles, by December 2008. The New York ski resort is limited to 25 miles of trails by its operating permit. Whiteface's Lookout Mountain ex...

SAM Magazine-Big Sky, Mont., Aug. 21, 2007-Big Sky has started a two-year project to increase skier access on expert-oriented Lone Peak, currently served only by the resort's Lone Peak Tram. The first stage of the project is installation of a fixed grip triple chair, the Dakota Lift, part of a two-lift system that will provide a second access po...

SAM Magazine-Tahoe City, Calif., Aug. 9, 2007-Jim Kercher is the new General Manager of Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, which was recently purchased by JMA Ventures from Powdr Corp. A long-time Californian who worked at Alpine Meadows from 1976 until 1990, Kercher has spent the last 17 years at a variety of major resorts, mostly as a ski school an...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Aug. 8, 2007-Recriminations are swirling around the $100 million July 15 sale agreement that would transfer The Canyons from American Skiing Company (ASC) to Talisker Corp. For the moment, the sale is on hold, perhaps until a Colorado court rules on a temporary injunction by Oct. 1. But eventual resolution of all the i...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., August 8, 2007-The industry took a step closer to the $100 adult day ticke last week when Aspen raised the price for a single day on the slopes during that resort's 2007-2008 season to $87, a $5 increase from last season. While $82 itself seems steep for a day of skiing, Aspen didn't have the most expensive ticket in the ...

SAM Magazine-Orlando, Fla., Aug. 8, 2007-CNL Income Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on lifestyle properties, has acquired the assets of Sugarloaf and Sunday River, Maine. In a simultaneous transaction, Boyne USA Resorts acquired the stock of the American Skiing Company subsidiaries owning the resorts and sold the asse...