SAM Magazine-Corvara, Italy, Dec. 18, 2006-Listed as "Number 1" in the Italian Registry of Lifts, Corvara's Col Alto chairlift has finally undergone the transformation to a gondola. Installed in 1947, the venerable lift was Italy's first chairlift. It debuted with a capacity of 163 passengers per hour. As time passed, the lift was upgraded, first t...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 18, 2006-Call it war, a rip-off or just a good way to pad the bottom line. But whatever you call it, there is no mistaking that for skiers, the two most expensive resorts in Colorado just got a bit pricier. Last week Aspen raised its single-day lift ticket price to $82. This week Vail upped the ante, raising its singl...

SAM Magazine-Portland, Me., Dec. 12, 2006-John Cumming, the CEO of Powdr Corp, which owns Park City Mountain Resort, Alpine Meadows, Mt. Bachelor and Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, is part of a group which has purchased Resort Sports Network (RSN), the television network dedicated to the creation and distribution of outdoor content in ski resort...

SAM Magazine - Boulder, Colo., December 8, 2006 - The Outdoor Industry Association is currently accepting nominations for the organization's Industry Awards. The Industry Awards recognize individuals who have implemented exceptional programs, demonstrated superior innovation or have gone that extra step to advance the outdoor industry as a whole. O...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co, December 10, 2006 - If you want a piece of the growing international market, you could do worse than learn German. Austrians are leading the charge when it comes to international visitors to North American ski areas. Aspen's international guests account for 20 percent of the Aspen ski company's on-hill business and at J...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 11, 2006-Vail Resorts reported quarterly revenues up nearly 33 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2007, primarily on increased real estate revenues, but expenses largely offset the gain. However, the resort cited increases in season's pass sales (21 percent in dollars) and advance bookings (24 percent in dollars...

SAM Magazine-Plymouth, N.H., Dec. 11, 2006-The ownership of Tenney Mountain Ski Resort has decided not to open the ski operation this winter. Instead, it is focusing on future planning for the entire resort including an outdoor adventure partnership plan with Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS). The decision came as the resort management and staff was in...

SAM Magazine--Tuxedo, N.Y., December 8, 2006--Sterling Forest ski resort, which was shut down during the 2005-06 season, was purchased by a local resident, Glenn Godsey. According to The Journal News, Godsey is hoping to open the 250-acre resort with the first snowfall this season. Sterling Forest has 4 double chairs, a vertical of 400 feet and ...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 8, 2006-CNL Income Properties, a Florida-based company, will soon own four of the six resorts currently part of Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc., as part of a complex deal that will net three current Booth Creek principals ownership of two of the resorts, along with a long-term lease for the other four areas. The dea...

SAM Magazine - Boulder, Colo., December 6, 2006 - While the methodology used remains controversial (ski areas are docked points if they have a master plan which could lead to additional terrain being developed, even if the resort has no plans to develop said terrain), the Ski Area Citizens Coalition (SACC) released its annual ranking of how "green"...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co, December 5, 2006 - With western resorts opening more terrain by the day (the ropes drop on Vail's Back Bowls today and November was a record month for snowfall in Whistler), Eastern resorts are regrouping and European ski areas are wondering when winter will arrive. The guns are hard at work at Seven Springs.  In ...

SAM Magazine - McLean, VA, December 5, 2006 - SnowSports Industries America's (SIA) Winter Feels Good campaign and SnowMonsters are partnering to teach children how to dress for snow sports activities with a new interactive tool on the winterfeelsgood.com website. The tool is also featured on all SnowMonsters sites provided to more than 100 resorts...

SAM Magazine - Wolf Creek, CO, December 5, 2006 - Nordic skiers at Wolf Creek have found their groomed trail options limited as the conflict unfolds between the owners of the resort and a developer behind the Village at Wolf Creek project. The dispute revolves around access across land owned by the developer, Texas businessman B.J. McCombs, and ...

SAM Magazine--December 5, 2006, Mt,. Hood, OR - Mt. Hood Meadows will open for the 2006/07 season this Saturday, December 9, after a glacial outburst washed out the area's public access on November 7. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced today that highway 35 will reopen at 5 a.m. Saturday, allowing access to the resort for the ...

SAM Magazine--December 1, 2006, Korea (SnowHunter)--Korea's newest resort, scheduled to open today, December 1, is Land's High 1 in Gangwon Province. The resort has 18 trails, more than half of them graded black or double black diamond, served by five chairlifts named after Greek gods (Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Athena and the previously unknown Victoria)...