SAM Magazine--August 1, 2006, Middlefield, CT--Powder Ridge Ski Area in Connecticut may have a new lease on life after the town of Middlefield's board of selectmen reached an agreement to purchase 300 acres of land the area sits on for $3.6 million. Powder Ridge owner Ken Leavitt had approached the town several times about buying the land and l...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Aug. 1, 2006-Storm Mountain Publishing Company (SMP), parent of Freeskier magazine, has crafted a long-term partnership agreement with Global United Publishing (GUP) to publish Snowboard magazine. GUP had said earlier that it would not publish its September issue due to financial constraints. The parties expect to final...

SAM Magazine--August 1, 2006, Killington, VT--Killington's long-awaited ski village suffered a setback when its developer pulled out of the project. According to the Rutland Herald, Centex Destination Properties, who signed on a year ago to build out a village at the base of Killington that would have included 1,400 vacation homes and condominiums,...

SAM Magazine--Vail, CO, August 1, 2006--Vail Resorts Inc. announced that the company will offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing nearly 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy for its five mountain resorts, its lodging properties, all of its 125 retail locations and its new corporate headquarters in Broomfield, CO. By purchasing renewable...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, July 14, 2006-The board of directors of American Skiing Company (ASC) has retained investment advisors to initiate a strategic review of business options for the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation, including the potential sale of the resort. "Steamboat's status as a world-renowned destination resort, combined with...

SAM Magazine--Wolf Creek, Colo., July 14, 2006--The Regional Office of the Forest Service upheld the Rio Grande National Forests' April 3rd decision to allow two access roads across Forest Service land that will access developer Red McCombs' proposed village site at Wolf Creek Mountain. Administrative appeals had been brought by Colorado Wild, t...

July 12, Great Britain (Snow Hunter)--The UK's annual Ski Industry Report has been published by leading tour operator Crystal. The Report notes that the British ski market recorded one of its strongest periods of growth last winter, with seven per cent more UK skiers taking a ski holiday abroad than the previous winter. More than 1.15m ski holi...

July 10, Italy/Switzerland (snowHunter)-- For the coming winter season 2006/2007, there'll be a re-launch of the 'International' ski area of Breuil-Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy and Zermatt in Switzerland with the construction of six new lifts and an increase in the artificial snowmaking cover and therefore a total of 24 lifts in the Breuil...

July 10, France (SnowHunter)--The first half of Compagnie des Alpes' fiscal year (October to March) combines the positive figures of the ski operations with the normally negative figures for the group's growing clutch of leisure parks, since most of the major sites are closed during this accounting period. However, first-half sales up to end Dec...

SAM Magazine-Scranton, Pa., July 11, 2006-Snow Mountain LLC, a consortium of Philadelphia investment bankers, developers, and accountants, has agreed to purchase Montage Mountain Ski Resort from Lackawanna County. Sno Mountain LLC will pay a reported $5.1 million for the resort. Last month the group offered $4.1 million, but increased its offer ...

July 10, Austria (Snow Hunter)--Year Round Skiing Ends at Sölden Sölden in Austria has followed other glacier ski areas like Tignes in France by deciding to end 365 day ski lift opening. The resort previously boasted that one of its twin glacier ski areas, either the Rettenbach or Tiefenbach glacier, was open for skiing on every day of ...

July 10, New Zealand (SnowHunter)--Lake Wanaka Ski Tourism Boost New Zealand's Lake Wanaka is looking forward to an increase in visiting skiers and snowboarders, thanks to a multi-million dollar investment in winter sports infrastructure. Over the last three years, the town's ski areas of Cardrona, Snow Park and Treble Cone have jointly inves...

SAM Magazine-Canmore, Alta., July 8, 2006-Canadian Mountain Holidays helicopter skiing founder Hans Gmoser, 73, died July 5, two days after he broke his neck and was paralyzed in a bicycling accident on the 1A highway near Lake Louise. Gmoser was riding alone when he apparently fell. Gmoser, 73, founded the heli-skiing business in 1965. In recen...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, July 7, 2006-The American Skiing Co. (ASC) is in a legal tussle with Wolf Mountain Resort, from whom ASC leases much of the terrain that makes up The Canyons, over who will control the resort. Wolf has alleged that ASC defaulted on its lease and that Wolf is therefore entitled to repossess the resort. A judge has issue...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., June 28, 2006-The National Ski Patrol's board of directors elected Dr. James DeWeerd Jr. as national chairman at the annual board meeting here late last week. DeWeerd is one of five new board members seated Mar. 1, 2006, as a result of the special election held in February. DeWeerd hails from the North Central regio...