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  • SAM Taps Whistler Blackcomb to Host 2025 Summer Ops Camp

    SAM Magazine—Whistler, British Columbia, March 18, 2025—SAM’s Summer Ops Camp will be held at Whistler Blackcomb, Sept. 2-4, 2025, offering three days of education, networking, and hands-on learning focused on the future of summer operations at mountain resorts. This year’s camp will also feature a partnership with the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA), bringing together a dynamic mix of resort professionals from across North America.   Whistler Blackcomb has been at the forefront of year-round recreation development, balancing business innovation with environmental sustainability. With a robust lineup of summer attractions—including the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, Peak...

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Vail Resorts Visits, Revenue Up Season-to-Date

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 19, 2023—Vail Resorts experienced gains in visits and ticket revenue and is up substantially in ancillary revenue year-over-year across its North American portfolio for the season-to-date period ending Jan. 8, 2023.  Total skier visits were up 12.5 percent, and total lift ticket revenue, including a portio...

December Lodging Results Strong at Western Destinations

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Jan. 18, 2023—An impressive booking pace during December—more than double the pace of the year prior—significantly boosted December and January arrivals at Western destinations, according to the most recent Market Briefing released by DestiMetrics, part of the business intelligence division of Inntopia. Aspe...

Dave Belin Joins SNOW Partners as CFO

SAM Magazine—Montville, N.J., Jan. 16, 2023—SNOW Partners has appointed Dave Belin as its new chief financial officer for all its related businesses, effective Jan. 30, 2023. SNOW Partners is the parent company of growth and conversion program SNOW Operating, ski areas Mountain Creek Resort and Big SNOW American Dream in New Jersey, and technol...

Industry Luminary Chris Diamond Dies at 76

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., Jan. 13, 2023—Chris Diamond, former Steamboat Ski Resort president and author of seminal industry text Ski Inc., died Jan. 12, 2023, from pancreatic cancer. He was 76 years old.  Diamond had a long, influential career in the industry. He got his start in 1972, fresh off a tour in Vietnam with the U.S...

Quebec Ski Areas Report Strong 2021-22

SAM Magazine—Terrebonne, Quebec, Jan. 12, 2023—Quebec ski areas welcomed 6.3 million skier visits in 2021-22, the second highest total in the last 10 seasons and a 2.7 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to financial results released today by the Quebec Ski Areas Association (ASSQ). The organization attributed much of the ...

Sugarloaf Receives Approvals for West Mountain Expansion

SAM Magazine—Carrabassett Valley, Maine, Jan. 12, 2023—Sugarloaf received key approvals from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to begin work on its massive, 450-acre West Mountain expansion, which will include a new a high-speed detachable quad, 12 new alpine trails with snowmaking, a...

Mountain Capital Partners to Acquire Valle Nevado

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., Jan. 12, 2023—Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) has agreed to become the majority owner of Valle Nevado, Chile, the largest ski resort in the Americas by acreage. The acquisition is MCP’s first international resort and eleventh ski area. Founded in 1988, Valle Nevado is located in the Andes 37 miles from Santiago, ...

Mont-Sainte-Anne Allowed to Reopen Chairlifts, Not Gondola

SAM Magazine—Beaupré, Québec, Jan. 10, 2023—The Quebec Building Authority (RBQ) cleared four of Mont-Sainte-Anne’s (MSA) chairlifts to reopen on Jan. 8, but not the gondola. The resort closed after an unoccupied gondola cabin detached from the line and fell to the ground prior to opening on Dec. 10, 2022, the latest in a series of lift malf...

Holiday Demand Proves Strong Despite Wild Weather

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 6, 2023—Rollercoaster weather across the country, from recording breaking snowfall in California to 60-degree temps in Vermont, presented operational challenges for mountain resorts across the country.Courtesy of Sugar Mountain Despite some operational disruptions, though, many operators are reporting strong, an...

Record Highs Halt Alps Ops

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 6, 2023—Record-breaking warmth has taken a toll on European mountain resorts over the holiday period and into the new year. A Jan. 6 screen capture from the webcam at the top of Mont Chéry at Les Gets, France.While the season began with cooler temps and mid-December snow in the Alps and elsewhere, rain and high...

SAM Reveals the 2022 Terrain Park Contest Winners

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 6, 2023—Nearly 1,800 votes were cast in the 16th annual SAM Terrain Park Contest, in which a total of 60 resort-submitted entries from mountain resorts around the globe competed for the top spot in one of the four contest categories: features, events, edits, and—new this year—park crew. The votes have been ...

Fire Destroys Calabogie Peaks Pump House

SAM Magazine—Calabogie, Ontario, Jan. 4, 2023—Early Tuesday morning, a fire engulfed the snowmaking pump house at Calabogie Peaks, shuttering the ski area for the day for safety reasons. No one was injured and no other structures were affected, according to a statement. Calabogie reopened for operations today. “Thank goodness nobody has ...

Tree Falls on Park City Mountain Chairlift, Employee Killed

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Jan. 3, 2022—A Park City Mountain staff member was killed Jan. 2 after falling from the chairlift they were riding. A tree fell on the line of the Short Cut chairlift at about 10:45 a.m. MST, unseating the employee who fell at least 25 feet to the ground, according to a Vail Resorts spokesperson. The staff member w...

Polar Vortex Disrupts Operations Across North America

SAM Magazine—Ludlow, Vt., Dec. 23, 2022—A powerful winter storm bringing artic temps, dangerous wind chill values, and in some regions, blizzard conditions or even warm rain,Courtesy of Boyne Mtn has led to widespread operational disruptions at ski areas across North America heading into the holiday weekend. As the storm moves from the Rockies ...

Important Precedent Set in Oregon Ski Area Ruling

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., Dec. 20, 2022—Recreational use law was successfully used as a defense against a plaintiff seeking $1.5 million in a parking lot slip-and-fall claim against Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon. ASDA (Association of Ski Defense Attorneys) attorneys Brad Stanford and Trish Walsh of Portland firm Farleigh, Wada & Witt represe...