• Marketing
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Government Camp, Ore., March 31, 2022—A new master development plan from Timberline operators R.L.K. and Company outlines major capital investments to further integrate Summit Pass (formerly Summit Ski Area) with Timberline Ski Area. The plans include a two-stage gondola that would provide game-changing direct, aerial access from t...

• Marketing

Updated April 25, 2022 to acknowledge original reporting by Moonshine Ink. SAM Magazine—Homewood, Calif., March 28, 2022—Homewood Mountain Resort owner JMA Ventures has said the mountain will shift to a semi-private model following a 10-year 40 percent decline in skier visit and 64 percent drop in passholders, as reported by Moonshine Ink. ...

• Ski School
• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 28, 2022—Vail Resorts (VR) has entered into an agreement to purchase a majority stake in Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG from Andermatt Swiss Alps AG (ASA). Andermatt-Sedrun is a destination ski resort in central Switzerland, located less than 90 minutes from major metropolitan areas Zurich, Lucerne, and Lugano, ...

• Lifts
• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Aspen Snowmass, Colo., March 24, 2022—Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) president and CEO Mike Kaplan will retire April 30, 2023. At that time, Kaplan will have spent 30 years with the company, and the last 17 years as its president and CEO.   Kaplan joined ASC as a supervisor at the Aspen Mountain Ski School in 1993. He spent six ye...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah, March 23, 2022—The winter and summer Outdoor Retailer trade shows are headed to Salt Lake City, returning to their former home after five years in Denver. The OR shows will be held in January and June at the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center. Dates will be determined in the coming weeks. Emerald...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, March 23, 2022—Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) has rolled out the pricing for its 2022-23 Mission: Affordable pass. The pass offers unlimited access at PGRI-owned ski areas Wisp Resort, Md., Powderhorn Resort, Colo., Wintergreen, Va., and Ragged Mountain, N.H., as well as seven days at PGRI’s Mt. Washington Al...

• Racing

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., March 23, 2022—Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) has rolled out its 2022-23 Power Pass lineup, which provides access to MCP’s Spider Mountain bike park in Texas and its seven Southwest ski areas: Purgatory and Hesperus, Colo., Arizona Snowbowl, Ariz., Brian Head and Nordic Valley, Utah, and Pajarito and Sipapu, N.M....

• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 21, 2022—Vail Resorts (VR) unveiled its 2022-23 Epic Pass lineup today, increasing prices slightly over its significantly reduced 2021-22 offerings. New this year, the company also introduced a monthly payment plan and a cheaper tier of the Epic Day pass, with location-restricted access. On a quarterly ear...

• Ski Area Profiles
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., March 18, 2022—Occupancy and rates at western mountain destinations have set records for the season through the month of February, according to the most recent Monthly Market Briefing from DestiMetrics, the business intelligence division of Inntopia. The report provides multi-year comparisons back to the pre-pan...

• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Guilford, England, and Park City, Utah, March 17, 2022—Snowsports Industries America (SIA) and Raccoon Events entered a long-term partnership to host the Snowbound Expo, a B2C event last held as the Boston Ski & Snowboard Expo in 2019. Set to take place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass., Nov. 18-20, 2022, the expo...

• Safety
• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Vipiteno, Italy, March 17, 2022—The High Technology Industries Group (HTI) acquired a majority stake in Swiss ropeway company Bartholet Maschinenbau AG. Bartholet joins Leitner Poma, Skytrac, Sigma, Prinoth, and Demaclenko, under the HTI umbrella. HTI purchased the controlling shares from Chinese private equity firm Cedarlake Capi...

• Lifts
• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 16, 2022—Vail Resorts has named new general managers to two of its northeastern resorts: Brian Suhadolc will take the helm at Mount Snow, Vt., and Ted McDowell will lead Roundtop, Pa.  Suhadolc moves to general manager of Mount Snow from his current position as vice president of mountain operations at Vai...

• Lifts
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 15, 2022—Vail Resorts, Inc. (VR) saw visits and ticket revenues rebound from a slow early season, with totals returning to pre-Covid levels, according to the company's second quarter results. Results for ancillary lines of revenue, such as snowsports school and F&B, remained below pre-Covid levels.  ...

• Lifts
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 14, 2022—Ahead of its second-quarter earnings call, Vail Resorts rolled out a new incremental annual $175 million investment in its employees that includes a $20 per hour starting wage, a commitment to “aggressively” expand affordable employee housing, and the hiring of more centralized HR staff, among ...

• Miscellaneous
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Twin Bridges, Calif., March 14, 2022—To celebrate its 75th anniversary as it rises from the ashes of disaster, Sierra-at-Tahoe will reopen for one weekend, April 9–10, 2022. The celebration follows months of work recovering from the impacts of the Caldor Fire, which burned upwards of 80 percent of the trees on property, damaged s...