• Lifts

 The pandemic is on the march in many local resort communities and in the larger market areas from which they draw their customers. State and local governments are taking measures to stop the advance of COVID-19, hoping to avoid the need for a broad economic shutdown. And both public and private entities are seeking to boost tourism. For detai...

• Personnel Issues

An informative Q & A with Aspenware’s VP of Service, Jenni Buonanni. Snow is falling, and some North American resorts have already opened, with many more opening in the next month. This season, resorts are relying on online bookings more than ever before. In fact, many resorts are closing their ticket windows and only accepting bookings onli...

• Lifts
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Nov. 5, 2020—While many resorts projected conservative opening days (think late November to mid-December) to allow for time to implement new COVID protocols, several ski areas across North America were able to make a quick pivot from summer to winter operations in the last two weeks. Wolf Creek, Colo. opening day Midwest As ...

• Resort Development
• Personnel Issues

SAM Magazine—McCall, Idaho, Nov. 5, 2020—Brundage Mountain Holdings LLC has acquired the majority interest in Brundage Mountain Resort from the DeBoer family, which has held ownership interests in the resort since 1980, and became sole owners in 2006.  Resort president Bob Looper will lead the new ownership group made up of local individu...

• Safety

As COVID-19 injections spike again, a couple of developments are worthy of note, according to the latest Weekly Briefing from the Insights Collective. Among the highlighted news items: MIT has developed software that can accurately test a person’s cough and determine if it signals COVID-19 or not. It’s 98.5 percent accurate, and can identify th...

• Resort Development
• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Montpelier, Vt., Nov. 3, 2020—The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Health, Vermont Department of Public Safety, and the Vermont Ski Areas Association released operating guidance today for the state’s ski areas. The guidance details a variety of requirements that sk...

• Legal

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., Nov. 3, 2020—American skiers and riders are willing to make several accommodations to the novel coronavirus when they hit the slopes this winter, according to a survey of more than 20,000 downhillers conducted in September by RRC Associates. Knowing how guests are prepared to modify their routines, and understa...

• Ski School
• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Nov. 2, 2020—Last month, 180 current and up-and-coming ski area leaders participated in the Summit Series Bootcamp: Resilient Leadership Training. Due to overwhelming positive feedback and additional demand, SAM and High Peaks Group are conducting the Bootcamp again for those that missed it the first time.&...

• Lift Maintenance
• Legal

SAM Magazine—November 2, 2020, Boulder, Colo.—SKI released its annual resort guide, which ranks the best 50 resorts across North America based on its 2020 reader survey. In the West, Sun Valley, Idaho, took top honors, while Smugglers’ Notch, Vt., was named number one in the East. Sun Valley Challenge often took...

• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Vienna, Austria, Nov. 2, 2020—In an effort to slow rapidly-spreading novel coronavirus cases in Austria, the government there announced on Oct. 31 a nationwide partial lockdown beginning Nov. 3 for at least the rest of the month. As a result, the eight glacier ski resorts that are currently open in Austria—reportedly enjoying exc...

• Lift Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Snowbird, Utah, Oct. 30, 2020—Most POWDR-owned resorts will manage visitation this winter using a parking reservations system that requires visitors arriving in personal vehicles to reserve a parking spot in advance, whether they’re skiing or not. Date-specific reservations will be made online and validated upon arrival. Up to se...

SAM Magazine—Glenwood Springs, Colo., Oct. 30, 2020—The Freedom Pass, a reciprocal lift ticket partnership that grants passholders three free days at member resorts, has survived the pandemic and the shifting season's pass landscape with a new, slightly smaller lineup for 2020-21.  This year's lineup includes a new member—Mont du Lac Re...

• Lifts

As the elections approach, there’s a bit of COVID-related news to relate. A Harvard study shows that air travel has a low COVID transmission risk compared to other settings, thanks in part to hospital-grade air filtering—destination resorts may not be so hard to reach after all. The failure of the COVID economic relief negotiations makes an eco...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Oct. 30, 2020—Even with winter approaching, Americans are turning to the outdoors for safety, sanity, and entertainment, according to a Harris Poll conducted Oct. 15-17 and sponsored by the Out of Home Advertising Association. More than two-thirds of Americans say they have an increased appreciation of the outdoors since lockdowns ...

• Lifts
• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Bartlett, N.H., Oct. 29, 2020—Tennessee native Greg Gavrilets is the new general manager of Attitash in New Hampshire. He succeeds longtime Attitash leader John Lowell, who is retiring from his role as vice president and general manager of Attitash and nearby Wildcat effective Nov. 1. Gavrilets’ first day on the job was Oct. 26. ...