• Resort Development
• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Dec. 21, 2018—A strong wave of mid-November snowfall from the Sierras to the Rockies gave winter bookings a boost at western mountain resorts. According to the DestiMetrics monthly Market Briefing, bookings made during the month of November for arrivals from November through April rose 12.8 percent compared to t...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Wildwood, Mo., December 21, 2018—Peak Resorts has created several new key roles and appointed new personnel at the corporate and managerial levels to better facilitate operations at its growing portfolio of resorts in the eastern United States.Eric Flynn Jason Boyd has been appointed senior vice president of operations, mid-Atlant...

• Resort Development

In SAM’s monthly Snow People, we highlight recent personnel moves that have been made in the mountain resort industry. This report was written by Katie Brinton. MICHAEL HUSSEY, MIDDLEBURY SNOW BOWL, VTMike Hussey has been named director of the Middlebury Snow Bowl and Rikert Nordic Center. He has served as the director of the Nord...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Dec. 13, 2018—Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, have awarded 30 grants totaling more than $2 million to support emotional wellness programs in nearly every mountain resort community in which Vail Resorts operates. The grants were issued by the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust, which the coup...

SAM Magazine—Highmount, N.Y., Dec. 13, 2018—This fall, Bruce Transue was named general manager of state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center in New York. The move followed a 36-year run at Hunter Mountain, where Transue served most recently as operations director. While at Hunter, Transue facilitated several significant capital projects, includ...

• Legal

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Dec. 7, 2018—Vail Resorts reported a jump of 21 percent in Epic Pass sales through Dec. 2, with revenues rising 13 percent, compared the year-earlier period, according to its latest quarterly report issued today. Total sales are expected to exceed 925,000 units, a significant number considering the competition cr...

• Snowmaking

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Dec. 7, 2018—In its most recent quarterly earnings report, Vail Resorts unveiled plans to invest approximately $175 million to $180 million in capital improvements across its portfolio of 18 mountain resorts ahead of the 2019-20 winter season, and 2019 season in Australia. Projects include ambitious snowmaking up...

• Rental
• Legal

SAM Magazine—Stratton, Vt., Dec. 7, 2018—The inaugural Northeast Winter Weather Summit, held Dec. 2 and 3, drew a mixed group of 70 attendees, including meteorologists, media, resort communicators, ski area association representatives, and industry suppliers for two days of networking, education, and discussions revolving around winter weather ...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Nov. 30, 2018—Voting closes for the 14thannual SAMTerrain Park Contest on Dec. 6, 2018, which means time is short for participating resorts to encourage their fans and followers to cast their votes online. Entries that earn the most votes in each category—Features, Events, and Bread and Butter—will win pri...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Ludlow, Vt., Nov. 30, 2018, —November 2018, or Snowvember as many are calling it, has been one for the books. Consistent snowfall and cold temps in many regions of ski country this month have combined to help areas open early, open more terrain, and do some pretty good business as a result. Across the country, ski areas saw strong ...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Ludlow, Vt., Nov. 30, 2018—While November brought early openings and record snow coverage to large parts of North America, it also ushered in several notable events in Europe: Winter arrived in the Alps, and key resorts have started spinning lifts; the highest gondola in Europe was installed with eco-friendly bona fides; and Cairng...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Nov. 28, 2018—Patti Duncan has been promoted to lead Snowshoe Mountain, W.Va., as its new president and chief operating officer, effective immediately. She has served as interim president since September after Frank DeBerry left to take over as president and COO of Crystal Mountain, Wash. Both resorts are owned by Al...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Nov. 26, 2018—The full summer season from May through October set its sixth consecutive records for occupancy and average daily rate (ADR), while revenue set a seventh consecutive record despite some ups and downs in individual months at Western mountain destinations tracked in the DestiMetrics Market Briefing. Looking ahea...

• Legal

SAM Magazine—Danbury, N.H., Nov. 26, 2018—Industry veteran Jay Gamble will take over as general manager of Ragged Mountain, N.H., following the departure of Ryan Schramm, who was recently named GM of Powderhorn Mountain Resort in Colorado. Both resorts are operated by Pacific Group Resorts.  Most recently, Gamble spent 20 years as general...

• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Wildwood, Mo., Nov. 26, 2018—Peak Resorts has completed its $76 million acquisition of Snow Time, Inc., which includes three Pennsylvania ski areas—Liberty Mountain Resort, Whitetail Resort, and Roundtop Mountain Resort. The deal expands Peak Resorts’ portfolio to 17 ski areas across the Northeast and Midwest. Prior to closing...