• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 31, 2018—Resorts can now enroll to participate in the 2018 NSAA Climate Challenge. The Climate Challenge is a voluntary program dedicated to helping participating ski areas track, report, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as reduce energy costs. The deadline for enrollment is May 18.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 29, 2018—Vail Resorts has entered into a “long-term alliance” with Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado, adding the resort to the Epic Pass starting in 2018-19. The Epic Pass now offers access and benefits to a total of 46 mountain resorts worldwide. 

• Safety
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Orcas Island, Wash., Jan. 25, 2018—The man who brought ski movies to the mainstream, Warren Miller, died Wednesday at the age of 93.

• Ski Area Profiles
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 25, 2018—Alterra Mountain Company, the recently-named joint venture that curated a dozen North American mountain resorts last year, unveiled the name of its highly anticipated season pass product and the mountains it will provide access to. The Ikon Pass will go on sale this spring, and passholders will get unlimited access to, and/or a set number of days at 23 different mountain resorts—Alterra’s 12 properties, and 11 partner mountains. The company said details on access, pass benefits, and pricing will be released in the coming weeks.

• Ski Patrol

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 24, 2018—The much-anticipated Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show kicks off tomorrow at the Denver Convention Center, with roughly 1,000 outdoor brands ready to engage about 11,000 retail buyers over the four-day event, Jan. 25-28. SAM will be there, once again co-presenting the Rental World + Backshop and Uniform Gallery, which showcases these all-important product categories. The exhibits provide a one-stop overview of the categories, and provide a quick way for buyers to survey their options.

• Resort Development
• Ski Patrol

SAM Magazine—Teton Village, Wyo., Jan. 18, 2018—Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) has named Mary Kate Buckley to succeed Jerry Blann, effective June 1, 2018. Blann has served as president since 1995. JHMR, independently owned by the Kemmerer Family, conducted a search to fill the role, and is pleased to bring Mary Kate with her strong ties to Jackson Hole and her extensive business experience.

• Snowmaking
• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 12, 2018—The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has named Michael Lane as its new director of technical services, a position primarily focused on lift safety, education, operations, and maintenance. Lane is currently the national ropeway engineer for the USDA Forest Service. He will assume his role at NSAA in February 2018.

• Resort Development
• Snowmaking

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 12, 2018—In an important legal ruling, the Colorado Civil Rights Division sided in favor of Winter Park Resort over a recent disability discrimination claim against the resort regarding its restriction on service animals riding chairlifts. It’s the first legal challenge ever against a ski area over service animal restrictions on chairlifts.

• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Denver, January 13, 2018 –Skier visits at the 23 member resorts of Colorado Ski Country USA were down 13 percent compared to last year’s mediocre first period visit numbers, for the season through Dec. 31, 2017.

• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 13, 2018—Vail Resorts reported a 10.8 percent decline in visits across its major North American resorts through the early season, reflecting adverse weather and snow conditions across a broad swath of the U.S.

• Rental
• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 11, 2018—The joint venture of affiliates of KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company that curated 12 mountain resorts across North America last year can now be referred to as something other than “yet-to-be-named entity” or “NewCo.” Meet the newly named Alterra Mountain Company.

• Rental

SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Jan. 11, 2018—As usual, Mother Nature played a significant role in how successful mountain resorts were during the first major holiday period of the winter. Too warm, too dry, too cold, too windy—visits in many regions were dampened by the weather.

• Environment
• Terrain
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 15, 2018—The Rental World + Backshop and Uniform Gallery will continue to showcase these product categories during the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, Jan. 25-28 at the Denver Convention Center. The exhibits provide a one-stop overview of the categories, and provide a quick way for buyers to survey their options.

• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Heavenly, Calif., Jan. 3, 2018—More than 1,100 mountain travel buyers and suppliers from around the world are expected to attend this year’s Mountain Travel Symposium at Heavenly-South Lake Tahoe, Calif., April 8–14. The week’s agenda is packed with A-list speakers, networking opportunities, educational sessions, and business development exchanges.

• Marketing
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Loveland, Colo., Jan. 2, 2017—On the morning of Thursday, Dec. 28, lift maintenance employee Adam Lee was killed while doing work on a conveyor lift at Loveland Ski Area. According to the chief deputy coroner, the preliminary cause of death is crushing chest injuries due to blunt force trauma. The resort said the incident happened around 11 a.m., and ski patrol was on-scene shortly after it happened. Lee was 40 years old.