• Snowmaking

SAM Magazine—Hillsdale, N.Y., April 3, 2018—Catamount Ski Area owners Tom Gilbert and Rich Edwards are seeking an investor, joint venture partner, or new owner/operator for the mountain. The pair has enlisted real estate brokerage firm Mirus Resort Advisors to assist in the search.

• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Jamesville, N.Y., April 3, 2018—The lift-maintenance training program coordinated and subsidized by Ski Areas of New York (SANY) will offer an expanded curriculum starting this, its seventh year, when the program kicks off in May. The program will include a group of advanced fixed grip and detachable lift classes, as well as condensed basic fixed grip training.

• Lift Maintenance
• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—March 28, 2018—The month of March came in like a lion for ski areas across the country, a welcome shot in the arm after what was turning out to
be a challenging season from coast to coast. The first two-and-a-half weeks of the month brought a parade of storms—powerful systems off the Pacific, and complicated Nor’easters on the East Coast—that dumped several feet of snow, attracting crowds and extending the seasons for many ski areas.

• Lifts
• Lift Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., March 23, 2018—Jay Peak is the only mountain resort in Vermont to be designated as a Gold-level participant in the 3>4>50 initiative, a statewide Department of Health program that helps residents understand and address the impact of chronic disease in Vermont. This designation stems from the resort’s dozen-plus wellness measures designed to enable employees to live a healthy life. Gold is the highest designation, followed by Silver- and Bronze-level participation.

• Lifts
• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Olympic Valley, Calif., March 23, 2018—The inaugural Ski California Lift Maintenance and Operations Education (LMOE) Conference will take place June 5 – 7, 2018 at Squaw Valley. This new event will include a variety of classroom sessions, hands-on training, and networking opportunities, all aimed at advancing the knowledge of ski resort lift maintenance and ops personnel.

• Lifts
• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., March 22, 2018—After several years of building out its summer activities, Killington is offering a new year-round “season pass” for $99 a month. The Beast 365 Year-Round Pass provides access to all of Killington’s year-round activities, from golf, mountain biking, and the Adventure Center to the lifts at Killington and Pico.

• Lifts

Every year, it seems, the list of educational seminars and programs grows. Here are the events on the calendar this spring, including the newest, the Ski California Lift Maintenance and Operations Education Conference, June 5-7:

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—District of Columbia, March 21, 2018—Resort partners in the 10th annual Learn to Ski and Snowboard (Month)/Bring a Friend initiative provided nearly 90,000 beginner lessons during January. Since its inception in 2009, participating resorts in the program have taught roughly 960,000 beginner lessons.

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., March 21, 2018—NSAA is encouraging resorts on public land to help line up co-sponsors for the Ski Area Fee Retention Act of 2018, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this month. According to the NSAA “Capital Watch,” the bill would earmark a major portion of USFS permit fees, roughly $22 million to $24 million of the roughly $37 million resorts on public lands pay in permit fees, for improving ski area permit administration, processing of ski area proposals, and addressing any backlogs in permit administration or processing. The fees can also be used for interpretation, visitor services and support of USFS Avalanche Information/Education.

SAM Magazine—Wilmington, Vt., March 20, 2018—The members-only Hermitage Club, which until yesterday operated a ski area on Haystack Mountain in southern Vermont, was closed by the Vermont Department of Taxes on Monday for failure to pay a “progress payment” on taxes it owes to the state. Last Thursday the state took the same action, but the club made a payment of $112,000 for unpaid meals, rooms, and sales taxes in time for it to be allowed to open for the weekend.

• Lifts

Welcome to the March edition of Snow People, where we highlight happenings to prominent ski industry and supplier personnel.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine–Denver, March 16, 2018­–The snowfall throughout the month of February boosted lodging numbers for resorts throughout the West. However, it was not enough to deliver a year-over-year increase in occupancy compared to the 2016-2017 season according to Inntopia’s monthly DestiMetrics Market Briefing.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, March 15, 2018—Snow Park Technologies (SPT) founders Chris and Genevieve Gunnarson are joining the leadership at POWDR—Chris as the senior vice president of youth development, and Genevieve as vice president of Woodward brand and marketing. Both will focus on the evolution and integration of the company’s Woodward brand and experiences.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 14, 2018—Vail Resorts launched sales for its 2018-19 Epic Pass products last week, but that didn’t stop it from entering a “long-term alliance” this week with Triple Peaks, LLC, adding the portfolio of Okemo, Vt., Mount Sunapee, N.H., and Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colo., to next season’s Epic Pass.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Boyne Falls, Mich., March 13, 2018—Boyne Resorts has entered an agreement to acquire six mountain resorts and a scenic chairlift attraction that the company currently leases from Ski Resort Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Och-Ziff (Oz) Real Estate.