• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., March 8, 2018—Big Sky Resort plans to install North America’s first eight-passenger chairlift ahead of the 2018-19 winter season. The “Ramcharger 8” will be a deluxe Doppelmayr D-line high-speed lift, featuring heated seats and blue bubbles. The new lift will replace the existing Ramcharger high-speed quad.

• Rental

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 6, 2018—Yesterday, Vail Resorts unveiled a partnership with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) to include seven total days at RCR properties—Fernie, Kicking Horse, and Kimberly in B.C., Nakiska in Alberta, and Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham in Quebec—on the Epic Pass. The pass went on sale today for the 2018-19 season, with the top tier priced at $899—the same price as Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass.

• Ski Patrol

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., March 6, 2018—A variety of projects will be taking place at Killington for the 2018-19 season, including the installation of a new six-passenger high-speed bubble chairlift, relocation of an existing quad chairlift, upgrades to the K-1 gondola, trail work, new RFID gates, and the addition of a Woodward Wrecktangle ninja obstacle course to its summer operations—all to the tune of $16 million.

• Lifts
• Ski Patrol

SAM Magazine—Gillingham, U.K., March 2, 2018—Chatham Ski and Snowboard Centre, an outdoor dry ski slope in the United Kingdom, was forced to close for two days at the end of February due to snowfall in Southern England. Yes—snow closed a ski slope. Oh, the irony.

• Marketing
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Aspen Snowmass, Colo., March 2, 2018—The latest news in the dizzying world of season pass alliances is that the Mountain Collective—which includes a good number of resorts that are part of the new Ikon Pass from Alterra Mountain Company—will remain mostly the same for the 2018-19 season. The biggest change: Big Sky, Mont., replaces Telluride, which is included on next season’s Epic Pass.

• Resort Development
• Marketing

SAM Magazine—Wilmington, Vt., Feb. 27, 2018—Last Friday, Berkshire Bank filed a foreclosure complaint against the Hermitage Club, which has been building a private club at Haystack Mountain in southern Vermont, following what the bank said was a series of missed mortgage and tax payments.

• Resort Development
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Heavenly, Calif., Feb. 27, 2018—The lineup of quality content at the forthcoming Mountain Travel Symposium keeps getting better, with the addition of legendary ski racer and NBC commentator Bode Miller. MTS is taking place at Heavenly – South Lake Tahoe, Calif., April 8-14, 2018. Miller will speak April 12 to wrap up the MTS Forum general sessions.

• Safety

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 22, 2018—After months of speculation by industry folk and consumers alike, we now know how much the Ikon Pass will be, where it provides access to, and how often.

• Safety

SAM Magazine—Natick, Ma., Feb. 16, 2018—The nomination period for the 2018 SAMMY Leadership Awards is now open. SAM Magazine asks members of the winter sports industry to nominate leaders who deserve this recognition, and soon—nominations close March 15, 2018.

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., Feb. 16, 2018—The official opening of Jay Peak’s Clips & Reels, a $5 million indoor movie theater, climbing wall and arcade center, marks the end of nearly a decade of major development at the resort—and the beginning of the process to sell the property, along with sister resort Burke Mountain.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 16, 2018—Meager snowfall at many western ski resorts through January led to a decline in winter occupancy for the first time in six years, while lodging properties maintained a tenuous hold on revenues, according to Inntopia’s monthly DestiMetrics Market Briefing.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Feb. 16, 2018—The U.S. Forest Service has commenced a series of “Regional Partner Roundtables” to gather feedback to improve processes related to environmental analysis and decision making (EADM). The roundtables provide resorts that operate on Forest Service land the opportunity to make suggestions for improving the efficiency of the processes associated with every improvement project that resorts undertake, according to the most recent NSAA Capitol Watch.

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Feb. 16, 2018—More than 60 ski areas and resort companies have now been sued for allegations over inaccessible websites for the visually and hearing impaired under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to the most recent NSAA Capitol Watch. To combat this trend, NSAA representatives went to Washington D.C. this month to meet with key lawmakers and Justice Department officials who can help move regulation and guidance along.

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Feb 9, 2018—The opening ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang are tonight, kicking off nearly three weeks of winter sports coverage from NBC, with hundreds of millions of people expected to tune in around the world. In the U.S., viewers will be directed to NBC-owned SportsEngine.com to learn how to participate in competitive winter sports, and a link to learntoskiandsnowboard.org is included for those seeking recreational pursuits.

• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Denver, Feb. 7, 2018—Longtime Mammoth Resorts leader Rusty Gregory has been named Alterra Mountain Company’s chief executive officer. Gregory has been a member of Alterra’s board of directors since the company’s inception in August 2017. His 40-year ski industry career began as a lift operator at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., where he rose through the ranks to become an owner and the company’s chairman and CEO for more than 20 years.