SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 22, 2016—The 2016 Assembly, focused on how North American resorts and communities can manage the peaks and valleys of summer visitation and increase visits overall, takes place Jan. 28 at the SIA Snow Show in the Colorado Convention Center. And it’s shaping up as the biggest Assembly yet.

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 22, 2016—Rental World/Backshop, co-hosted by SAM Magazine and SnowSports Industries America (SIA), presents a broad overview of the rental equipment marketplace at the SIA Snow Show in Denver Jan. 28-31. The exhibit includes alpine and snowboard gear, helmets, XC, backshop tools and products, and racking systems.

SAM Magazine—Jackson, Wyo., Jan. 19, 2016— Five independent community ski areas have banded together to form the Mountain Playground Group, a new consortium created by the Mountain Rider’s Alliance to cultivate a viable niche market in small resort skiing by promoting “the authenticity and uniqueness of soulful ski areas,&rd...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 19, 2016—Vail Resorts’ most recent acquisition in the Midwest has the Windy City’s estimated 800,000 skiers and riders within close proximity. Wilmot Mountain, Wisc., located 65 miles north of Chicago, is the third Midwest resort in VR’s portfolio. Terms of the acquisition were not ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 15, 2016—According to the most recent data released by Denver-based DestiMetrics, as of Dec. 31, actual occupancy and future reservations at Western destination resorts are up 2.5 percent for the season, with revenue up 3.7 percent compared to last winter. DestiMetrics credits strong snowfall in the Rocky Mount...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 12, 2016—Performance, demo, and backcountry rentals are helping to fuel growth in rental overall, according to a recent survey conducted by SAM Magazine and Snowsports Industries America (SIA). The two organizations combined efforts to survey rental shops regarding trends in equipment and the general r...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 12, 2016—According to Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA), total skier visits at its 21 member resorts through Dec. 31 were up 10 percent compared to the same period last year. This year’s skier visits also bested the five-year early-season average by 13 percent. CSCUSA attributes the surge in visitation...

SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Jan. 11, 2015—On Friday, Jan. 8, at 10 a.m., school was in session at more than 160 resorts from New Jersey to Alaska in an attempt to establish a record for the World’s Largest Ski and Snowboard Lesson. While the final tally is still not yet complete, several thousand first-time skiers and riders of all a...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015—SAM's seventh annual Summer Ops Camp, a hands-on educational, networking, and in-park demo event, will head to Park City Sept. 6-8, 2016. The camp gathers resort managers and operators from around North America and overseas to explore opportunities in four-season attractions.

SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Jan. 6, 2015—For those still waiting to see snow in the East, here’s a message from earlier this week: “Jiminy Peak in western Massachusetts plans to create a massive machine-made blizzard over the next 40 hours that snow-starved skiers and snowboarders will be able to see on NOAA weather radar if...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Jan. 6, 2016—A 2011 proposal by the U.S. Forest Service to require ski resorts to transfer water rights to the federal government has been abandoned by the agency. Instead, it will require only that resorts prove there is enough water available to support skiing through each permit term. Resorts will have to ...

SAM Magazine—South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Jan. 6, 2016—A carrier traveling on the downhill side of Heavenly Mountain Resort’s North Bowl chairlift detached from the haul rope and fell to the ground on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 10:58 a.m. PST. A total of 65 passengers were taking the lift up, and were evacuated by ski patrol after the lift sh...

SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Jan. 6, 2016—It was a tale of two sides. One side was bountiful with business up and deep snow. The other side did not repeat the success of a year ago due to a lack of snow and mild temps. As usual, Mother Nature dictated much of how Christmas week went for resorts across North America. The Western half of t...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Dec. 28, 2015—Stein Eriksen, the legendary alpine skier often credited as a founder of modern skiing, died on Sunday, Dec. 27, at his home in Park City, Utah. He was 88 years old. Erikson’s many accomplishments in competitive alpine skiing include winning Olympic gold in giant slalom and silver in ...

Photo credit: Park City Mountain. SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Dec. 23, 2015—Despite prolific snowfall since the beginning of November at western resorts, the most recent Mountain Market Briefing by DestiMetrics—a company that tracks resort performance in mountain destinations—found that early booking patterns are ...