SAM Magazine—Palmerton, Pa., Feb. 5, 2016—Following a variety of recent capital improvements, Blue Mountain Resort is planning yet another major project—a much-needed lodging property at the summit of the mountain. Described as a “4-star luxury condominium hotel,” the Vista Lodge Residence Club will be the only major lodging property within a 30-minute drive of the resort.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Feb. 5, 2016—Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. reported a 26.9 percent decrease in skier visits across its mountain properties during the second quarter ending Dec. 31. Revenue across all divisions decreased by $16.9 million, to $104 million,  over the same period, with the challenging start to winter at its Eastern properties clearly the reason for the shortfall.

SAM Magazine—One Hundred Mile House, B.C., Feb. 5, 2016—The recently formed Mountain Playground Group—a consortium of community and independent small ski areas—has added a new member. The non-profit Mt. Timothy, located in the Cariboo Range of British Columbia, became the seventh such operation to join.

SAM Magazine—Manchester Center, Vt., Feb. 5, 2016—The International Skiing History Assn. (ISHA) is honoring several broadcasters, filmmakers, writers, and historians for their achievements during the 24th annual ISHA Awards in Aspen on April 7.

SAM Magazine—Timberline, Ore. Feb. 5, 2016—Registration is now open for the 2016 session of Cutter's Camp—the industry’s longest running gathering of terrain park professionals—which will be held at Timberline, Mt. Hood, Ore., May 9-13.

SAM Magazine—Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Feb. 4, 2016—It’s not every day a guy gets to own a piece of the resort where he learned to snowboard, but then again, Shaun White isn’t your everyday snowboarder. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and San Diego native now owns a minority stake in Mammoth Resorts, which recently acquired Bear Mountain and Snow Summit—the SoCal resorts where White, 29, began riding at age 6.

SAM Magazine—North Conway, N.H., Jan. 28, 2016—The biggest ski town/resort news could just happen at quaint, historical Cranmore Mountain in the coming years. In a group press conference on Wednesday, Boston entrepreneur Joe O’Donnell, along with his partner, the father-son team of Brian and Tyler Fairbank (of Jiminy Peak, Bromley, and Cranmore) detailed a $50 million project and improvement plan that they hope to break ground on this spring.

SAM Magazine—Reno, Nev., Jan. 27, 2016—After 45 years as majority owner, Fritz Buser, 95, has decided it’s time to sell Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe and retire.

Marketing director Mike Pierce said resort staff was informed of Buser’s intention to put the property up for sale early last week before a statement was released on Saturday.

SAM Magazine—Sutton, QC Jan. 27, 2016—A group of Quebec investors has reached an agreement with the majority shareholders, the Boulanger family, to acquire Ski Sutton Inc., the owner of the Mont SUTTON ski resort. The investors include Jean Michel Ryan, Mont SUTTON’s General Manager, Sylvain Gervais of Enterprises Larry, and Pierre Chesnay, a former member of Uni-Select’s senior management.

SAM Magazine—Snowshoe, W.Va., Jan. 25, 2016—The first headline-making winter storm to hit the eastern U.S. started with much fanfare on Friday morning and didn’t end for many until late Saturday night, leaving behind as much as three feet of much-needed snow at many Mid-Atlantic and Southeast ski areas.

While resorts welcomed the glut of snow, the timing of the storm and the sheer volume of it created some immediate operational challenges.

With plentiful snowfall across most of the West this winter, NSAA’s annual winter conference and trade show Jan. 19-21 at Squaw Valley’s Resort at Squaw Creek drew a large and largely upbeat crowd. NSAA reported a total of 660 attendees represented by 79 ski areas and 129 supplier companies.

SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Jan. 22, 2016—Whistler Blackcomb, Okemo, and Stowe were recognized recently as great places to work. For the fifth consecutive year, Whistler Blackcomb was honored by the editors of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers” in an annual competition that recognizes employers offering the nation's best...

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...