SAM Magazine—Vernon, N.J., May 15, 2012—Mountain Creek Resort has filed suit against Everest Indemnity Insurance Company in an attempt to force the insurer to pay a claim under the resort’s weather insurance policy. The court’s ruling could have a broad impact on how such insurance is written in the future. The Mountain C...

SAM Magazine—Eden, Utah, May 11, 2012—Wolf Creek Utah Resort, Wolf Mountain Ski Resort and a number of buildings and other assets, including development property, will be sold at auction on Friday June 1. In all, more than 3,000 acres of mountain valley property is for sale. Auction parcels include an 18-hole championship golf course...

SAM Magazine—San Antonio, Tex., May 10, 2012—National resort visits totaled an estimated 51 million this past season, a decline of 15.7 percent from the previous year’s record total of 60.54 million, according to the Kottke National End of Season Survey. The total was the lowest since 1991-92. Visits were down in all regions, a...

SAM Magazine—Waterville Valley, N.H., May 7, 2012—The Boston Red Sox and Waterville Valley Resort are teaming up via a three-year deal that makes them corporate partners through 2014. The deal includes Waterville Valley lift ticket giveaways, exposure on the centerfield scoreboard and in the EMC-level suites, presence in the Fenway P...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, May 2, 2012—Now in its third year, SAM's Summer Ops Camp will head west to Canyons, Utah, from September 4 to 6. The Summer Ops Camp is a hands-on educational and networking event that gathers resort managers and operators from around North America to explore the exciting opportunities in four-season at...

SAM Magazine--May 2, 2012--Vail Resorts, Inc., released lift ticket sales, ski school and other ancillary results from the 2011/12 season, as compared to the same approximate time period last year. The measurements are from the beginning of the ski season through April 22, 2012, and are compared to the beginning of the ski season in 2010 through Ap...

SAM Magazine—April 26, 2012—In spite of postponing its opening by one week due to minimal snow conditions, Whitefish Mountain Resort, Mont., is more than pleased with the finish of the 2011/2012 ski season. Although snowfall and skier visits were down in December, the resort reported more snow in January, February and March in 2012 than...

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah, Apr. 24, 2012—Twenty prominent business and community leaders have formed a coalition to support SkiLink, which would connect Canyons and Solitude via gondola. They hope the project will pave the way for additional links between resorts and the eventual creation of the largest multi-area “ski cir...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., April 18, 2012—SAM Magazine is excited to announce the winners of the 2012 SAMMY Leadership Awards. The three recipients prove that to be successful in the mountain resort industry takes a lot of energy, enthusiasm and, above all, passion. The 2012 SAMMY winners are: Jody Churich, ...

SAM Magazine—Seattle, Apr. 18, 2012—Eight legends of skiing were inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall Fame in a ceremony here last Saturday. Among the honorees were ski area developers Nick Badami and Phil Gravink, ski show producer Harry Leonard, ski historian Mason Beekley, speed skier and writer Dick Dorworth, and competitor...

SAM Magazine—Squaw Valley, Calif., Apr. 18, 2012—Below average snowfall and snowpack, combined with record-breaking warm temperatures, led to a 3.9 percent decline in occupancy at Western mountain destinations during March compared to the same month last year, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). Similar declines w...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Apr. 18, 2012—Vail Resorts has joined conservation groups in supporting Senator Mark Udall and Congressman Jared Polis in their efforts to designate additional wilderness and special management areas in Eagle and Summit counties, home to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Keystone. The areas under cons...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, April 16, 2012—Continuing a three-year wrangle, Park City Mountain Resort and its landlord, Talisker, remain in negotiations regarding PCMR’s lease of much of its ski terrain, despite a series of legal moves in the courts. Last week, Talisker responded to a lawsuit filed by PCMR in early March, in ...

SAM Magazine—Boise, Idaho, Apr. 16, 2012—Pension fund trustee and investment adviser Matthew Hutcheson, who bid $40 million for Tamarack Resort in 2010, has been arrested on 31 counts for defrauding two pension funds under his control. The indictment charges that Hutcheson used the money in his effort to buy the Tamarack resort as well ...

SAM Magazine—Washington, D.C., Apr. 13, 2012—Snow sports retail sales were down 12 percent in units and 4 percent in dollars through the end of February, according to the RetailTRAK, released by SnowSports Industries America (SIA) and The Leisure Trends Group. Sales totaled $3.2 billion. Sales declined most for accessories, down 15 p...