SAM Magazine-Lebanon, N.H., Nov. 16, 2011-SnoCountry Ski Areas Association is launching SnoNews, a weekly consumer eNewsletter featuring original news and features on skiing, snowboarding, mountain resorts, travel, and lift ticket deals, on Nov .23. SnoNews will email weekly to a list of more than 50,000-and growing-subscribers every week, givin...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Nov. 16, 2011-A slew of Western resorts are opening this weekend, along with several in the Northeast and a smattering of areas in Canada and the rest of the U.S. Park City is one of four areas in Utah that are starting up the lifts. It will operate three lifts and seven runs, as well as its all-season mountain coas...

SAM Magazine-Frisco, Colo., Nov. 16, 2011-The U.S. Ski Team Speed Center, a long-term partnership between the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Copper Mountain Resort, officially opened Tuesday. The early-season facility provides the only full-length downhill training available anywhere in the world during late October and early Nove...

SAM Magazine-Lutsen, Minn., Nov. 16, 2011-Lutsen Mountains recently gained a variance from the state's department of natural resources (DNR) to draw snowmaking water from the nearby Poplar River, even though the waterway has dropped below minimum flow levels. The decision, which the DNR says only applies for the next three years, has drawn criticis...

SAM Magazine-San Diego, Calif., Nov. 14, 2011-The Active Network, Inc., a provider of organization-based cloud computing applications, has acquired enterprise computer services provider RTP. For Active, which has focused primarily on helping organizers manage summer events, RTP "is an excellent complement to our mission of connecting people with th...

Opening Day at Mammoth Mountain  SAM Magazine-West Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 10, 2011-Cypress Mountain, B.C., opened Nov. 8, its earliest date ever, highlighting a week in which several Western areas are launching the season, along with a few others around the country. La Nina has brought early natural snow to the West Coast, from B.C. down to sou...

SAM Magazine-Homewood, Calif., Nov. 9, 2011-The multi-area season's pass concept, which gives customers access to other resorts that are not corporately related, has been catching on in recent years. The strategy has been most aggressively pursued by Monarch, with its 26 partners, but many other areas East and West are following Monarch's lead, and...

SAM Magazine-Red Lodge, Mont., Nov. 9, 2011-The installation of the Magnestick system on the Miami Beach chair lift makes Red Lodge the third U.S. resort to adopt it. The system uses an electromagnetic seatback and corresponding vest. The vest, which will be worn by children enrolled in ski and snowboard programs, contains a metal plate that secure...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Nov. 9, 2011-The Winter Trails program of Snowsports Industries America (SIA) is hosting educational workshops, animal tracking and a variety of fun activities at its nine anchor site locations on Winter Trails Day, Jan. 7. Winter Trails offers children and adults new to snow sports a chance to try snowshoeing and/or cr...

SAM Magazine--November 8, 2011--Senator Mark Udall from Colorado announced that President Obama signed the summer recreation bill into law yesterday, November 7. The bipartisan Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act makes a small change to the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 to allow the Forest Service to permit ski areas t...

SAM Magazine--November 4, 2011--Sno Mountain, Pa., (formerly Montage) has defaulted on a $5 million loan according to published reports. The ski area has not made a payment on its state loan in almost a year, and county records show the resort owes at least $1.55 million in unpaid bills, a third of which are real estate taxes. The Times-Tribu...

SAM Magazine--November 4, 2011--Cockaigne Ski Area, N.Y., recently announced on its website that it would not open this year and is actively looking for a buyer. "For the first time since 1965 Cockaigne Ski Area will not be open for skiing this winter!," says the area's website. "The search for a new owner who will operate Cockaigne next year...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Nov. 3, 2011-In the latest variation on the multi-area ticket, Aspen/Snowmass, Steamboat and Winter Park have unveiled a new Colorado Triple Play pass, good for two days at each of the three resorts during the 2011-12 season. Cost is $299 for adults, $249 for children 12 and under. The passes go on sale Nov. 4 at the Colorado S...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Nov. 2, 2011-Copper Mountain and Keystone Resort join the ranks of open areas in North America this Friday, Nov. 4, bringing the total in Colorado to five, and the North American total to roughly a dozen. At Copper, The American Eagle and Excelerator chairs will be running; the area has hosted race teams and the PSIA fall tr...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Nov. 2, 2011-Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) is instituting a new employee helmet policy tas an integral part of its commitment to safety. ASC currently recommends that all snowsport participants wear a properly fitted snowsports helmet whenever they are skiing or riding. To further instill that habit this season, all ASC employees w...