SAM Magazine--Trenton, N.J., August 24, 2010--In a 33-2 vote yesterday, the New Jersey state Senate passed a bill requiring kids under the age of 18 to wear helmets at ski areas. Under the proposed law (it heads to the state Assembly now), parents, legal guardians and supervising adults will be fined $25 for the first offense and up to $100 for rep...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Aug. 24, 2010-Canyons is adding two state-of-the-art Doppelmayr quads, including the first in the U.S. with heated seats and orange bubble enclosures, improving access to the gondola from the village, expanding terrain and expanding its snowmaking capabilities. This is the first phase in the redevelopment Canyons under...

SAM Magazine-Billings, Mont., Aug. 19, 2010-A federal judge has ruled that Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth caused the Club's bankruptcy in 2008. However, the judge also found Credit Suisse partly to blame for the spectacular collapse, and it seems likely that Blixseth will be liable for "only" $20 million to $65 million of the more than $200 ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Aug. 17, 2010-Despite growing signs of economic weakness, the overall travel industry continues to rebound. Mountain destinations participating in the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP),* experienced sharp increases in July occupancy, as well as increases in the advance reservations for the next six months. Destinatio...

SAM Magazine--August 17, 2010--Two city-owned ski hills in and around Toronto were given a lifeline by David Miller's executive committee, which voted to restore $600,000 in funding to keep the Centennial Park Ski and Snowboard Centre and Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre open this coming season. Originally, the city was looking to privatize t...

SAM Magazine--August 17, 2010--According to the Wall Street Journal, Snowmass base village developers, Related Cos., J.E. Roberts Cos. and Istithmar, filed suit this week against the lenders that started foreclosure proceedings last month. The suit alleges that the banks reneged on $520 million of promised financing, thereby derailing the build-out...

Last summer SAM Magazine kicked off a series of resort profiles featuring summer attractions across the country. These profiles were also covered in more depth in the pages of SAM. We continue our summer ops series here with a trip to Amesbury Sports Park in Amesbury, Mass., where publisher Olivia Rowan takes a ride in the OGO. Amesbury Sports ...

SAM Magazine-Hunter, N.Y., Aug. 9, 2010-Hunter Mountain is receiving a $4.8 million federal guarantee for a loan that is funding the purchase and installation of its new base to summit six-pack. The loan will also cover the refurbishing and relocation, in summer 2011, of the high-speed quad the six-pack replaces. The loan, held by Hunter's longt...

SAM Magazine--Middlefield, Conn., August 9, 2010--The former owner of Powder Ridge Ski Area in Connecticut, Ken Leavitt, has filed a lawsuit against the town of Middlefield and several officials after they used "bullying tactics" to take over the ski area and its 278 acres. According to the Middletown Press, Leavitt, who owned the area from 1997 un...

SAM Magazine-Hot Springs, Va., Aug. 4, 2010-Sepp Kober, known as the "Father of Southern Skiing," died Aug. 3. He was 88. Kober was one of the greatest pioneers in the development of Southern skiing. He introduced snowmaking at The Homestead, Va., which he managed for several years, and brought organized ski instruction and master planning t...

SAM Magazine-Fernie, B.C., Aug. 4, 2010-Island Lake Resort Group has made Doug Feely its CEO. Feely, who has spent more than 30 years in senior positions within the hospitality industry in the United States and Canada, will be responsible for all aspects of operations of ILRG, which include snowcat skiing, hiking and backcountry adventures combined...

SAM Magazine-Golden, B.C., Aug. 3, 2010-Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is opening a fourth bowl for winter 2010-11, its tenth season of operation. Known as Super Bowl, the new terrain will introduce "an epic selection of advanced and expert skiable terrain," the area said in a release. The expansion demonstrates "the resort commitment to improvin...

SAM Magazine-Pagosa Springs, Colo., July 30, 2010-Developers of the Village at Wolf Creek have presented a new plan for a proposed land swap near the top of Wolf Creek Pass, where they hope to create a ski-in, ski-out village with up to 1,700 residential units at an elevation of 10,300 feet. The developer acknowledges that the new plan will stil...

SAM Magazine-Choteau, Mont., July 30, 2010-Teton Pass Ski Resort has been purchased by kiwi Nick Wood, who, along with two investors, plan to spend $3 million over the next two years to transform the area into a regional destination. Sale price was reported to be around $300,000. Wood, a skier who has been in the high tech and hotel businesses, ...

SAM Magazine-Sunshine Village, Alberta, July 30, 2010-Sunshine Village was not at fault for the accidental death of one of its ski resort workers in 2004, an Alberta court has ruled. The decision overturned a lower court decision that found the resort failed to protect the employee's health and safety, according to the CBC. Maintenance worker Ka...