SAM Magazine-Warren, Vt., June 8, 2007-Skier visits declined 7 percent in Vermont last season, according to Vermont Ski Areas Association (VSAA). In 2006-07, Vermont ski areas tallied 3,820431 visits, down from the approximately 4.1 million skier visits in 2005-06. The decline was consistent with numbers across the country: total skier visits acros...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, June 6, 2007-Boyne USA is purchasing Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA, Me., from American Skiing Company (ASC) for $77 million in cash. Boyne will also assume $2 million in debt and other liabilities. "We are excited to bring almost 60 years of resort experience to the New England market," Stephen Kircher, Boyne's pre...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., June 4, 2007-Tim White, NSAA director of education, has resigned to become executive director of the National Ski Patrol (NSP), effective June 18. His appointment comes after nearly two years of internal turmoil for the organization, which had left its direction unclear. To that point, White told SAM, "I want to make i...

SAM Magazine - Vancouver, B.C., May 29, 2007 - Intrawest has announced that the company has appointed Michael Forsayeth as chief financial officer. Forsayeth will head Intrawest's global financial operations, reporting directly to president and COO Alex Wasilov. Based out of Intrawest's global headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, Forsayeth has ser...

SAM Magazine - Boulder, Co., May 29, 2007 - Mountain Sports Media, the owners of Ski and Skiing Magazines, Warren Miller's SnoWorld and SkiNet.com have announced the acquisition of SnowGallera.com by MSM. SnowGalleria.com, an online collective of retailers which sends business via the web to specialty retailers, was launched by Descente/DNA COO ...

SAM Magazine - Minturn, Co., May 23, 2007 - A private resort outside of Vail has won preliminary approval from the Minturn Planning Commission. Last night the Commission recommended that the Minturn Town Council approve the Ginn Development Company's private ski and golf community located outside the town on Battle Mountain. The proposed ski area, ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 24, 2007-Total dollar sales for wintersports specialty stores rebounded from a midseason slump, finishing at $1.8 billion, just one percent off last year's total, according to the end-of-season Retail Audit conducted by Leisure Trends Group for SnowSports Industries America (SIA). Overall unit sales and average retail ...

SAM Magazine, May 24, 2007--Stanislas Gregory Myerhof, the first of the two members of the Earth Liberation Front group-"the Family" responsible for the Vail arsons-has received a 13-year sentence. Myerhof, who pleaded guilty for 62 counts including the 1998 fires at Vail, which burned the Two Elk Lodge and other buildings, was known as the "Tec...

SAM Magazine-Bonita Springs, Calif., May 17, 2007-Source Interlink Cos., a magazine, CD and DVD distributor controlled by Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, has agreed to buy the Enthusiast Media division of Primedia, which includes Powder, Snowboarder, Hot Rod, Motor Trend and other special interest publications, for $1.2 billion. Source Inter...

SAM Magazine-Wellington, New Zealand, May 17, 2007-The New Zealand ski industry is starting to push for a bigger slice of the Aussie pie, targeting Australian skiers with television advertising for the first time. New Zealand already taps into an enthusiastic Aussi market. Last year, more than 101,000 overseas skiers spent an estimated NZ$342 mi...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, May 17, 2007-The ramifications are obvious: the Nestle Chairlift, The Remax Run (with associated million dollar ski-in, ski-out real estate), the Purina Poma. How about the Halliburton Jackson Hole Tram? That's what the future might look like if other resorts follow Whistler's lead and start selling naming rights to their lif...

SAM Magazine-Fayston, Vt., May 17, 2007-Mad River Glen has started work on the restoration of its iconic single chair, which has provided 59 years of service. The resort, which has raised $1.1 million with its Single Chair Capital Campaign, is on track to have the lift up and running for its scheduled December 15 opening. After considering the radi...

SAM Magazine-Snowbird, Ut., May 17, 2007-Snowbird resort claimed the 2007 Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence at the NSAA National Convention and Tradeshow in Palm Springs, California, earlier this month. The award recognizes the resort's participation in the American Fork Pacific Mine reclamation project. In 2006, Snowbird, ...

SAM Magazine-Danbury, N.H., May 11, 2007-Ragged Mountain ski resort and its 18-hole golf course are now owned by RMR-Pacific, an affiliate of Utah developer Pacific Group. Sale price was not disclosed, but is believed to be about $10 million. RMR-Pacific bought Ragged from Al and Walter Endriunas, who had been facing foreclosure for months. The two...

SAM Magazine-Killington, Vt., May 11, 2007-Powdr Corp of Park City, Utah and SP Land Company of Killington have finalized their purchase of Killington and Pico ski areas from American Skiing Company (ASC). SP Land will continue to focus on real estate development, and Powdr will run the mountain resort operations. Final proceeds from the sale were ...