SAM Magazine-Beaver, Ut., Oct. 5, 2006- CPB Development has proposed a $3.5 billion plan to local planning authorities for a Yellowstone Club-style resort at Elk Meadows, which hasn't operated for four years. Resort property owners, who would lose their access to the mountain, are rising in opposition. The resort, which opened in 1971, went ...

SAM Magazine-Banff, Alta., Oct. 3, 2006-An investment group which includes legendary Canadian skier Ken Read has purchased Mt. Norquay Ski Area outside of Banff. The group includes Read, who currently serves as president of Alpine Canada Alpin, the governing body of ski racing in Canada, as well as Stephen Ross of Devonian Properties in Canm...

SAM Magazine-Eugene, Ore., Sept. 29, 2006-Chelsea Gerlach and Stanislas Meyerhoff, accused of involvement in arson that destroyed Vail's Two Elk lodge in 1998, have cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for consideration in their sentences and cases pending against them. Both individuals were part of a group of 13 individuals responsible for 18 se...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo.-Sept. 29, 2006-Vail Resorts (VR) is creating a new program focused on ethnic youth in Eagle and Summit counties as well as the Front Range. The program is intended to expand on the Company's joint effort with Alpino over the past two years to introduce skiing and snowboarding and the winter mountain experience to peop...

SAM Magazine-Sugarloaf, Me., Sept. 28, 2006-As part of a $1 million summer makeover, Sugarloaf is enhancing its terrain parks, recreational racing facilities, and base village. A new terrain park, 400 feet wide and nearly a half a mile long, will accommodate a series of jumps, features and rails. "This new park will let us build bigger, better, ...

SAM Magazine-Keystone, Colo., Sept. 26, 2006-Keystone will open Independence Bowl, almost 300 acres of expert-only hiking and snowcat terrain south of the summit of Dercum Mountain, for the 2006-07 season. The U.S. Forest Service issued the final approval Sept. 21, just before early-season storms dropped more than a foot of snow on the resort. The ...

SAM Magazine-Turin, N.Y., Sept. 26, 2006-Pennsylvanian Russell Horn is purchasing Snow Ridge ski area from Peter Harris, who also owns Song Mountain Resort in Tully. Horn is consolidating his position at Snow Ridge; he purchased the Towpath Inn at the base of Snow Ridge in 2005. Horn will put Snow Ridge under the management of his son Keith and ...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Sept. 26, 2006-Wachusett Mountain, the most accessible ski area in the eastern USA according to SKI Magazine, is becoming more so. For the 2006-2007 season, the area is teaming with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) and the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Company (MBCR) to operate commuter rail service to...

SAM Magazine-Alta, Utah, Sept. 25, 2006-It is one of the very few areas in the U.S. that don't allow snowboarding, and, it appears, doesn't need a terrain park, either. While most resorts have been pumping investment dollars into their parks, contrarian resort Alta has decided to ax its park altogether. "We found that our skiers were curious abo...

SAM Magazine-Hemlock Valley, B.C., Sept. 25, 2006-Ice hockey entrepreneur Ralf Berezan, owner of the Junior A Surrey Eagles ice hockey team, has purchased British Columbia's Hemlock Valley Resort and expects to have the mountain open this season. Berezan, who also owns a variety of pubs in British Columbia, purchased the resort out of receivership....

SAM Magazine-Silverton, Colo., Sept. 23, 2006-Silverton Mountain Ski Area hosted the first skiers of the year yesterday after receiving two major storms Thursday and Friday. Skiers and snowboarders were waiting and ready to ride Friday when they woke up to what looked like February storm conditions. After two days of heavy snow, Silverton Mountain'...

SAM Magazine-September 22, 2006--Powder Ridge, located in Middlefield, Connecticut, will remain closed this winter pending sale of the ski resort. The 500-vertical-foot mountain featured 18 trails spread over 75 skiable acres served by six lifts, including two triple chairs and two double chairs. The announcement that the resort is ceasing o...

SAM Magazine-Pagosa Springs, Colo., Sept. 21, 2006-Wolf Creek is replacing its venerable 34-year old Dickey lift with a Doppelmayr-CTEC detachable quad. The new "Raven" lift will have an initial capacity of 1,200 skiers per hour and should be operational by the start of the the coming season. The lift, which will serve approximately the same terra...

SAM Magazine-Georgetown, Colo., Sept. 21, 2006-Over the past twenty-four hours, a cold front has moved through Colorado, dropping snow across the state and allowing Loveland to start snowmaking operations. Loveland, which has been the first resort to open on an ongoing basis for the past seven seasons, is aiming to extend that record. Last year, th...

SAM Magazine-Truckee, Calif., Sept. 20, 2006-In an innovative program designed to allieviate some of the problems its employees face when looking for seasonal housing, Northstar has developed the "Rental Rewards Program," which offers free lift tickets or season's passes to homeowners who rent to the resort's employees for the season. The program r...