SAM Magazine-Missoula, Mont., April 25, 2006-Rancher and would-be resort developer Tom Maclay last week resubmitted a special-use permit application for a scaled-down resort on National Forest land adjacent to his 3,000-acre property in the Bitterroot Valley. Maclay seeks to develop 1,780 acres in the Bitterroot National Forest for skiing and ri...

SAM Magazine-Government Camp, Ore., April 25, 2006-Richard L. Kohnstamm, who transformed Timberline Lodge into a national skiing institution in the 1950s, died last Friday after becoming ill at his family's cabin on Mount Hood. He was 80 years old. Kohnstamm assumed management of the Depression-era Timberline Lodge in the early '50s, after it h...

SAM Magazine--Woodbury, Conn., April 20, 2006--SAM Magazine is pleased to announce this year's SAMMY Future Leadership Awards. First up is Alexa Bernotavicz, mountain operations director at Wildcat Mountain, N.H. Next is Yves Juneau, sales and marketing director of Quebec's Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham resorts. Third is Steve Kruse, director of mo...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va.. Apr. 19, 2006-Retail winter sports sales remained sluggish in February, but overall sales for specialty and chain stores nonetheless totalled $2.2 billion for the August 2005 through February 2006 period, up 6 percent from $2.1 billion a year earlier, according to the SIA Retail Audit. Unit sales were up 7 percent. Sales r...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Lakes, Calif., April 10, 2006-Three Mammoth Mountain ski patrollers died last Thursday while working to fence off a geothermal vent following a heavy snowfall. The snow they were standing on collapsed and they fell into a 20-foot-deep well around the vent. Two patrollers, John McAndrews and James Juarez, were attempting to r...

SAM Magazine-Calaveras County, Calif., April 10, 2006-A court here ruled late last week that Bear Valley Ski Company is not liable for a 2000 terrain park accident that left former employee Charlene Vine paralyzed from the waist down. Vine had sued the ski resort after she broke her spine in 2000 during an employee party while attempting to ride he...

SAM Magazine--April 4, 2006--Crotched Mountain, N.H., was refinanced for $8 million with Entertainment Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust. Crotched Mountain was resurrected in 2002 when Missouri-based Peak Resorts signed a lease to run the area. Peak made significant investments in snowmaking, lifts, a new base lodge and more, and...

SAM Magazine-St. Sauveur, Que., Mar. 21, 2006-Jacques Hebert, chairman of Mont Saint Sauveur International, which operates Jay Peak and several Quebec areas, died Mar. 17 after a brief illness. He had been involved in managing the company since the 1960s and was an icon in the Quebec ski industry. Under his leadership, the company purchased Jay Pea...

SAM Magazine-Londonderry, Vt., Mar. 20, 2006-An investment group led by a Connecticut lawyer is set to purchase Magic Mountain ski area here for about $3 million, according to the current owners. A report in the Brattleboro (Vt.) Reformer termed the deal "imminent." The sale would give Magic its fourth owner in the last 10 years. Magic general ...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Ut., Mar. 16, 2006-American Skiing Company (ASC) reported total consolidated revenue of $112.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2006, up 6 percent from $106.1 million for the year-earlier period. Revenue from resort operations was $109.9 million compared with $103.4 million in 2005. This year's total represents a rec...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., Mar.14, 2006-Colorado resorts hosted a record 5.2 million-plus skiers and snowboarders from Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, according to Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA). This represents an increase of more than five percent over the same time period last season, and more than 230,000 visits ahead of the state's previous best J...

SAM Magazine-McClean, Va., Mar. 14, 2006-Overall sales for the winter sport market were up 9 percent to $1.8 billion for the August 2005 through January 2006 period, compared to $1.7 billion a year earlier, according to the SIA Retail Audit. Unit sales were up 8 percent. Sales at specialty ski and snowboard shops were up 8 percent, to $1.4 billi...

SAM Magazine-Flagstaff, Ariz., Mar. 14, 2006-The Arizona Snowbowl will open on Friday, Mar. 17, after a recent storm cycle dropped 56 inches of snow. Snowbowl had received just 22 inches in the 2005-06 season prior to the recent storms, leading to the latest opening in the resort's history. "We are happy to finally open for the skiers and snowbo...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., March 13, 2006--Vail Resorts released its second quarter results today (three months ended January 31) and the snow gods were kind. First, the company reports that skier visits increased 7.9 percent over the same period last year, giving Vail Resorts a new skier visit record--2,875,000 million versus 2,664,000 during the...

SAM Magazine--March 13, 2006, Vancouver, B.C.--After the sale of Mammoth Mountain to Starwood Capital, Intrawest announced today that it will sell the majority of its real estate holdings in the town of Mammoth Lakes for $60 million pre-tax profit to the same company. The real estate comprises the future development of over 1,100 residential units ...