SAM Magazine--Ligonier, Pa., Sept. 6, 2004--Star-crossed Laurel Mountain Ski Resort, which failed to operate during the 2003-04 season, has defaulted on a $1 million loan, and several assets, including groomers and the area's snowmaking system, are going up for auction on Sept. 17. Owner George Mowl had borrowed the money from Somerset Trust Co. in...

SAM Magazine--Boulder, Colo., Sept. 8, 2004--For the 13th time in 17 years, Vail tops SKI Magazine's annual Top 60 resort ranking. The list is based on a survey of more than 20,000 veteran SKI subscribers. Vail leads a group of six Colorado resorts in the top ten. Deer Valley and Snowmass each move up a notch in this year's poll, to the No. 2. a...

SAM Magazine--Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., Sept. 13, 2004--MasterFit University will bring boot fit instruction, including a course specifically intended to produce nearly instantaneous rental boot fitting, to eight locations this fall. SAM has once again teamed with MasterFit U to sponsor the organization's North American fall tour. Proper boot fitt...

SAM Magazine--New Hartford, N.Y., Sept. 13, 2004--Springer-Miller Systems, Inc. (SMS), which provides property management software, is becoming part of PAR Technology Corp., another software company. The deal is expected to close in late 2004; terms were not disclosed. SMS will continue to be run by its current senior management team in Stowe, Vt. ...

SAM Magazine--Vancouver, Sept. 14, 2004--Thanks in part to the creation of its Leisura real-estate partnerships, Intrawest reported a strengthened balance sheet for fiscal 2004, raising cash flow from continuing operations to $423 million, up $444 million from 2003, and reducing debt by $285 million. Income from continuing operations for the year w...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo,, Sept. 13, 2004--Booth Creek Ski Holdings more than doubled its net income and boosted EBITDA by nearly 27 percent for the nine-month period ending July 30, despite a 19 percent decline in third-quarter revenues. Net income for the nine months more than doubled, to $12,089,000, an increase of $6,529,000 from 2003. Total...

SAM Magazine--McLean, Va., Sept. 15, 2004--SnowSports Industries America (SIA) and VERB, a national government-funded kid's marketing campaign, are launching the first-ever VERB SnowSports Day on Dec. 4, 2004. The event will take place in retail stores nationwide and will introduce kids of all ages to snow sports. Retailers across the nation wil...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., Oct. 1, 2004--Apollo Ski Partners plans to convert its Class A shares to common shares and to distribute its holdings to its limited partner investors, ending Apollo's reign as controlling partner in Vail Resorts. Apollo held 17.8 percent of Vail's shares, but nearly 100 percent of the Class A stock that gave it the r...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., Oct. 1, 2004--Vail Resorts reported improved results for fiscal 2004 compared to the previous year. VR posted a 7.4 percent rise in resort revenue, to $676.8 million, for fiscal 2004 compared to 2003. Resort expense increased just 1.7 percent, to $530.1 million. Despite a warm March and an early end to the 2003-04 season,...

SAM Magazine--San Diego, Calif., Oct. 4, 2004--Future Network USA is launching a new Future Action Sports group that will include consumer and trade snowboard magazines. The group is headed by Fran Richards, former VP sales and marketing, publisher at TransWorld Media. Both publications will be based in San Diego. The quarterly Snowboard Trade N...

SAM Magazine--Ludlow, Vt., Oct. 6, 2004--Top executives Bruce Schmidt, Jay Gamble, Dave Wilcox and Jim Remy have new positions at Okemo, Vt., and Mount Sunapee Resort, N.H. Schmidt becomes VP and general manager at Okemo, where he will oversee Okemo's summer and winter operations. He has been with Okemo for 27 years in a variety of positions in ...

SAM Magazine--Durango, Colo., Oct. 6, 2004--The Ski Area Citizens' Coalition (SACC)'s annual Ski Area Environmental Scorecard has fingered the top and bottom 10 areas in the West based on their environmental performance, according to the group's rating system. Among those receiving A ratings in SACC's report-card-style system are Aspen Mountain,...

SAM Magazine--Pennsylvania, October 14, 2004--Laurel Mountain Ski Area has had its fair share of problems lately. The state-owned ski area, which has lived through several different concessionaires, may have finally found a home with Seven Springs Mountain Resort. The most recent concessionaire, George Mowl, took over operations in 1999. After inve...

SAM Magazine--Oceanside, Calif., Oct. 15, 2004--Whistler tops the TransWorld Snowboarding Resort Guide list as the best overall area for snowboarding in North America. The magazine guide includes ratings on 56 areas across the continent on pipes, parks and overall quality. The Resort Guide hits newsstands Oct. 19. Rounding out the top three are ...

Georgetown, Colo., October 15, 2004 -- Loveland kicked off the 2004-05 US ski season today with record opening-day traffic. "We don't like to talk about specific numbers, but we sold over 1000 tickets," said marketing director Kevin Wright. The previous record opening was about 800 tickets. It was Loveland's fifth consecutive year as the firs...