SAM Magazine--Big Sky, Mont., Aug. 24, 2004--U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Yellowstone Mountain Club owner Tim Blixseth against the U.S. Forest Service in an effort to gain control of a parcel of land atop Lone Peak, home to both Big Sky and Moonlight Basin and neighbor to the Yellowstone Club. The judge rul...

SAM Magazine--Crested Butte, Colo., Aug. 24, 2004--Crested Butte Mountain Resort has named Randy Barrett general manager and vice president. As GM, Barrett will take on some duties formerly handled by John Norton, who resigned in early August as the Crested Butte resort's president and CEO. Crested Butte co-owner Tim Mueller of Vermont-based Triple...

SAM Magazine--Rumford, Me., Aug. 30, 2004--Black Mountain has banned use of all tobacco products at the resort, indoors and out. The policy may soon spread to other community-oriented areas owned by the Maine Winter Sports Center, in Mars Hill, Fort Kent and Presque Isle. The Black ban is total: it covers cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and chewing t...

SAM Magazine--Bellaire, Mich., Aug. 30, 2004--Michigan's Shanty Creek Resort & Club has defaulted on a $20.35 million mortgage, according to its lender, Comerica Bank, which has initiated foreclosure proceedings on several properties, including the Schuss Mountain ski area. Also named in the foreclosure are the Schuss Mountain golf course (along wi...

SAM Magazine--Boulder, Colo., Aug. 30, 2004--A report critical of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)'s Sustainable Slopes Program has itself drawn criticism from the resort industry. The report, authored by two university professors, concludes that the program amounts to little more than greenwashing. Resorts have criticized the report fo...

SAM Magazine--Silverton, Colo., Sept. 6, 2004--Silverton Mountain was the first U.S. ski area to get skiers and riders onto its slopes for the 2004-05 season on Sept. 4 following heavy snowfall down to the area's 10,400-foot base elevation. The snowfall was fueled by moisture from Tropical Storm Howard. This is the third year in a row that Silve...

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,...