• Ski Patrol
• Legal

SAM Magazine—Stowe, Vt., Aug. 12, 2022—Daily rates at western mountain destinations are hovering at near record highs despite continued declines in occupancy totals for summer 2022, according to the Monthly Market Briefing from DestiMetrics, the Business Intelligence division of Inntopia. The downward trend in occupancy started as early as las...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Aug. 9, 2022—After only 13 months on the job, National Ski Patrol (NSP) CEO Chris Castilian resigned last week, Aug. 5, 2022, having reached an impasse with the organization’s board of directors.  “Over the last several months, it has become clear that the board and I have vastly different visions for the fut...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Keystone, Colo., Aug. 5, 2022—Work on Keystone Resort’s Bergman Bowl Express will move forward after the U.S. Forest Service approved the resort’s plan to restore environmental damage to a high alpine area incurred during construction. However, the lift will not be completed as scheduled in time for the 2022-23 winter season du...

• Marketing
• Ski Patrol

SAM Magazine—Vail, Colo., Aug. 5, 2022—The Vail town council approved an emergency ordinance this week that suspended all permits for any activity on Vail Resorts’ 23-acre property in East Vail where the company planned to build a $17 million affordable housing development. The housing project was slated to be completed for winter 2023-24, bu...

• Lifts
• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Boyne Falls, Mich., Aug. 3, 2022—Boyne Resorts has tapped Nick Herrin to lead its new snowsports division. Herrin joined the company in the newly created role of senior vice president of snowsports on Aug. 2.  “We are excited to again reinforce the importance of our instruction programs as we work to grow winter sports,” said...

• Marketing
• Lifts

In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight recent personnel moves made in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to supplier news, awards, and obits, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive.     PEOPLE MATT PETERSON, PALISADES TAHOE, CA Palisades Tahoe hired Matt Peterson as its senior director ...

• Marketing

 SAM Magazine—Gilford, N.H., Aug. 2, 2022—The Gunstock Mountain Resort senior leadership team is back to work today after the Belknap County Delegation voted 9-1 to accept acting Gunstock Area Commission (GAC) chair Dr. David Strang’s resignation following the appointment of Denise Conroy to the GAC at an emergency meeting last night. Strang...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., Aug. 1, 2022—A motion for approval has been filed for Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) to enter into a $58 million asset purchase agreement (APA) to acquire Jay Peak Resort, Vt. A judge has 10 days to accept or deny the motion; if accepted, the asset purchase agreement would become the initial bid in a potential auction...

• Marketing
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., Aug. 2, 2022—Scott Leigh was appointed as general manager and chief operating officer of Bluebird Backcountry, effective Aug. 1. In his new role, Leigh, a ski industry veteran of 20-plus years, will focus this season on the chairlift-free ski area’s revenue and operational growth goals.  “I'm impress...

• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 1, 2022—Voting is now open for the second annual “Rise Up Challenge,” a video contest highlighting a few skilled, young lift mechanics who will keep ski area lifts spinning for decades to come. This year’s contest includes videos from six resorts, each featuring an up-and-coming mechanic from the resort’...

• Marketing
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Ludlow, Vt., July 27, 2022—Resorts across North America have eased into summer this year, with the Fourth of July holiday weekend serving as a litmus test for the state of “typical” traveler behavior amid fluctuating Covid infection rates and persistent recession and inflation concerns. Courtesy of OkemoThe long weekend and the...

• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., July 26, 2022—Indy Pass will now include Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore. The ski area is Indy’s largest resort partner by skier volume, and it brings the pass’ total resort partners to 105 for the 2022-23 season. Meadows VP of sales and marketing Dave Tragethon anticipates that the pass partnership will spur new busines...

• Racing

SAM Magazine—Aspen Snowmass, Colo., July 26, 2022—The Mountain Collective Pass has added Marmot Basin, Alberta, to its winter 2022-23 roster. Marmot Basin is the seventh Canadian resort to join the pass partnership. (Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec signed on in June.) Its addition brings the total number of Mountain Collective resort partners...

• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Gilford, N.H., July 21, 2022—The senior management team at Gunstock Mountain Resort resigned Wednesday night at a Gunstock Area Commission (GAC) meeting. Escalating tensions between Gunstock staff and the GAC, a five-member board appointed by the Belknap County Delegation to manage the ski area, precipitated the resignations.  Th...

• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Milwaukee, Wis., July 18, 2022—In a claim involving an unseated passenger who fell from a lift at Sunburst Ski Hill, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently ruled that the waiver signed at the time the plaintiff purchased her lift ticket could be enforced for part of the plaintiff’s claim because the day-pass release included bif...