• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—McLean, Va., March 2, 2022—Alpine-X, a Virginia-based developer with plans to build 20 indoor snowsports resorts across North America, has signed a letter of intent to co-develop its second location in Texas. Its flagship indoor resort, projected to open in early 2025, is in its first phase of development in the Washington D.C. ar...

• Marketing
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., March 2, 2022—Pricing for 2022-23 Indy Pass products will not increase from 2021-22, but new this year is a $20 discount incentive for mega pass holders to switch to Indy Pass. All 82 current resort partners are expected to return next season. A final resort roster with blackout dates will be released May 1. The ne...

• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Cody, Wyo., March 1, 2022—Sleeping Giant ski area launched a fundraising campaign on Feb. 27 to support Ukraine’s army amid the ongoing Russian invasion. The ski area will give 100 percent of ticket sales for Saturday, March 5, directly to Ukraine’s army through a fund set up by the National Bank of Ukraine.  Sleeping Giant o...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Snowbird, Utah, March 1, 2022—Snowbird will upgrade its Aerial Tram with new Doppelmayr cabins this spring. The cabins, which will feature a summer rooftop balcony and glass floor panels, will be the first of their kind in the United States. After two years of planning, the new tram cabins have been completed in Olten, Switzerland...

• Rental
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Feb. 28, 2022—Alterra Mountain Company plans to invest $344 million in capital improvements for winter 2022-23, its biggest single year investment since the company was formed. The plan includes $237 million in resort development, with $93 million in increased capacity and terrain expansion, $91 million in skier ser...

• Resort Development

SAM Magazine—Newry, Maine, Feb. 25, 2022—A strong wind gust caused a gondola cabin to misfeed into the top terminal and detach from the haul rope of the Chondola lift at Sunday River, Maine, at 5:37 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23. The cabin fell approximately 10 feet to the ground. The 17-year-old guest inside sustained minor injuries, and was release...

• Ski School
• Legal

SAM Magazine—Fabius, N.Y., Feb. 24, 2022—Intermountain Management president Peter Harris acquired Toggenburg Mountain in August 2021 for $750,000, and immediately shuttered the ski area to reduce competition for his company’s other two upstate New York ski areas, Song Mountain and Labrador Mountain. According to a report from Syracuse.com/Th...

• Rental
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Feb. 24, 2022—Jesse Hunt will step down as alpine director for U.S. Ski & Snowboard (USSS), effective July 1, 2022. The organization said Hunt will stay on to ensure a smooth transition as it actively recruits for his replacement.  “Jesse has been an important leader of the U.S. Alpine Ski Team for many yea...

• Safety

SAM Magazine—Terrebonne, Quebec, Feb. 21, 2022—Quebec ski industry pioneer and Les Sommets co-founder Louis Dufour died Feb. 19, 2022. Dufour led Les Sommets, the largest private ski resort ownership group in Quebec, for 50 years prior to his death. Dufour was a visionary in the Quebec ski industry. His group Les Sommets today owns Sommet Sain...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., Feb. 16, 2022—Momentum from the red-hot holiday season turned cool in early January as a surge in new cases of the Omicron variant put a damper on short-lead bookings, according to the most recent Monthly Market Briefing released by DestiMetrics, the business intelligence division of Inntopia. Aspen SnowmassA re...

• Lifts
• Safety

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., Feb. 15, 2022—Boyne Resorts is looking to transform access to Big Sky’s Lone Peak with a new base-to-summit lift network that includes a two-stage gondola and a higher-capacity tram. The multi-year project is the final phase of the Big Sky 2025 master plan. “The new lift system from the base area to the summit ...

• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Portland, Ore., Feb. 15, 2022—Sunlight Mountain has become the first Colorado ski area to join the Indy Pass. For the remainder of winter 2021-22 and the entire 2022-2023 season, Indy Pass holders will get two days at Sunlight with no blackout dates.  “The timing was right for Sunlight to go Indy,” said Sunlight marketing and...

• Lifts
• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., February 11, 2022—Aspen Skiing Company (Ski Co.) said Thursday it will give all salaried and hourly employees a $3/hr raise, effective Sunday, Feb. 13. The move boosts starting pay to $20/hr for most hourly employees and represents an annual increase of $6,240 for those in salaried positions. “This is an investment...

• Lifts
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Greenville, Maine, Feb. 10, 2022—The Maine Land Use Planning Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to hold a public hearing on the proposed $113.5 million expansion to the Big Squaw Mountain ski area in Piscataquis County, Maine.  Developer Big Lake Development LLC has proposed a two-phase project that would expand the resor...

• Lifts
• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Feb. 10, 2022— SAM Magazine has raised over $2,500 for non-profit causes since November 2021. Those proceeds, a percentage of SAM Magazine subscriptions and Summit Series Leadership Bootcamp registration, will be donated to four 501(c)3 organizations: Share Winter, Winter4Kids, the National Brotherhood of Skiers,...