• Rental

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Jan. 14, 2022— The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) and Vail Resorts (VR) reached a tentative agreement Wednesday night after an hourslong bargaining session, according to a statement.  Union members were expected to vote on the offer Thursday night, Jan. 13. Until the vote is tallied, spec...

• Miscellaneous

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 14, 2022—Vail Resorts reported a drop in visitation and an uptick in revenue for the season-to-date period ended Jan. 2, 2022. The depressed visitation numbers, in particular, sit in juxtaposition to the portrait in the news of epic lift lines and crowded slopes at the company’s resorts over the Christmas ...

• Marketing
• Lifts

SAM Magazine—Terrebonne, Quebec, Jan. 13, 2022—While Quebec ski areas were able to open and stay open for the 2020-21 winter season, financial results unveiled as part of the “Economic and Financial Study of Quebec Ski Areas” show that several lines of business were down dramatically year-over-year as a result of Covid operating limitations...

SAM Magazine—Leavenworth, Wash., Jan. 12, 2022—The ongoing operational and guest experience challenges at Vail Resorts-owned Stevens Pass, Wash., appear to have necessitated a change in leadership.Tom Fortune Tom Fortune, general manager of Heavenly, Calif., also owned by Vail Resorts, shared a message as the “new interim general manager of S...

• Lifts
• Grooming
• Trail Maintenance

SAM Magazine—Beech Mountain, N.C., Jan. 11, 2022—A snowmaking pipe under a chairlift at Beech Mountain ruptured on Friday, Jan. 7, blasting guests passing over it with water. Several people were caught in the high-pressure spray as the lift kept spinning, while others jumped 25 feet from the chair to avoid the water. Two guests were transported...

• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Pinkham Notch, N.H., Jan. 10, 2022—On Saturday, Jan. 8, a chair carrying a 22-year-old snowboarder on the Snowcat triple at Wildcat Mountain, N.H., detached from the haul rope and fell nearly 10 feet to the ground. The guest was taken to a nearby hospital with serious rib injuries. According to state fire marshal Sean Toomey, the ...

• Resort Development
• Marketing

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 10, 2022—Online voting for the 2022 HKD and SAM “I AM a Snowmaker” contest is now open through midnight (EST) on Friday, Jan. 21. Since it debuted the winter of 2013-14, the annual I AM contest—sponsored by HKD Snowmakers—has highlighted the hard work, determination, and camaraderie of snowmakers, reco...

• Ski Area Profiles

SAM Magazine—Cambridge, Vt., Jan. 7, 2022—While many resorts grappled with the impacts of the Omicron surge over the holiday season, which left operators with already-reduced workforces even shorter staffed, visitors still flocked to the mountains in earnest to participate in their favorite winter activities. Angel Fire Fireworks 2022Extreme we...

• Resort Development
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Londonderry, Vt., Jan. 7, 2022—Magic Mountain, Vt., was not able to open today as planned after a member of its ski patrol tested positive for Covid yesterday, leaving the ski area with too few patrollers to safely operate. The news was shared last night in an online “Alpine Update” from Magic Mountain president Geoff Hatheway,...

• Resort Development
• Legal

SAM Magazine—Hancock, Mass., Jan. 6, 2022— Jiminy Peak, Mass., snowmaker Kimberlee Francoeur, 30, of Lanesborough, Mass., died after a snow groomer operator reportedly backed into the snowmobile she was operating during the day on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The Berkshire District Attorney’s office and Massachusetts State Police are investigating the in...

SAM Magazine—Lutsen, Minn., Jan. 6, 2022—Charles Skinner is now the sole owner and president of Lutsen Mountains, Minn., after acquiring co-president Tom Rider’s 50 percent ownership interest in the resort. The stock purchase was made under a process initiated by Rider pursuant to a longstanding buy-sell agreement between the parties. The sp...

• Lifts
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Longmont, Colo., Jan. 5, 2022—Staffing shortages, large crowds, long liftlines, limited terrain, overflowing parking lots, Covid restrictions, and more plagued many resorts during the holiday season, but none more so than Vail Resorts. Across its network of resorts, VR seemed to fare worse than many other resorts—and has dominate...

• Miscellaneous
• Legal

SAM Magazine—Enumclaw, Wash., Jan. 5, 2022—In response to high demand, especially amid ongoing snowfall, Crystal Mountain, Wash., will implement a reservations system for its limited on-resort parking on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays for the rest of the season, beginning Jan. 15. It is also “significantly increasing” the use of its overfl...

• Ski School

SAM Magazine—Kimberley, B.C., Jan. 4, 2022—After a suspicious Dec. 18 fire destroyed the control system for the main chairlift at Kimberley Alpine Resort, the ski area managed to find an innovative workaround just in time for the holidays. The disabled chair is the only lift out of the base area village, but with help from neighboring resorts R...

• Lifts
• Area Management

SAM Magazine—Killington Vt., Jan. 3, 2022—A special testing site opened at Killington Resort on Sunday after 5 percent of its staff contracted Covid over the holiday period.  The Vermont Department of Health confirmed that, as of Thursday, 86 Killington employees had tested positive, making this the largest known outbreak currently affecting ...