New Skier Visit Record
Berthoud Gets Rid of Lifts
After more than 50 years of off-and-on operations, lift-served skiing has come to an end at Berthoud Pass, Colo. The area’s two lifts are being removed this summer. The triple chair is going to a ski area near Kansas City and the quad chair to Berkshire East in Massachusetts.
Berthoud itself will continue to run as a Snowcat operation, as it has for the past two seasons. Operations manager Jamie Wolter reported business at 80 percent of capacity this past winter, up 30 percent from the prior year.
Teton Pass Expansion Gets OK
The U.S. Forest Service approved an environmental analysis of a proposed expansion by Montana’s Teton Pass. The area would like to increase its lifts to five from three, carve out new runs and remodel and expand its day lodge facilities. Currently, Teton Pass hosts 7,500 skiers per season and would like to increase that number to 17,000. Actual ground-breaking is not yet scheduled.
Intrawest Golf Partners With Tamarack
Intrawest Golf is partnering with the new Tamarack Resort in Idaho to oversee the development of Tamarack’s ski and golf facilities and to manage the resort’s amenities.
The agreement marks the first time that Intrawest has forged an agreement with a third party to develop and manage the full amenity package at a resort, including some retail and rental shops and the golf course.
SIA End-of-Season Retail Figures
Overall retail ski and snowboard sales for 2002-03 increased by 4.1 percent to $2.2 billion, compared to $2.1 billion in 2001-02 according to the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) end-of-season Retail Audit. The advance was led by apparel and accessories sales, fueled by cold weather in the East, and continued strong sales of junior gear and apparel.
Total sales at specialty ski and snowboard shops were up 7.1 percent on the season. Sales for chain stores, which are concentrated in the West, were down 5.3 percent, due to weak snow conditions.
OSHA Fines Keystone
Keystone Resort, Colo., is facing citations and proposed fines of $128,250 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stemming from a fatal snowmaking accident in November 2002, in which employee Benjamin Bornstein, 28, was engulfed by water in a snowmaking pit’s below-ground vault.
OSHA cited Keystone for two alleged willful and one alleged serious violations. One alleged willful violation involved failure to post required warning signs on confined spaces and to develop and utilize a written “permit space program,” as well as a lack of employee training. The second alleged willful violation was the failure to inform an outside rescue service of the hazards associated with confined spaces and failure to provide the rescue service with access for planning and practice rescue operations. The alleged serious violation cited the absence of an egress ladder.
Keystone CEO Roger McCarthy said in a statement: “Keystone Resort plans to question the details and extent of the citations with OSHA officials within the next several weeks. Nonetheless, … all of these discussions with the government pale in significance to the tragic accident that cost the life of Ben Bornstein.”
Saddleback Won’t Reopen
Saddleback Ski Area, Maine, announced that it will not reopen for the 2003-2004 winter season unless a buyer is found before then. Owner Donald Breen, at 73, has decided to retire from the business after 25 years.
The area is being offered up for $2.5 million, or a total of $7.5 million for all 8,000 acres surrounding the resort. Lifts include 2 fixed grip chairs and three surface lifts.
SIA Dates Confirmed
Through 2007, the SIA Snowsports Show has committed to the late January dates at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The 2004 show, from January 26 to 29, will debut a new branding campaign and graphic look in order to mark SIA’s 50th anniversary.
Correction
In the May issue of SAM, we erroneously reported that Powder Ridge Ski Area, Conn., would be forced to close and sell its land. In fact, the area was just approved for a 20-year renewable water withdrawal permit for snowmaking, allowing a 60-percent increase in uphill pump capacity. In addition, plans for a water park are under way.
People
In the awards category, George Willet, owner of Showdown Montana, received the NSAA Lifetime Achievement award and Bob Mulcahy, president of Smugglers’ Notch, Vt., received the Sherman Adams award. Gwen Allard, executive director of the Adaptive Sports Foundation, received the Educational Excellence award from PSIA. . . Colorado Ski Country USA announced its annual industry award winners: James Lyman, Durango Mountain Resort, instructor of the year; Julie Tierney, Breckenridge, patroller of the year; Jason Gusaas, Copper Mountain, terrain park master of the year; and Paul M. Yaeger, Vail, snow groomer of the year. . . Also at Colorado Ski Country, Ashley Boyden is the new media relations coordinator.
In Vermont, Stowe named Jeff Wise marketing manager.
At Okemo Mountain, Vt., Charlie Dickerman became GM of the Jackson Gore Inn, Diane Ponto moved up to accounting analyst and Chip Steward was named sales manager.
The Southeastern Ski Areas Association elected Brad Moretz of Appalachian Ski Mtn. N.C., as president; Joe Stevens of Snowshoe, WV., as VP; Tammy Brown of Cataloochee Ski Resort, N.C., as secretary; and Reba Moretz, Appalachian, as treasurer.
Consolidation was the name of the game in Colorado. At Durango Mountain Resort, major restructuring of its management led to the elimination of 12 positions. For starters, Bob Kunkel, senior VP, resigned. Bill Rock, formerly of Stratton, became the new GM. And, in order to take full advantage of its partnership with Kirkwood, Calif., four senior managers assumed responsibilities for both resorts: David Likins becomes CFO of both areas; Mark Seiter will oversee accounting, business team and financial reporting; Mark West becomes the VP of real estate marketing; and Cathy Swarts is the Controller. At Durango, EJ Schanfarber was hired as director of lodging and property management and Jim Hards becomes VP of mountain development. Mike Elliott was promoted to director of front desk, reservations and travel services; Jason Steinburg was promoted to director of transportation, parking and security; Scott Clements was promoted to director of mountain patrol and risk management; and Rick Grush was promoted to director of Equipment maintenance and snow removal. In F&B, Mark Miller was promoted to director of village restaurants; Paul Zimmerman becomes director of mountain restaurants; and Keri Griffiths was promoted to director of banquets, catering and fine dining.
Over at Intrawest Colorado, which oversees Copper, Winter Park and Breeze/Max, the senior management team was named: Gary DeFrange is GM of Winter Park; Wenda Huseman will lead marketing; Mark Woodburn heads up sales; Gary Rodgers will take on lodging; Rob Spence becomes head of F&B; Doug Feely oversees IT; David Rice became head of human resources; and Bill Baum is the general counsel. Longtime VP of marketing at Winter Park, Paula Sheridan, has announced her departure after more than 30 years at the resort.
In Utah, American Skiing Company announced that Mark J. Miller is no longer the COO and that the position would be left vacant. Tim Hagan was promoted to VP mountain operations at The Canyons resort. Tim Vetters fills the newly-created position of VP of community affairs.
In California, Big Bear Mountain Resorts announced that Genevieve Gunnarson has accepted a position with Booth Creek Ski Holdings as marketing director of Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe. Chris Riddle became the marketing director of Bear Mountain and Snow Summit and Kim Hermon was promoted to assistant marketing director of both areas. PR director Brad Farmer was promoted and will handle both areas. Tyson Baird, customer communications director for both resorts, will also handle the development of their websites. Finally, Roxanne Walters was promoted to sales director.
Supplier People
Charlie Adams, Skis Dynastar VP and director of marketing, left the company after 16 years.
At Skiing magazine, Evelyn Spence was promoted to managing editor, Christopher Keyes was named articles editor, Sam Moulton became associate editor and Julia Beck Hoggson is the photo editor.
At Mountain Sports Media, publishers of Ski and Skiing, Jamie Pentz was named VP/associate publisher.
Alex Birch is the new marketing director at Bonfire Snowboarding.
Supplier News
Riblet Tramway plans to close up entirely by the end of the summer and, in President Doug Sowder’s words, “We are hopeful that a third party will purchase our inventory and offer high quality parts and services to operators of Riblet products.” In the meantime, a limited crew at Riblet will “continue to supply genuine Riblet parts, as well as chair clip NDT and certain other services and repairs, as we wind down.”
Sowder plans to keep customers informed of future developments through www.riblet.com, which will also be used for posting any service bulletins.
Ski USA, an international marketing program, has suspended operation of all its promotional activities until further notice. The decision came after a number of regional associations decided to pursue their own international marketing efforts.
Mad River Snow, an affiliate of Mad River Lifts, has joined forces with Maurer Construction to provide design/build services for log, post and beam, and timber frame structures to mountain resorts throughout North America. Their phone number is (802) 583-6600.
Kurt Eidam announced the formation of Swiss Precision Enterprises, Inc., a corporate training firm specializing in providing self-motivation and economical encouragement to companies in the mountain resort industry. For more information, check out their website at www.swissprecision.net.
Nordica USA has relocated from New Jersey to West Lebanon, N.H. The 800 number remains the same: 1-800-892-2668.
Mountain Uniforms has a new fax number: (775) 201-0198.
