Wachusett Wins… Sort Of
At issue is an old-growth forest on the upper part of the mountain. In trying to work with opponents, Wachusett came up with an Old Growth Management Policy, in addition to downscaling its original expansion proposal and locating the new trails well below the old growth’s border.
However, the Sierra Club has petitioned the court to look at the case again, so Wachusett has been unable, as of presstime, to break ground. Legal odds are that the court will uphold its original decision. See Speak Out on page 10.
$2.9 Million Awarded in Snowboard Accident
A British Columbia Supreme Court jury awarded a former high school student $2.9 million in damages in a personal-injury lawsuit stemming from a terrain park accident during a high school outing in January 2000 at Blackcomb.
Travis Murao, now a quadriplegic, had sued his teachers, his school district and Blackcomb for his injuries. The jury found Blackcomb 70 percent responsible for the accident, Richmond School District 15 percent liable and Murao himself, a novice snowboarder at the time of the accident, 15 percent to blame.
However, 10 days before the trial, Murao settled with Blackcomb for an undisclosed sum, so it is not clear how much the lawsuit award will actually be.
Tamarack Scales Back
Tamarack Resort delayed installation of its first two ski lifts and its ski lodges until the summer of 2004, but real estate sales are proceeding ahead of schedule.
The area has revised its construction schedule to accommodate conflicts between improving existing roads and cutting new roads on the mountain, and between installing utilities and new lifts.
Ski runs and golfing holes are being shaped this summer as planned. This will prepare the area to begin Alpine ski operations in the 2004/2005 season.
By early July, Tamarack Resort real estate officials had already taken 63 reservations for the initial 82 home sites, chalets and cottages.
For the 2003-04 winter season, Tamarack will offer snowcat skiing for the general public and interested real estate buyers, and the Nordic Center, open last season, will be open again.
Crested Butte Still Looking
After Crested Butte’s contract with a potential buyer, Phoenix Property Co., was terminated early this summer, the area went back on the block. To date, management reports that 25 parties have shown interest in the resort, a few of them very seriously. The area hopes to make an announcement in December about new ownership.
Stowe Expansion Approved
Stowe Mountain Resort got its Act 250 permit for phase one of its Spruce Peak village. The first phase, which is part of an overall $220 million expansion, will include 400 condos, a hotel, an 18-hole golf course, six new lifts (including a transfer lift that will cross over Route 108 to connect Spruce to Mount Mansfield) and more snowmaking.
The approval comes after more than five years of negotiations with interested parties in the expansion. The first phase of the project is expected to take six years to complete.
Casualties on U.S. Slopes Fall Off
NSAA reported that 37 skiers and snowboarders died accidentally on U.S. slopes this past season compared to 45 deaths the season prior. With 57.6 million visits in 2002/2003, the death rate translates to .64 per million visits.
Of the fatalities, 31 were male and six female. Thirty-one were skiers and six were snowboarders.
Over the past 10 years, the U.S. winter resort industry has averaged 38 deaths on the slopes with an average skier/snowboarder visit number of 54.2 million—keeping the fatality rate under one in a million.
Canada and U.S. Set Records
It’s official. The final results for the Kottke Report show that U.S. did indeed set a new record with 57.6 million skier/snowboarder visits during the 2002/2003 season. NSAA announced the same unofficial result in May and the recent final tallies did not change the numbers.
The Canadian Ski Council released its figures for the 2002/2003 season and with 18.9 million visits, Canadian ski areas tied the record season of 2001-2002. Eastern Canada saw the biggest increase with Quebec ski areas reporting 6.9 million visits, a 13 percent increase over the prior season. Ontario ski areas went from 3 million in 2001/2002 to 3.2 million this past season.
Atlantic Canada, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, reported 570,000, while on the other coast, British Columbia came in with 5.5 million. Alberta enjoyed 2.4 million visits and the Prairie provinces reported 220,000 visits for 2002/2003.
City Buys Pin Rouge
In Quebec, the city of New Richmond purchased the Pin Rouge Ski Area for CDN $425,000. The city hopes to turn the area, which has the tallest vertical drop in eastern Quebec (1,500 feet), into a four-season resort and will run it as a not-for-profit company.
Forest Service Okays Copper Beeline Program
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in Washington, D.C. determined that Copper Mountain’s Beeline Advantage Program, which allows skiers and snowboarders to skip long lines and earn other perks, does not deny equal access to public lands, ending a three-year-old argument.
The decision reached Washington after local forest officials accused the resort of offering the program to those staying at Copper’s resort properties, while denying others the same access. So last season, Copper openly offered the program to anyone willing to pay for line-cutting and other privileges.
United Park City Mines Sells Land
On July 18, United Park City Mines Company, which owned the land that both Deer Valley and Park City lease as part of their resorts, completed its merger with Capital Growth Partners LLC.
The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver
Vancouver, B.C., was awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics in July by the International Olympic Committee. The Games are expected to be a boon for Whistler/Blackcomb, which is expected to be the site of the alpine, nordic, bobsled, luge, skeleton and Paralympic events. Snowboarding and freestyle skiing events are scheduled for Cypress Mountain, in West Vancouver. Vancouver itself will be the site of the ice events and opening and closing ceremonies. The organizers will establish athlete villages both in Vancouver and Whistler.
World Leaders Bump NSAA Convention Dates
The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced that the 2004 dates for the national trade show and convention in Savannah, Georgia, will be moved up a week thanks to President Bush’s recent announcement that the G-8 Summit will be held nearby in June of 2004. The new dates for the NSAA show will be May 17 to 20, 2004 at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.
New Head for the EPA
Utah Governor Mike Leavitt was appointed by President Bush to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a position previously held by ex-New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman. According to NSAA’s Capital Watch, Leavitt is expected to advocate giving states a larger role in environmental regulation.
People
At Booth Creek’s New Hampshire resorts, Loon, Waterville Valley and Cranmore, Deb Moore will oversee the resorts’ brand advertising efforts. Kathy Bennett will head Internet and database marketing efforts as well as PR. Andrew Noyes and Deb Lombardi will share sales director duties.
At the Ski Vermont office, Heather Atwell was named program and public affairs manager and Victoria Provost was promoted to marketing director.
Moving out to the Rockies, Martin White, senior vice president of marketing and Richard Lesman, vice president of sales and distribution, each lost their jobs as Vail Resorts decentralizes its marketing efforts. Jeffrey W. Jones was named to the newly-created position of CFO and senior VP of Vail Resorts Development Company. . .Over at Copper Mountain, Steve Paccagnan was hired as GM and VP. Intrawest Colorado, which oversees Copper and Winter Park, promoted Mary Woolwine to Colorado marketing director, Jen Hartley becomes Internet marketing director, Stacy White becomes national advertising director and Ben Friedland takes on the role of youth marketing and events director. . .At Telluride, Johnnie Stevens resigned as COO.
In Utah, Park City announced that Pat McLane was promoted to senior manager of lifts. . .American Skiing Company named Chip Carey senior VP of sales and marketing. Mark J. Miller, COO, left ASC and the company will leave that position unfilled.
At Mount Bachelor, Ore., Tom Lomax was promoted to mountain manager, Rick Brooks was promoted to director of maintenance and Chris Johnston’s communications manager position becomes year-round.
In California, the Powdr Corporation named Matt Janey president and GM of Alpine Meadows, Boreal Mountain and Soda Springs. . .Mountain High Resort promoted James Renick to snow surfaces manager.
In Canada, Silver Star Ski Resort promoted Michael Sherwood to GM.
Supplier Personnel
Steve Neal has joined Acordia Resort and Recreation as account executive. Neal will be based in Windham, Mass.
At Burton, Bryan Johnston becomes the VP of marketing. Johnston moves over from Adidas-Salomon.
Fischer Skis announces the hiring of Peter Kennedy and his assistant Brian Schiller, as sales representatives in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In addition, Brian Sturgis was appointed western race/competition rep. At the Fischer headquarters, Chris Hirsch becomes credit manager, Robbie Holland joins the customer service staff and Tim Witman will serve as eastern tech rep supporting New England and Mid-Atlantic states.
Nordica USA tapped John Rucker to head up ski product development.
Ski Racing hired Natalie Kurylko as managing editor and Shane Armando becomes an account executive.
Spyder announced that Bode Miller has signed an athlete sponsorship and licensing agreement with the company.
Justin Cobb was named sales manager at Transworld Snowboarding.
At Willis Group Holdings Limited, Chip Seamans was hired as VP, director of claims and loss control. Seamans will be based out Willis’ New Hampshire office.
Supplier News
Areco Snowsystem of Sweden has joined forces with Sufag of Austria and formed a holding company called Snownet. Both companies will continue to operate independently, using existing distributor networks, but will come together for marketing, procurement and product development.
Avalanche Skiwear has teamed up with Mountain Dew to offer discounts to areas that pour Pepsi products.
Comptrol Systems, Inc. moved to 1767 Rosemary Dr., Castle Rock, Colo., 80109. Phone numbers remain the same.
Mad River Snow, Inc., welcomes Wood and Wood Design as a new partner in its resort services business.
Fran Richards, former publisher of Transworld Skateboarding and VP sales and marketing for Transworld Media Group, launched Modern World, LLC, a marketing, consulting and sales company focusing action sports, the music industry and the automotive industry.
Ski Press Media, Inc. formed an agreement with ISPO to become the show’s official alpine ski media partner.
SAM found the following information too late for the new product supplement: Sprung Instant Structures, Inc., announced that 14 different exterior Dupont Tedlar architectural membrane colors are now available.
Spyder moved its office to 4725 Walnut St., Boulder, Colo., 80301. The new phone number is (303) 544-4000.
