Vail Facilities Savaged in Arson Attack; Earth Liberation Group Claims Credit
Arsonists struck in the early hours of October 19 on Vail Mountain. The showcase Two Elk restaurant was left in ashes; three lift terminals suffered minor damage, while the engine room of Lift 5 was severely damaged; Patrol HQ was leveled; Camp I warming hut and patrol facility at Chair 14 were burned to the ground. The damage estimate was $12 million.
Two days after the attack, a group called Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility, declaring in an e-mail communique that the fires were set “on behalf of the lynx.” The reference was to the issue of lynx habitat and the claim by some that Vail’s 885-acre Category III Expansion impinged on lynx habitat. On October 15, Vail had finally crossed the last threshold when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the emergency injunction against the project. This was the culmination of years of hearings, filings and administrative review, and Vail had triumphantly begun work the next day. The issue of lynx habitat had been exhaustively dealt with by Vail to the satisfaction of the courts as well as of the Forest Service and all federal, state and county jurisdictions.
At presstime, there was no independent confirmation of ELF’s claim. The shadowy group has claimed credit for arson fires elsewhere in the past, but no individuals have been identified with the group, whose pronouncements are circulated anonymously on the Internet.
Even before ELF’s claim, speculation had centered around eco-terrorism, though the environmental opposition groups which had challenged Vail’s expansion plans were quick to disassociate themselves from the violence and to condemn the burnings.
At presstime, an incredibly intense official investigation continued. Vail swarmed with FBI and ATF investigators, in addition to local, county and state constabularies. One observer likened it to the investigatory fever in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. Nothing, though, was stilling the circulation of rumor and speculation.
The local sense of sadness and outrage was palpable. But so was a determination to get past it all and open up for the public as scheduled, on November 6—on time and in style.
Ed Note: The above is a presstime report. For updates, check “Breaking News” at www.saminfo.com.
Ed Note: The above is a presstime report. For updates, check “Breaking News” at www.saminfo.com.
| Dates | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 4-5 | Cross Country Ski Areas Association Eastern Meeting | Eastman XC, N.H. |
| Dec. 1-5 | Ski Industry Week | Vail, Colo. |
| Dec. 11-15 | TransWorld Snowboarding Conference | Steamboat Springs, Colo. |
| Jan. 10-12 | NSAA Western Winter Conference and Trade Show | Snowmass, Colo. |
| Jan. 25-27 | NSAA Eastern Winter Conference and Trade Show | Mount Snow, Vt. |
| Jan. 30-Feb. 2 | Outdoor Retailer Winter Market | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb. 7-10 | ISPO Winter International Tradefair ’99 | Munich, Germany |
| Mar. 9-13 | SIA ’99 | Las Vegas, Nev. |
| April 12-16 | Mountain Travel Symposium | Vail, Colo. |
| April 13-15 | Colorado Ski Country Grooming and Snowmaking Conf. | Grand Junction, Colo. |
| April 16-17 | Cross Country Ski Areas Assoc. Annual Conference | West Yellowstone, Mont. |
| April 18-19 | Nordic Industry Congress | West Yellowstone, Mont. |
| May 1-3 | Canada West Ski Areas Assoc. Operations & Maint. Seminar | Kelowna, B.C. |
| May 3-7 | Canada West Ski Areas Assoc. Spring Conf. & Trade Show | Kelowna, B.C. |
| May 23-27 | NSAA/OITAF International Trade Show and Congress | San Francisco, Calif. |
More detailed information on these events, and more, can be found on www.saminfo.com under Event Calendar.
Intrawest to Develop a Village at Solitude, Utah
Intrawest has announced plans to develop an “intimate, four-season destination resort village” at the base of Solitude, Utah, on land it will acquire in phases from the resort. Solitude will retain ownership of the mountain and all resort facilities and operations.
The timetable calls for some of the 250 residential units to be offered for sale in the spring. “Substantial completion” of the village is projected to be in time for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. At build-out, the Intrawest project has a total value of about $100 million.
Intrawest and Mont Sainte-Anne
In other news involving Intrawest, Club Resorts, Inc., parent company of Quebec’s Mont Sainte-Anne, announced it is in negotiations with Intrawest about “a potential transaction whereby Intrawest would make an investment in the mountain and undertake development of the real estate at its base.”
Gary Raymond, president of Intrawest’s Resort Development Group, cautioned, “There is still a lot of due diligence to be done,” and that the discussions are still only in the early stages.
Mont Sainte-Anne, previously developed by the Quebec government as a “crown company,” was bought by Dallas-based Club Resorts in September 1994. Second only to Intrawest’s Tremblant in skier visits for the province of Quebec, the resort lies close to Quebec City, a major tourist magnet. There is also a rich supply of developable real estate, a target for Intrawest.
Club Resorts, a leading privately-held golf and conference resort company, is an affiliate of Club Corporation of America, the world’s largest operator of private city, country and athletic clubs.
Intrawest Buys Rental Ops
In still more related news, Intrawest announced the purchase of Breeze, Inc. and Max Snowboards, Inc., ski and snowboard equipment rental companies. This purchase adds 43 outlets giving Intrawest a total of 165 storefronts.
Breeze, which specializes in snowsports equipment and accessory sales, and Max, which specializes in snowboard rentals, were both under the same management. The companies have locations in Utah, Colorado, Oregon, California, Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada. In addition, Breeze says it works with 200 tour operators, 8,000 travel agents, six airlines and operates a sales and reservation system.
Suit Forces Whitetail to Drop County Bond Deal
Whitetail resort in Pennsylvania is now seeking “other options for financing,” according to Richard Perl, chairman of Whitetail Ski Co. A financing plan had previously been announced whereby the Dauphin County General Authority (DCGA) would market recreation revenue bonds that would have purchased the Whitetail facilities for approximately $20 million. However, on learning of this plan, Snow Time, Inc., which owns and operates two Pennsylvania ski areas, Ski Liberty and Ski Roundtop, challenged DCGA on the grounds of exceeding their authority and of introducing unfair competition. In the face of this litigation, which was likely to deter investors from buying the bonds, DCGA backed off its proposal. DCGA’s withdrawal did not affect an earlier project contracted with Whitetail to build the Whitetail golf course.
Perl was critical of the suit filed by Snow Time, claiming “it contained intentionally misleading information.” He said the resort, which is entering its ninth ski season, “will operate at full scale this winter.” The operation has a new general manager, Don MacAskill, who previously held the same position at Okemo, Vt.
Cochran’s to Operate on Non-Profit Basis
Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond, Vt., may be tiny but it enjoys a fiercely loyal customer base, built around the Cochran family and its four Olympic skiers. When the clan’s father, Mickey Cochran, died in March, there were serious questions about the future viability of the 38-year-old area. His widow, Ginny Cochran, said she couldn’t run it alone.
Now a mechanism is in place for the area to be operated by a non-profit organization, while she and all four of her children will serve on the group’s 13-member board of volunteers. Five percent of revenue will go into a trust controlled by Ginny Cochran, who has been signed to run the ski area.
Seven Springs Update
The sale of Seven Springs, Pa., to Booth Creek Ski Holdings, reported in the September issue of SAM, has been delayed due to in-fighting between family interests with different agendas. The case is currently in court.
Powder Makes U-Turn
After Petersen Publishing bought California-based Surfer Publications this past summer, the announcement was made that, out of the group, Powder and Bike magazines were to move to Boulder, Colo., to join the magazines of Petersen’s RAW Sports Group. Instead, word is that financial minds in the organization ran the numbers and decided it made more sense to go in the other direction—move the Colorado offices to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, some of the California employees were already Boulder-bound when they got the word to make a U-turn and head back. The rest of the Boulder group should be following within weeks.
Steve Knowlton Dies, 76
The country’s most colorful racer-turned-promoter, Steve Knowlton, died in October in Colorado after a stroke.
A 10th Mountain Division veteran, Knowlton cut a vivid swath through the sport and industry, first as an Olympic skier whose successful racing career ran from prep school through to the senior circuit, then as a flamboyant promoter of the industry, where his roles slipped seamlessly from impresario to entertainer to suave m.c. to association executive. Some of the waystations on this extraordinary career include developing the ski area at the Broadmoor, Colo.; being the first director of the seminal trade association, Colorado, Ski Country, USA: starting Aspen’s legendary night spot, The Golden Horn, and creating a ski museum in a restaurant he operated.
Recipient of many honors and awards, Knowlton was inducted into both the National and Colorado Ski Halls of Fame.
See also an appreciation of Steve Knowlton by Bob Parker on page 10.
Freestyle Cops Honors
On the heels of America’s Olympic successes in freestyle skiing, this discipline garnered this year’s top USSA honors.
Receiving the Blegen award, the association’s highest honor, was Irv Kagan, who is widely given credit for the sport’s FIS and Olympic acceptance. In addition, mogul gold medalist Jonny Moseley received athlete-of-the-year honors and Wayne Hildebrand the coach-of-the-year award.
Implementation of New USFS Fee System
When the federal bureaucracy is involved, things move at a different pace from the timetables used by business. So, it is hardly surprising that only now, two years after the legislation was passed, are the provisions of the ski fee legislation starting to be implemented. The new system is effective as of June 1, 1996 and covers receipts retroactive to June 1, 1995.
Geraldine Hughes, NSAA’s director of public policy, says the long negotiations that are now resulting in the implementation have given the industry much of what it wanted, though she concedes there are some re-auditing requirements that they had hoped to avoid. She expects implementation and publication in the Federal Register by late November.
In this connection, NSAA is hosting five fee system workshops for ski area operations in January 1999. These all-day sessions will be conducted jointly with the Forest Service. At presstime, dates were tentatively scheduled as follows: Jan. 7 at Salt Lake City, Utah; Jan. 12 at Snowmass, Colo., during the NSAA winter conference; Jan. 19 in Portland, Ore.; Jan. 21 in the South Lake Tahoe region; and Jan. 27 at Mt. Snow, Vt., during the NSAA winter conference.
For more on the permit fee system, click on the “Government Affairs” page at NSAA’s website, www.nsaa.org.
Major Personnel Moves
As a new season approached, a number of significant shifts in top management took place. Here are some of them:
Park City, Utah—Leaving the top spot at Purgatory, Colo., Vera Greco has become president and general manager of Park City, filling a slot last held by Phil Jones. He’ll also be on the management team of Powdr Corp., owners of Park City and three California operations.
Mt. Bachelor, Ore.—After 31 years at the resort, 12 of them as president, David Marsh has retired from Mt. Bachelor. His replacement at the helm is Randall C. Pape.
Sunapee, N.H.—Named manager of this resort in October was Jay Gamble, previously eastern U.S. manager for Poma of America. A contract to operate the state-owned area was recently awarded to Tim and Diane Mueller, owners of Okemo in Vermont. Gamble’s previous area experience includes stints at Sunday River, Maine, and Killington, Vt. Poma had not announced a replacement for Gamble at presstime.
Whitetail, Pa.—After rising to the top position at Okemo, Vt., over a 17-year career at the resort, Don MacAskill left to take over as president and general manager of Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania. He pointed to “a new and exciting challenge that came at a time when I was ready for a change” as the basic reason for his move. A former colleague suggested that availability of schools for his kids was also a factor.
American Skiing Co.—The executive deck was shuffled at ASC and some major reassignments took place, among them: Tom Richardson, generally credited as the architect of ASC’s IPO, resigned as the company’s chief financial officer and accepted the position of managing director at Sugarbush, Vt. While the company searches for a new CFO, Christopher Howard, currently chief administrative officer, has assumed those duties. Also moving is Burt Mills, the company’s senior vp for mountain operations. Mills moves to The Canyons to oversee the fast-paced expansion program there as vp for mountain operations and construction at the Utah resort. Warren Cook, COO of ASC, has responsibility for mountain operations at the corporate level. In addition, ASC has appointed Richard McGarry, former managing director at Sugarbush, as vp/general manager at Killington.
People
A number of appointments at Stratton, Vt.: John Lapointe has been named director of retail operations; William C. Rock left Bristol Mountain to become director of sales; Leonard Roux, formerly with Ritz Carlton, will be director of human resources and Michael Vergura, most recently vp/finance at Sugarbush, has been appointed vice president of administration and finance…Sheila Greeno leaves California’s Boreal to become director of marketing at Incline Village’s Diamond Peak Ski Resort, while Jim Kirstine leaves Donner Ski Ranch for Boreal’s slope maintenance supervisor position .. .At Butternut, Mass., Andrea Brown is now office manager.
Paul Jeppson arrives from Vail to become Jackson Hole’s property management director, a new position. Also from Vail, Brian Maguire has been appointed ski and snowboard school director. . .At Telluride Ski & Golf, Kelly Sjölander is the new manager of special events and strategic alliances. . The new director of entertainment and special events at Snowbird, Utah, is Cynthia C. Kaiser. Kaiser is no stranger to the ski industry, having been brought up by Henry Kaiser, former publisher of the Skiing Company.
At Kissing Bridge, N.Y., Debbie Goslin has been promoted to ski school director and Michael L. Hume becomes assistant marketing director. . .Formerly with Owl’s Head in Quebec, Chris Veillon has joined Jay Peak Ski Resort, Vt., as their director of communications and public relations. . .Matt Mosteller has been named to the new position of vp of marketing, promotions and real estate sales for the B.C. division of Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, operator of seven alpine resorts in Canada.
Copper Mountain, Colo., hired Ben Friedland as communications coordinator. . .At Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Donna Morgan has been named events and promotions manager for the company. Laura Abbey replaces Morgan as Northstar-at-Tahoe’s special events/promotions manager. At Sierra-at-Tahoe, Marie Sweeney has been promoted to risk management supervisor and Kevin Mulligan was promoted to lift operations supervisor. . .Also in California, Rachael Woods has been named public relations coordinator for Alpine Meadows. . .Last, but not least, Steve Turner has been named food and beverage director at Mammoth Mountain.
Supplier News
Proslide Technology, Inc. of Ottawa, Canada has formed a new joint venture company, Beijing ProSlide Limited, to bring waterpark development to China and the Asian region. . .K&K Insurance introduces ProductsPac Plus, which will offer not only liability coverage for events, but also the equipment and products used in the event. . .Radiius Consulting, the developers of SIMON and Bayleaf Software have discontinued their partnership. Skiindustry.com will be under Bayleaf’s control and SIMON will remain with Radiius.
