In This Issue
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Storing Snow Through the Summer
Once an oddity, storing snow from one season to the next is becoming a viable strategy. By the time the mound of…
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Mountain Spy :: First Tracks
The Spy revisits calls from never-evers to celebrate 20 years of undercover missions. It’s Mountain Spy’s 20th anniversary year, and we’re back…
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From Pain Points to Payoff
Six ski area case studies show how targeted tech investments moved the needle on operations, risk, and efficiency. At most ski areas,…
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Technology Temp Check
What ski areas are saying about software, systems, and strategy. Results from the 2025-26 SAM Technology Survey show ski areas are spending…
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2026 Groomer Report
Snowcat manufacturers continue to refine their machines and after-sale support. Within the steel and aluminum construction of grooming machines lives digital intelligence that…
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A Big Move for Antelope Butte
Giving season passes to kids jumpstarted the nonprofit ski area’s road to financial viability. The early returns were decent at Antelope Butte…
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Strength in Stability
As visitation stabilizes at historic highs, the 2024-25 Economic Analysis shows ski areas strengthening margins, increasing per-visit revenue, and reinforcing balance sheets in…
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Positive Friction
So-called frictionless service may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Over the past decade, business consultants have touted the necessity of…
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It’s Who You Know
Knowing the key people—internally and externally—is essential in managing emergency communications. Roughly 15 years ago, I was contacted by a Vermont ski area…
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Skiing Doesn’t Come in a Box
An argument for what truly makes the skiing experience special. For most of its history, the ski industry was never all that…
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Betting on Snow?
More snowmaking after a snow drought? By mid-February, winter in the West felt upside down. Rain had fallen at destination resorts in…
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Over-Snow Vehicles
How the SAM “Groomer Report” began. Former SAM technical editor Nils Ericksen wrote an article called “Over-Snow Vehicles — a Survey” in the…
