In This Issue
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Publisher’s Memo
A warm thanks to the town of Ishpeming, Mich., the volunteers and staff of the National Ski Hall of Fame from publisher…
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Supplier Directory
Names, addresses and key contacts for suppliers of products and services to the ski industry.
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1997 Directory Of Products And Services
A listing of products and services and their suppliers within the ski industry.
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Luging For The Masses
The competition luge has been modified for general recreational use, becoming yet another option for sliding down a mountain. Two featured here…
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Return of the Skibob
The skibob, that funny-looking ski/bicycle hybrid from the 60s and 70s, is back on the scene. Silver Creek Resort, Colo., will introduce…
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What Do We Call Ourselves?
A few issues ago we wondered out loud about whether we should still be in the “ski business” when so much of…
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The Forest Service: Is A New Beginning Possible?
“I hope very much after the election there will be time for everyone to sit down and talk about giving the Forest…
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Focus on Consolidation
Readers will find a lot in this issue about a subject that it is hard to avoid these days: merger, consolidation, agglomeration—…
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Consolidation Gets Mixed Reviews
“Everybody’s talking about ‘market synergy’ and the ‘synergy of size’ that’s going to result from all these mergers,” said Ted Motschman, general…
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Dispelling Myths About the Great Shrinkage of Ski Areas
The implications of consolidation in the ski area industry are being debated and readers of this issue will find plenty to ponder…
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Trails for Mountain Bikes
In the seventies, mountain bikers discovered themselves. In the eighties, ski areas discovered mountain bikers. In the nineties, bureaucrats discovered mountain bikers—or…
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Clubs Bring New Riders
While most ski areas have long known the benefits of working with school ski clubs, the new kids on the block, snowboarders,…
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Preserving History
At the moment of creation, a new invention or variation may seem unimportant, but to those with a sense of history, such…
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Renting Supersidecuts
This past summer, rental operators profited from a price war between Elan and Rossignol as the French ski company battled to push…
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Consolidation: Analysis and Direction
It used to be you could get a good debate between area operators on the value of detachables or snowmaking automation. Now…
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Adults Learn to Ski Like Magic
Two years ago, at the NSAA trade show, Al Kryger, president of Greek Peak, N.Y., was searching for a better way to…
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The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West
By Lito Tejada-Flores, Peter Shelton, Seth Masia and Bob Sehlinger. 692 pp. New York, New York: Macmillan Travel, $14 Why is this…
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Skiing on a Budget
By Claire Walter. 156 pp. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, $15.99 I like this book! Not only is it well-written and concise, it…
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10 Years Ago in SAM
Occasionally we like to cast our eye backwards to see where we came from because it can sometimes shed light on what…
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Let’s Do Winter!
On a 9- by 12-foot Big Mo outdoor television, high-energy visual images of skiing and snowboarding supported by equally high-energy music…a 28-foot-high…
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Construction Site
Wildwheels Pier Poma engineers had a rare respite from B77 when they coordinated design and placement of a fixed-grip triple chairlift with…
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Maintenance Gets a Lift
When it comes to spending money, the maintenance shop wins hands down at Labrador Mountain, a modest-size day-trip ski area 30 minutes…
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Wire Rope: Past, Present and Future
To understand where technology is going—and wire rope technology continues to advance—it is well to understand whence it has come. This article…
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Angling for the Solution
A fixed-grip lift, originally known as I-Lift, was conceived in 1983 and had remained on the planning boards of Breckenridge Ski Resort,…
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Anatomy of the Deal
Les Otten’s dream to own Killington, he remembers, started on Thanksgiving Day 1967 when he was skiing there. He was 19. Driving…
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Back in Business
Eager to “dodge and dance” with skiing competitors, an ebullient George Gillett, Sr., is back in the industry only four years after…
