SAM Magazine--February 22, 2011--Sugarloaf reopened its Spillway East lift yesterday after closing it in late December after a derailment, which inured eight. The Maine State Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety reinstated the lift's operating license on Monday after a load test was performed on Friday, February 18. The cause of the derailment t...

SAM Magazine--February 22, 2011--Last Friday night, masked gunmen shot and killed three tourists on their way to Mt. Elbrus ski resort in the Caucasus region. In addition, a gondola at the resort was blown up. According to published reports, last month President Dmitry Medvedev announced a $15 billion plan to turn the Caucasus into a tourist des...

SAM Magazine-Nederland, Colo., Feb. 21, 2011-Beginning today, Eldora Mountain Resort is offering a free day of skiing or riding to anyone who has a lift ticket or a season pass from any other ski area. The offer is designed to introduce Eldora to Colorado skiers and riders. "We've come to realize just how many skiers and snowboarders in Colorado...

SAM Magazine-The upward trend in lodging occupancy at major Western mountain destinations continued for January, with average occupancy up 5.8 percent compared to a year ago, according to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). The figures are based on reports from 265 property management companies in 15 mountain destinations in Colorado, Uta...

SAM Magazine--February 14, 2011--Leitner Technologies has purchased 100 percent of the Swedish company Lenko Snow AB, Inc. along with developing an active participation with the South Tyrolean snowmaking company Demac. The purchase of Lenko includes its Austrian, Italian, U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries including a facility in Queensbury, New York. ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Feb. 2, 2011-Intrawest is moving its headquarters to the Denver metro area in the coming off-season. An internal memo informed the company's Vancouver employees of the plan last week. While the memo said the move will take place by the end of 2011, the transition could begin as early as July, SAM has learned. Since Intrawest...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Feb. 2, 2011-The energy level was high at the 2011 SIA Snow Show here last week, reflecting a record-setting retail season that has drawn down inventories to the bare-wall level for many city and suburban stores. The shelf cleaning coincides with a major shift in hard goods, with rocker skis and snowboards on the rise, along wi...

SAM Magazine-Woodbury, Conn., Feb. 1, 2011-Cutter's Camp has opened registration for both of this year's sessions, at Mount Snow, Vt., April 4-8 and Timberline, Mt. Hood, Ore., May 9-13. Space will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is processed on SAM's website at www.cutterscamp.com For the past eight years, Cutter's ...

SAM Magazine--January 28, 2011--After 29 years of employment at Northstar-at-Tahoe, Julie Maurer has resigned and accepted a position as VP of marketing and sales for Squaw Valley, USA. Powdr Corp today announced the promotion of Tim Brennwald to senior vice president and chief development officer. Brennwald, a 24-year ski industry veteran, h...

SAM Magazine--Bessemer, Mich., Jan. 17, 2011--In the wake of a fire that destroyed the main lodge at Big Powderhorn last Thursday, the resort has relocated all business, including ticket sales and gear rentals, to the Caribou Lodge at the area. The area was back in operation less than 24 hours after the fire, in fact. While the fire destroyed 10...

SAM Magazine-Middlebury, Vt., Jan. 14, 2011-Mike Hussey has accepted the position of director of the Carroll and Jane Rikert Ski Touring Center at Middlebury College, starting after this season. Hussey is a 17-year veteran of HKD Snowmakers, where he played "an integral role in building the company, brand and reputation," said HKD's Ian Jarrett. ...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Jan. 14, 2011-Holiday outdoor sales surged to a record-breaking $1.1 billion in December, according to preliminary outdoor retail sales figures reported by Leisure Trends Group. Sales not only rebounded 13 percent from last December, but topped the December 2008 record by 8 percent. The strong holiday results pushed tot...

SAM Magazine--January 13, 2011--This morning, January 13, 2011, the Big Powderhorn lodge burned in a huge fire, reports the Midwest Ski Areas Association (MSAA). MSAA released an e-mail at 2:30 p.m. local Michigan time, saying the fire is still burning. Causes are unknown at this time. Likely a total loss, the base lodge included administ...

SAM Magazine-Ellicottville, N.Y., Jan. 12, 2011-Holiday Valley plans to build an Adventure Park, including an aerial ropes course and a mountain coaster, for the coming summer. The Aerial Park will open in June and the mountain coaster a bit later. Outdoor Ventures Group of Southport, Conn., will design and build the Aerial Park. Its platforms ...

SAM Magazine-Boise, Idaho, Jan. 12, 2011-Judge Terry Myers has removed Tamarack Resort from federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sent the dispute over the resort's future back to state court. What this means for the area's long-term future is not immediately clear. A potential buyer has bid $40 million for the resort. But Credit Suisse, ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Jan. 12, 2011-Winter Trails, a series of free, learn-to events for snowshoe and cross-country organized by Snowsports Industries America (SIA), drew good crowds to more than 80 local events across the country on Saturday, Jan. 8. Favorable weather in almost every part of the country helped boost attendance at comparable ev...

SAM Magazine-Albany, N.Y., Jan. 11, 2011-Three privately-owned neighbors of state-owned Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills are crying foul over the number of free lift tickets Belleayre makes available to gain visits, often at the expense of the private areas. Hunter Mountain and Windham Mountain used the state Freedom of Information Law to unc...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Jan. 10, 2011-Vail Resorts (VR) reported increases in visits and revenues from several departments for the season through Jan. 6, 2011, compared to the prior year through Jan. 7, 2010, which was an historically weak period hampered by poor early-season snow. Total skier visits for VR's six mountain resort properti...

SAM Magazine-Grangeville, Idaho, Jan. 10, 2011-Idaho Sewing for Sports has chosen "to be part of the solution in our nation's, and the world's, current economic situation" by keeping its staff fully employed and performing community service, rather than laying off employees and contributing to unemployment when business is soft, said company CEO Gu...

SAM Magazine-Boise, Idaho, Jan. 4, 2011-U.S. bankruptcy judge Terry Myers has lifted a stay on two lifts at Tamarack Resort, allowing Bank of America Corp. (BAC) to repossess them. It's likely that BAC will try to sell the lifts to Tamarack's eventual buyer, or to another resort for reinstallation elsewhere. BAC now owns a mile-long detachable q...

SAM Magazine--January 3, 2011--Across the state of Maine, ski areas reported a fast start to the 2010/11 winter season following a timely blizzard, which dumped up to two feet of snow on December 27. According to Melissa Rock at Shawnee Peak and Kevin Rosenberg at Mt. Abram, "the new snow was followed by three days of beautiful weather, which resul...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Dec. 31, 2010-Slopestyle skiing has been added to the International Ski Federation's (FIS) Freestyle World Ski Championships this February at Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resorts. The slopestyle event, one of three new sports being considered for inclusion in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, will be held at Park Ci...

SAM Magazine-Hancock, Mass., Dec. 31, 2010-In what could be a harbinger of holiday visits nationwide, Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort set a single-day skier visit record on Dec. 30, topping the previous record by 15 percent. A 20-inch snowfall just prior to Christmas has brought out the crowds. With 7,874 total visits, Jiminy set records for both da...

SAM Magazine-Franconia Notch, N.H., Dec. 31, 2010-It's been 26 years since a lift turned at Mittersill, N.H., but that changes Jan. 1 when Cannon Mountain opens the new Mittersill Double Chair. Mittersill has become a popular sidecountry destination for Cannon skiers, but the last time there was an operating lift at Mittersill was in 1984, when the...

SAM Magazine-Carraabasett Valley, Maine, Dec. 30, 2010-Investigators from the Maine board of elevator and tramway safety said that high wind was a contributing factor in the chairlift derailment Tuesday during their preliminary findings. The investigation itself is ongoing, according to Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin. Doug Dunbar, a spokesman ...

SAM Magazine-Carrabassett Valley, Maine, Dec. 28, 2010-The Spillway East Chairlift at Sugarloaf, Maine, experienced a rope derailment Tuesday morning, with seven people reported injured. The injured persons, including three children, were treated and transported to local hospitals. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening. The rema...

SAM Magazine-Meadowlands, N.J., Dec. 24, 2010-Lenders for New Jersey's star-crossed and stalled Meadowlands Xanadu shopping complex say that mall king Triple Five, which owns the Mall of America, will take over the planned entertainment and retail mecca. Xanadu includes what could be the first indoor ski slope in the U.S. Triple Five expects to ...

SAM Magazine-Donnelly, Idaho, Dec. 24, 2010-Tamarack Resort owner Jean-Pierre Boespflug has proposed Green Valley Holdings as buyer of Tamarack. The Idaho-based investor group has bid $40 million for the resort. Green Valley is headed Larry Givens, an Idaho construction company owner, Matthew Hutcheson, a pension fund consultant. Other bidders,...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Dec. 24, 2010-In November, snowsports retail sales grew by a remarkable 33 percent in dollars. Specialty store sales leapt 36 percent, chain chain stores grew by 31 percent, and Internet sales were up 27 percent. While the sales growth is somewhat misleading-November 2009 sales were very soft due to warm weather and ...

Bolton Valley, Vt., Dec. 17, 2010-The owners of Bolton Valley, Doug Nedde and Larry Williams, are seeking an equity partner or outright sale of the resort. The resort encompasses 700 acres, including six chairlifts and some commercial space-the administrative offices, retail and rental shops, and ski school. The resort leases a sports center and...

SAM Magazine-Olympic Valley, Calif., Dec. 6, 2010-As expected, KSL Capital Partners, LLC has closed its previously announced acquisition of substantially all of the shares of The Squaw Valley Development Company. The acquisition includes all facets of Squaw Valley USA ski operations, as well as the Village at Squaw Valley and related real estate ho...

SAM Magazine-Donnelly, Idaho, Dec. 6, 2010-Idaho bankruptcy court judge Terry Myers today approved a ski and snowboard season at Tamarack Resort, even as bankruptcy proceedings continue and lender Credit Suisse seeks to turn the bankruptcy proceedings into a liquidation. Hearings on that request continue in court tomorrow. Nonetheless, the Tamar...

SAM Magazine-East Burke, Vt., Dec. 3, 2010-In the first of what could be a wave of online deals this season, Burke Mountain sold 600 day tickets on Tuesday, Nov. 30, through discount coupon e-tailer Groupon as the "daily deal" in the Boston area. The Burke offer was a $26 discount off the full day ticket of $66, or $24 discount off the half-day ...

SAM Magazine-Salt Lake City, Dec. 2, 2010-Skytrac, Inc., which has started manufacturing lifts in the U.S., is the first new North American aerial ropeway manufacturer to be created in almost 30 years. It is headed by longtime lift builder Jan Leonard, and includes several lift industry veterans, among them Alan Hepner, John Pentesco, David Metivie...

SAM Magazine-Flagstaff, Ariz., Dec. 2, 2010-Arizona Snowbowl has won the latest round in its fight to install snowmaking, as the courts-this time a Federal District Court-have once again upheld Snowbowl's right to make snow with reclaimed water. In a statement, Snowbowl said it looks forward to starting construction of the snowmaking system, and...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Nov. 29, 2010-In an effort to keep winter resorts focused on the need to attract and retain newcomers to skiing and riding, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has launched the Conversion Cup Challenge, which recognizes resorts' efforts to create lifelong skiers and riders. NSAA has been calling on member ski ...

SAM Magazine-Olympic Valley, Calif., Nov. 23, 2010-KSL Capital Partners, LLC has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the shares of The Squaw Valley Development Company, which includes all facets of Squaw Valley USA ski operations, the Village at Squaw Valley and related real estate holdings. The transaction is expected to clos...

SAM Magazine--November 18, 2010--Vail Resorts, Inc., announced the appointment of Bill Rock as the new COO of Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif. Rock will assume responsibility for all mountain and village operations associated with the resort and report directly to Blaise Carrig, co-president of Vail Resorts' mountain division. Rock was most recently p...

SAM Magazine--November 17, 2010--The Idaho Land Board approved a deal between the Tamarack Municipal Association and primary creditor Credit Suisse to continue the resort's state lease deal through June 2011. According to the Idaho Statesman, a bankruptcy court still must approve the deal that would allow Tamarack to open for a 15-week season. ...

SAM Magazine--November 17, 2010--Tenney Mountain, N.H., will go to auction on December 15. The area owes $170,000 in back taxes dating back to 2008. According to the auction company (www.jospehfinn.com), not only is the ski area land up for grabs, which consists of 445 acres, but two other lots will be auctioned at the same time--a 39.48-acre undev...

SAM Magazine--November 16, 2010--During a visit to the Vatican by a group of ski instructors, Pope Benedict XVI praised skiing as one way that, "man recognizes the greatness of God." According to published reports, the Pope said that the sport of skiing teaches, "constancy in reaching objectives, respecting the rules, and tenacity in facing up t...

SAM Magazine--November 16, 2010-- Olympic Gold Medal skier will join Glen Plake as Ambassador for Learn to Ski and Snowboard month (LSSM). With five Olympic medals, two overall World Cup titles and four Discipline titles, Miller will provide a recognizable face to the campaign. LSSM will take place during January and is a national initiative to...

SAM Magazine-Wrightwood, Calif., Nov. 15, 2010-Karl Kapuscinski, president and CEO of Mountain High Resort Associates LLC, has purchased all remaining shares in the Mountain High Resort tenant-operator firm, making him the sole owner of the company that leases the resort from CNL Lifestyle Properties. Kapuscinski is entering his fifteenth season as...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Nov. 11, 2010-SnowSports Industries America (SIA) said today it has out its exhibit booth space for the upcoming 2011 SIA Snow Show, Jan. 27-30 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The show is expected to draw more than 18,000 attendees including snow sports suppliers, retailers, reps, athletes and professionals. M...

SAM Magazine-Greenwood, Maine, Nov. 9, 2010-Mt Abram Resort is launching a non-academy race program, Le Club de Sport LaVallee/Parisien. The program will promote high school and middle school ski racing and help those athletes reach their full potential and grow in alpine racing. It will supplement and support the athlete's school program and coach...

SAM Magazine-Donnelly, Idaho, Nov. 9, 2010-The Tamarack Municipal Association (TMA) has reached an agreement with creditor Credit Suisse, the Idaho Department of Lands, and the equity holders of the resort to allow payment of a land lease that is a key part of TMA's effort to open the resort to skiing and snowboarding next month. TMA, the associ...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Nov. 9, 2010-Maynard Russell of MRC Services, Greenville, Maine, has been named interim chair of the ANSI ASC B77 Standards Committee for the next 12 to 24 months. The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), acting as the Secretariat for the ANSI ASC B77 Standards Committee on Passenger Ropeways, announced the appointme...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Nov. 5, 2010-About one-third of all skiers and riders on the mountain are on rental equipment, according to rental shop operators who took part in the 2010 Rental Equipment Survey conducted by Snowsports Industries America (SIA). Increasingly, those customers are looking for high-end demo equipment. As a result, more than ...

SAM Magazine-Frisco, Colo., Nov. 5, 2010-Keystone Resort and Copper Mountain opened today, adding to the growing list of areas that are now open for the season. In Canada, Lake Louise became the first area to open. Wolf Creek, Colo., opened for the season last Saturday, and Killington joined the group on Nov. 2. The Colorado areas were aided by ...

SAM Magazine-Boise, Idaho, Nov. 4, 2010-With winter fast approaching, Tamarack Resort's status remains as fluid as ever. In a bankruptcy court filing, Credit Suisse has declared that liquidation of Tamarack Resort is the best way to recoup as much of the $300 million owed to the resort's lender group as possible, and has asked bankruptcy judge Terr...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Nov. 4, 2010-Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, an entity created by Intrawest for the purpose of selling public shares in Whistler Blackcomb, raised C$300 million (US$297 million) after it priced its IPO shares at C$12, a significant cut from the C$15 it hoped for initially. The offering is expected to close Nov. 9. The deal...

SAM Magazine-Brownsville, Vt., Nov. 2, 2010-Ascutney Mountain Resort won't operate this winter, with operations in future years also in doubt unless a buyer can be found. The resort's outlook took a turn for the worse last summer when Steve and Susan Plausteiner, who had bought the resort out of bankruptcy in 1993 and have managed its operation...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Nov. 2, 2010-Glen Plake and Head Ski Company are lending their considerable support to Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (LSSM) in January, when more than 300 resorts across the U.S. will be promoting learn-to programs. Plake is returning as an ambassador for the initiative, and Head has signed on as a major partner. ...

SAM Magazine-Orlando, Fla., Oct. 29, 2010-In response to an earlier report on saminfo.com, CNL Lifestyle Properties has informed us that some of the statements in that report may be misleading. Here's a more complete description of the change in management at Northstar-at-Tahoe: As with other CNL resort properties, CNL owns the land and all impr...

SAM Magazine-Taylors Falls, Minn, Oct. 29, 2010-Wild Mountain, Minn., and Boreal, Calif., both opened for business today, adding to the flurry of openings in the past week. For Wild Mountain, it marks the 35th year the area has been the first in the Midwest to open. Rates were determined by bow many Facebook fans the area had-the more "likes" t...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Oct. 29, 2010-Lack of interest from investors has led Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, a company formed by Intrawest and owned by Fortress Investment Group, to reduce the price of its IPO shares, according to several news reports. The reduction, from the planned range of C$14 to C$15 per share to the current range of C$12.5...

SAM Magazine-Newry, Maine, Oct. 26, 2010- In the wake of the SANY and NWSS fall workshops, the two groups and NSAA are planning an expanded agenda for 2011 over an eight-day stretch that, for the two events, is one day shorter. In a key and expected change, the NWSS will return to a more conventional trade show format after this year's experimen...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Oct. 27, 2010-After a long, warm fall, areas in the west have received significant snowfall in the past three days. In the Pacific Northwest, Mt. Hood Meadows had recorded 30 inches through Tuesday, with more expected. In Colorado and Utah, snowfalls were in the 18- to 24-inch range. And in western Canada, Fernie reported 15 in...

SAM Magazine-Sugar Mountain, N.C., Oct. 25, 2010-The North Carolina ski industry generated $146 million in economic activity in the 2009-10 winter season, according to a study conducted by RRC Associates for the North Carolina Ski Areas Association (NCSAA). Total direct expenditures on winter sports were $88.5 million. Indirect economic activity wa...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 25, 2010-Vail Resorts (VR) has acquired the stock of the companies that operate Northstar-at-Tahoe from Booth Creek Resort Properties LLC and other sellers for $63 million. The operations of Northstar-at-Tahoe are conducted on land owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc., which will be leased to Vail Resorts unde...