SAM Magazine--February 19, 2008, Ludlow Vt--For the second year running, the Sunday of Presidents' Day Weekend was a record-breaker for Okemo Mountain Resort. Skier and snowboarder visits were up three percent for the day, compared to last year's milestone, and up more than five percent compared to the previous best day in February 2005. Skie...

SAM Magazine - Denver, Colo., February 18, 2008 - Frontier has announced an aggressive move into the winter vacation market, with discounted fares to a variety of ski destinations including Aspen, Durango and Jackson Hole. With rates starting as low as $89 for one-way flights to Aspen and Jackson Hole from Denver, the pricing is an aggressive mo...

SAM Magazine--Tannersville, Pa., Feburary 13, 2008--Starting last week, Charles Blier became the new GM and Executive VP at Camelback Ski Area, which also runs Camelbeach water park. Blier replaces long-time GM Rich Wiseman. Blier will help oversee a 400-room development that will include a three-acre indoor water park. The fifth floor of the de...

SAM Magazine--February 5, 2008--An avalanche blocked Alpine Meadow's access road on Sunday, forcing the resort to close for the day. The slide was triggered by a control team which was running routes above the access road. The crown of the slide was estimated to be as much as 12 feet high in some places. The avalanche underscores the danger of ...

SAM Magazine - Las Vegas, Nev., February 5, 2008 - It's hard to believe that less than one hour from The Strip, you can go skiing. But while the small ski area called Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, hidden in Lee Canyon, could be one of the best-kept secrets in Nevada, things could to change if the ski area's plans for expansion are approved. ...

SAM Magazine - Monarch, Colo., January 31, 2008 - Colorado's Monarch Mountain has announced that the resort will extend its season by one week, to April 13, 2008. The resort cites exceptional year-to-date snowfall for the extension. According to Monarch, the ski area has received more than 259 inches for December and January, a record amount. "W...

SAM Magazine - Wilmington, Mass., January 31, 2008 - Verizon customers won't be able to escape the boss quite as easily when they take advantage of mid-week powder days in Vermont. The company has announced that a $55 million investment into its Vermont network means that wireless service has been expanded into nearly 60 additional Vermont communit...

SAM Magazine - North Woodstock, NH, January 26, 2008--With a rich history of environmental initiatives (Cranmore was the first ski area east of the Mississippi to convert to biodiesel in 2003), New Hampshire ski areas are strengthening their environmental initiatives as part of a broad effort to reduce their footprints on the planet over the next f...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Jan. 18, 2008-Colorado Ski Country USA's 26 member resorts hosted an estimated 2,873,363 visitors from Oct. 10 through Dec. 31, about average for the state but down 12.5 percent from last year's record for the period. Low snowfall totals in November caused several resorts to delay their opening dates, and got skier visits off t...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Jan. 18, 2008-August to November snow sports sales reached $897 million, an increase of 2 percent over last season's anemic early season sales, reversing a 7 percent drop for the August to October period-even though the heavy snow hadn't started falling yet. "December snow promises relief," said Kelly Davis, director of re...

SAM Magazine-Minturn, Colo., Jan. 18, 2008-The Ginn Development Company, which is planning a private ski area above the towns of Minturn and Red Cliff, near Vail, has been promoting the benefits of the resort to local politicos. In a recent Minturn town council meeting, Bill Weber, senior vice president of the company, said that the ski resort w...

SAM, Jan. Woodbury, CT--SAM and SIA Host Special Market Exhibits Exclusively for Rental, Backshop And Uniform Buyers In three exclusive Market Segment Exhibits presented by SAM Magazine and SIA, including Rental World, Backshop Garage and Uniform Center find all the latest rental gear, uniform designs and backshop machines and tools displayed ...

SAM Magazine-Mt. Hood, Ore., Jan. 14, 2008-Mt. Hood Meadows has named Tom Spangler, currently Jackson Hole COO, to become general manager at Mt. Hood Meadows. His appointment culminates a six-month selection process, in which more than 50 candidates were considered. Spangler will begin his new position in late February. Spangler has been at Jack...

SAM Magazine-Chicago, Jan.11, 2008-Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Inc., has acquired Dover, N.H.-based The Richardson Group. The acquisition closed Dec. 1, 2007; terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The third largest provider of ski resort insurance in the U.S., The Richardson Group specializes in sports, entertainment and health club ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Jan. 11, 2008-Winter Park Resort is teaming with the city of Denver and the Denver Parks and Recreation Department for the second straight year to create the Ruby Hill Rail Yard, a free urban ski and ride terrain park located just outside of downtown Denver in Ruby Hill Park. Ruby Hill features six rails of varying configuratio...

SAM Magazine - Arapahoe Basin, Co., January 9, 2008 - One of Colorado's smallest ski areas is poised to nearly double in size with the opening of Arapahoe Basin's Montezuma Bowl on January 11. The expansion will increase the ski area's terrain by 80 percent, with an additional 400 acres. The expansion is the largest in the nation for the 2007-2008 ...

SnowHunter--UK, January 9, 2008-- A new study commissioned by travel insurance company InsureandGo has found that 11% of people have skied whilst drunk. Around 9% of people said they had skied whilst slightly tipsy, two percent whilst, "moderately drunk" and one percent whilst "very drunk." Perry Wilson, managing director of InsureandGo said: "Be...

SnowHunter--UK, January 9, 2007-- The Compagnie des Alpes Group (CDA), the world's largest ski lift operator by visitor numbers and the operator of 18 of the leading ski resorts in France and some other countries, has announced consolidated revenue of 505.7million Euros represented a 4.3% increase within comparable consolidated structure. Ski are...

SnowHunter--UK, January 9, 2008--Russian President Vladimir Putin officially opened a new ski area at Krasnaya Polyana in Russia on January 2nd, less than two weeks after the new Revelstoke resort opened in British Columbia. The new ski area on Psekhako Ridge, 1,436m up, initially operates with 18 trails totaling 14km long and six lifts including...

SAM Magazine--Broomfield, Colo., January 8, 2008--Vail Resorts, Inc., announced today that Bill Jensen is leaving his position as president of the company's mountain division and COO of Vail to become CEO of Intrawest, effective June 1, 2008. Moving in to take over his responsbilities on January 31, 2008, are Beaver Creek's John Garnsey and Heav...

SAM Magazine - Breckenridge, Co., - The National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), one of the largest winter sports organizations in the United States, will hold the group's 2008 Annual Meeting and Challenge Cup (AMCC) at Colorado's Breckenridge from January 12-19. The AMCC is the NBS biennial convention and fundraiser, which is expected to bring mo...

SAM Magazine - Revelstoke, B.C. - The next big thing in Canadian skiing fired up the lifts last week. Revelstoke is now on line and operating, with five feet of snow; 4,735 vertical feet of lift-serviced terrain; 1,500 acres of skiing; and 27 new ski runs serviced by a $22 million Leitner Poma eight-person gondola and a high-speed quad chairlift. ...

SAM Magazine - The Canyons, Ut., December 26, 2007 - An in-bounds avalanche at The Canyons on December 23 has left one man dead and a child critically injured. The incident, which took place in the Red Pines Chutes area off the ski area's Ninety-Nine 90 lift, took the life of a 30-year-old man from Colorado and injured an 11-year-old boy. The Ca...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co., December 21, 2007 - It's official. The most expensive adult daily lift ticket is $92 and it's at Vail. The resort reached the benchmark this week, edging out nearby Aspen ($87) and Deer Valley, Utah ($81). Last year an adult single day lift ticket cost $85 While it appears that the days of $100 daily lift tickets aren't...

SAM Magazine - Sugar Bowl, Ca., December 21, 2007 - With storms pounding ski areas from Utah to New Hampshire, the only part of the country yet to see substantial accumulations of snowfall is starting to catch up. Ski areas in the Sierra and Lake Tahoe areas have seen substantial accumulations over the past week. Alpine Meadows is reporting thr...

SAM Magazine - Denver, Co., December 20, 2007 - Three years of early season sales gains have come to an end, reports SIA in their first retail audit of the season. The industry group's audit shows a total of $468 million in sales for the August to October period. Specialty retailers suffered a 7 percent drop from the previous year, clocking in at $...

SAM Magazine - Taos, NM., December 14, 2007 - Burton can take one of four areas off its poaching list-Taos' management has decided to reverse a long-standing ban on snowboarding, effective March 19. "While there are many reasons why we have chosen this season to make such a significant change to our company's policy the foremost factor is we fee...

SAM Magazine - Broomfield, Co., December 12, 2007 -Vail Resorts has reported a net loss of $24.6 million (63 cents per share) in the first quarter of 2008. The amount is less than in 2007, when the company reported a loss $35.8 million during the same period. "Our fiscal first quarter is a seasonally low earnings period and historically a loss q...

SAM Magazine - VAIL, Co., December 11, 2007 -Vail's SOS Outreach, formerly known as the Snowboard Outreach Society, has been named by Vail Resorts to be the administrator of the ski company's Diversity Program. The Diversity program is spearheaded by Vail Resorts to introduce Denver and surrounding residents to the mountains. The announcement by Va...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Dec. 6, 2007-What do french fries and snowcats have in common at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area? Cooking oil! Wachusett is one of only three ski resorts in the Northeast to convert 100 percent of its 2,500 gallons of waste cooking oil into environmentally-friendly biodiesel. To complete the transformation, Wachusett i...

SAM Magazine-Grand Junction, Colo., Dec. 6, 2007-Leitner-Poma of America and Prinoth, both Leitner Technologies companies, today began construction on a $15-million, two-building, 90,000 square-foot office, factory and warehouse here on an 18-acre site adjacent to the Grand Junction Regional Airport. Leitner-Poma of America, previously known as Pom...

SAM Magazine-Montpelier, Vt., Dec. 6, 2007-Several Vermont resorts will serve up Ski Vermont Burgers this winter as the result of a partnership between the Vermont Ski Areas Association, Vermont Agency of Agriculture and the Vermont Beef Producers Association. First to offer Vermont beef on the menu are Bolton Valley, Jay Peak, Okemo Mountain and S...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Dec. 5, 2007-Kirby Brown has been named president and COO for Intrawest's Panorama Mountain Village, B.C., effective Dec. 17. Brown will be responsible for all aspects of Panorama's resort operations, and will report to Dave Brownlie, president and COO at Whistler Blackcomb. Brown began his career with Intrawest in ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Dec. 5, 2007-Unsettled weather across North America has the season looking up in the East, but on the West Coast, areas are crossing their fingers and praying for snow. In Colorado, a strong storm system created epic conditions after a warm November delayed openings at some ski areas. The recent storm dumped more than two fe...

SAM Magazine--Lakewood, Colo.,, December 4, 2007--NSAA announced today that it has hired Ann George to serve as the association's education director. George hails most recently from Vail Resorts where she was the human resource director, but also worked in the East at Waterville Valley. George replaces Tim White, who now serves as executive directo...

SAM Magazine--Vermont and Maine, December 4, 2007--Both the Vermont Ski Areas Association and the Ski Maine Association are reporting strong early season business thanks to a weekend storm that dumped on the two ski states. Vermont areas are off to a stronger start than the last four years combined. A total of 369 trails are open, which accounts fo...

SAM Magazine-Blowing Rock, N.C., Nov. 29, 2007-Appalachian Ski Mtn. is offering free skiing to encourage guests to support efforts to fight global warming. On Dec. 8-9, Jan. 5-6, and Mar. 1-2, each guest at Appalachian Ski Mtn. who purchases a ski ticket and a $3 Green Ticket will receive a voucher for a free ski ticket redeemable any night in Marc...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Nov. 27, 2007-When Vail Resorts delayed Vail's opening by a few days earlier this month, the resort sent idle workers out on the town for a city-wide cleanup effort. A group of approximately 70 employees, ranging from mountain safety staff to ski patrollers, cat drivers and lift ops, roamed the Vail streets collecting rubbish. ...

SAM Magazine-Rossland B.C., Nov. 27, 2007-While terrain parks are common in resorts across the globe, dedicated skier and boarder cross courses are few and far between. But the Olympics could change that. Snowboardcross was one of the most popular disciplines at the Torino Olympics, and skier cross is slated to debut at Vancouver in 2010. To suppor...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Nov. 23, 2007-After a warm November in many parts of North America, resorts from coast to coast are swinging into action, thanks to the belated arrival of both natural snow and colder snowmaking temperatures. Delayed openings in the Rockies have been a major departure from prior seasons, when ample natural snowfall allowed resort...

SAM Magazine - Mt. Crested Butte, Colo., November 19, 2007- Crested Butte sees an opportunity in November's Rocky Mountain dry spell. With many Colorado and Utah ski areas postponing opening days and limited terrain at many of the resorts which are open, the 'Butte,--which opened as scheduled on November 17--is offering half price tickets to the co...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co., November 15, 2007 - It's hot! Too hot, actually. In a mirror image of last year's slow start for Eastern ski resorts, Rocky Mountain ski areas are struggling to make snow and open on time. While both Loveland and Arapahoe Basin opened in October, November has been unseasonably warm. Some resorts have been able to make due....

SAM Magazine-Calgary, Alberta, Nov. 12, 2007-Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR), is giving big air a big kiss-off. "All man-made snow jumps will be eliminated from RCR terrain parks this season," Matt Mosteller, senior director of business development for Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, has announced. The six-area company cited its core valu...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Nov. 9, 2007-More ski resorts are announcing openings by the day, if not the hour. In the Midwest, Ski Brule started winter operations Nov. 7. Another notable addition to the up-and-running club is Mammoth Mountain, which fired up the lifts on Nov. 8 and offers skiers one run with an 8- to 14-inch base of man-...

SAM Magazine-Breckenridge, Colo., Nov. 7, 200 -Skiers will have plenty to celebrate this weekend as the ski season kicks off in earnest, with resorts opening across North America. In Colorado, Arapahoe, Loveland and Copper Mountain have already been hosting skiers and snowboarders for the past few weeks, with Arapahoe Basin leading the early season...

SAM Magazine-Driggs, Id., Nov. 7, 2007-Grand Targhee Resort has purchased new employee housing just north of town here, in the Buffalo Valley Condominiums. The 16 three-bedroom, two-bath units are fully furnished and contain a washer/dryer and central vac system. Monthly rents start at $300 per employee and include Wi-Fi Internet service. Both sin...

SAM Magazine-North Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 7, 2007-Grouse Mountain is launching a groundbreaking-or at least snow-moving-program called Build Your Own Park. This gives passholders and park locals the opportunity to design the parks through a series of season-long surveys. Riders will vote on what features should be built next and provide feedback on ...

SAM Magazine-Windham, N.Y., Nov. 6, 2007-A mere eight miles apart, Hunter Mountain and Windham are offering visitors an inexpensive way to sample the disparate vibe of both with a single ticket package. The resorts are offering guests The Winter Card ($119), which gives skiers two days of skiing and riding at Hunter and two days at Windham. The dea...

SAM Magazine-Keystone, Colo., Nov. 2, 2007-Keystone's 2007-2008 season started today at 9 a.m., a week earlier than planned, thanks to more than two feet of natural snow and efficient snowmaking. Terrain park. Photo by Leisa Gibson.  The mountain is operating from the River Run Village base area for the intermediate run of Spring Dipper, ...

SAM Magazine-Canmore, Alberta, Nov. 1, 2007-Colorado-based East West Partners and Morgan Stanley Real Estate have acquired Three Sisters Mountain Village, a 1,800-acre partially completed Canadian Rockies resort community near Banff, adjacent to the historic mining town of Canmore (site of Nordic events at the 1988 Olympics). East West Partners wil...

SAM Magazine-Sunday River, Me., Oct. 31, 2007-What a difference a year makes. Unlike last fall, when snowmaking across the East was stymied by unseasonably warm temperatures, this year seems to be on track. At Sunday River, where consistently cold nights have allowed the mountain to pump out the white stuff, the area is open for one day, making it ...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Oct. 30, 2007-Snowsports Industries America is moving its annual trade show to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver in 2010, ending more than three decades in Las Vegas. For SIA, the new location offers more space and a closer connection with the mountains-not to mention the higher visibility that comes with being one of t...

SAM Magazine-Green Valley Lake, Calif., Oct. 29, 2007-Trinity Mountain Resort was burned last week by the Slide fire. No lives were lost, but ten percent of the homes in Green Valley Lake were destroyed, and the one and only chairlift at Trinity was also burned. The damage could have been worse. The area had recently remodeled the base lo...

SAM Magazine - Telluride, Colo., October 29, 2007 - Dave Riley, Telluride's new CEO, is creating controversy in this southern Colorado ski town. Riley has raised eyebrows with his contention that the operators of the Mountain Village to Town gondola do not deserve a raise, as they are already getting paid too much. While the town of Telluride...

SAM Magazine-Bethel, Maine, Oct. 29, 2007-Sunday River and Sugarloaf, Maine, and Bretton Woods and Attitash, N.H., are among the handful of Eastern areas that began snowmaking operations last night. Low temperatures and humidity created good conditions for making snow. Temperatures bottomed out at 15° F. at the summit of Sunday River, while 18 h...

SAM Magazine-Red Lodge, Mont., Oct. 26, 2007-An affiliate of JMA Ventures, LLC has purchased Red Lodge Mountain Resort. JMA has, in the past eighteen months, also bought Homewood and Alpine Meadows, Calif. JMA is a San Francisco-based real estate investment company.     "We're very excited to be involved with Red Lodge Mountain Resort,...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Oct. 23, 2007-After Vail spent approximately $2 million in an attempt to prevent the American Skiing Company (ASC) from selling The Canyons ski resort to Talisker Corporation, a Denver judge has backed Talisker and ASC and nixed VR's attempts to stop the sale. ASC now plans to proceed with the sale to Talisker, and anticipat...

SAM Magazine - Whistler, B.C., October 9, 2007 - As anyone who has skied Whistler in the past decade knows, the ski resort relies on an annual influx from Down Under. If any evidence is needed, look no further than the raucous celebrations on Australia Day, where the town - and the bars - are taken over by people with funny accents and an affinity ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 10, 2007-Vail Resorts, Inc. (VR) will serve natural, hormone-free meats and poultry and organic dairy products in 40 on-mountain restaurants at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly during the 2007-2008 ski season. VR says it will serve more meals made with natural meats and certified organic d...

SAM Magazine-Revelstoke, B.C., Oct. 9, 2007-Revelstoke Mountain Resort, the massive development in British Columbia's interior, is expected to open on schedule by Dec. 22. Upon completion, the resort will boast the longest vertical in North America at a whopping 7,000 feet from top to bottom. For the coming season, two major lifts will serve 4,7...