SAM Magazine—Madison, N.H., June 26, 2025—Longtime team member Amanda Buswell has been promoted by the Hoyt family—owners of King Pine Ski Area, Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort, and Purity Spring Resort, among other businesses—to the role of regional general manager in charge of strategic operations and planning across the portfolio. ...

SAM Magazine—Alta, Wyo., June 26, 2025—The Intermountain Ski Areas Association (ISAA) hosted its annual conference atAward Winners, Paul Etcheverry, Tim Hendrickson, and Bill Cheney. Courtesy of Emma Calder with Thunderbird Enterprise. Grand Targhee Resort, June 9-11, drawing more than 320 participants from ski areas across Idaho, Montana, U...

SAM Magazine—Victoria, Australia, June 24, 2025—Mt. Buller added a new staff member to its ski patrol, 5-month-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever Chilli, who is poised to pioneer a therapy dog program at the resort. Her handlers are experienced patrollers and married couple Tess Hoinville and Campbell Allen-Craig.  Hoinville was a driver ...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 24, 2025—Pacific Group Resorts (PGR) has promoted Zach Marlowe and Mike Manara to serve as general managers of Wintergreen, Va., and Mount Washington, British Columbia, respectively, effective July 1.Zach Marlowe and Mike Manara “These internal promotions reflect our ongoing commitment to cultivating leader...

SAM Magazine—Taos Ski Valley, N.M., June 20, 2025—Taos Ski Valley named longtime executive John Kelly as its new chief executive officer, with current CEO David Norden transitioning to chairman of the board in a planned leadership succession.John Kelly and David Norden “Since the resort was built 70 years ago by Ernie and Rhoda Blake, it’s...

SAM Magazine—Salem, Ore., June 19, 2025—Safehold Special Risk will no longer insure ski area clients in Oregon due to the state’s legal climate that has resulted in outsized losses over the past decade. The move appears to have, in part, helped advance a bill that would protect outdoor activity providers from legal action for ordinary neglige...

SAM Magazine—Granby, Colo., June 19, 2025—Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems have hired four senior executives to their C-suite: Alex Lahood as chief operations officer; Olga Grunskaya as chief financial officer; Nick Niebes as chief marketing officer; and Andy Shepard as chief purpose officer, a newly created role. Seth Ogden also joined the team ...

SAM Magazine—Rossland, British Columbia, June 18, 2025—Red Mountain Resort is undergoing a major leadership transition as longtime CEO Howard Katkov and resort president Don Thompson are both stepping down from their roles and, effective July 6, industry veteran Mark Schroetel will become the resort’s new president. Mark Schroetel and Howard...

SAM Magazine—Wilmington, Vt., June 18, 2025—The Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain has appointed Joshua DeBottis as its incoming executive director and general manager, effective August 2025. DeBottis will succeed Bill Benneyan, who joined The Hermitage Club in 2020 and oversaw its successful transformation into a member-owned private mountai...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., June 17, 2025—Booking reticence for summer vacations persists while bookings by international visitors from Canada, western Europe, and now Mexico, continue to fall, according to the monthly Market Briefing from Inntopia’s DestiMetrics. The booking pace at 17 participating mountain destinations in seven wester...

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah, June 12, 2025—Utah’s 15 alpine ski resorts recorded 6,503,635 skier visits during the 2024–25 winter season. While down 3.6 percent from last season, it’s the third-highest skier-visit total in state history and a 3.3 percent increase over Utah’s five-year average, according to the state’s trade asso...

SAM Magazine—South Lake Tahoe, Calif., June 12, 2025—The 2025 Ski California Lift Maintenance & Operations Education (LMOE) Conference drew a record 403 attendees to South Lake Tahoe, June 3-5. Under the theme “Back to Basics,” this year’s event aimed to reinforce foundational knowledge while addressing the evolving challenges of oper...

SAM Magazine—North Conway, N.H., June 10, 2025—Nearly 400 snowsports operators and industry suppliers gathered at Cranmore Mountain Resort, June 3–5, for Ski NH’s Annual Conference and Trade Show. Loon Mountain Resort employees Andrew Noyes and Ana Yacoubian (middle) and Ski NH's president, Jessyca Keeler (right). During the event, the trad...

SAM Magazine—New South Wales, Australia, June 9, 2025—After a couple of disappointing winters in Australia, the 2025 season is off to a more optimistic start as snow blanketed the alpine regions of the country over the weekend and several ski areas opened for the season. Credit: Mt. Buller Falls Creek, Mt. Buller, Hotham, Perisher, and Thredb...

SAM Magazine—Warren, Vt., June 6, 2025—A total of 205 resort and supplier members gathered at Sugarbush Resort for the Ski Vermont annual meeting, June 4 and 5, where it was revealed that Vermont alpine ski areas welcomed more than 4.16 million skier visits during the 2024-25 season, up 1.1 percent year-over-year.Keynote speaker Mirna Valerio p...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., June 6, 2025 —Vail Resorts’ fiscal Q3 results were a mixed bag. While net income for the quarter ending April 30 rose roughly 8.5 percent to $392.8 million and year-to-date resort reported EBITDA ticked up 3 percent, Q3 resort reported EBITDA declined 1 percent, skier visits declined 3 percent across the compa...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., June 5, 2025—The Ski Resort AI Bootcamp is back with a new round of live sessions this summer, offering fresh insights into how artificial intelligence can be used across resort operations.  Presented by SAM and digital agency Eternity, and sponsored by Get Ski Bots, the Ski Resort AI Bootcamp delivers relevant AI ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 5, 2025—Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) projected 13.8 million skier visits in Colorado for this season, ranking 2024-25 as the state’s third highest on record for skier visits. Credit: Colorado Ski Country USA The numbers were realized despite variable snow conditions, according to CSCUSA president and CEO Melan...

SAM Magazine—Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, June 3, 2025—Doppelmayr Canada plans to nearly double the size of its headquarters in Saint-Jérôme, Québec, over the next 18 months, adding 185,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space for training, production, and warehousing.  The expansion, said the company, is in response to the high demand for r...

In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight personnel moves in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to awards, obits, and supplier news, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive. PEOPLE   ETHAN AUSTIN, SADDLEBACK, MAINE Ethan Austin has been appointed director of marketing at Saddleback Ski Area...

SAM Magazine—Burke, Vt., June 2, 2025—The new owners of Burke Mountain have coaxed industry veteran Tom Day out of retirement to serve as interim general manager of the resort, effective June 5.  “Honestly, unretiring again to help Burke in this transition was an easy decision. It’s what I love to do,” said Day, adding, “It’s always...

SAM Magazine—Gatineau, Quebec, May 30, 2025—More than 560 attendees gathered in Gatineau for the Eastern Canada Ski Areas Conference and Tradeshow, May 26-29. ASSQ CEO Yves Juneau (and his discerning taste in reading material) with SAM's Katie Brinton.It was the first time the event has been held since 2016. The conference brings together ski i...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., May 28, 2025—As June approaches, all but four North American ski areas have sent up last chair for the 2024-25 winter season. Some lasted well into May, and a handful recorded their longest seasons ever.Credit Boyne Mountain Still open for skiing and riding are Arapahoe Basin, Colo.; Arizona Snowbowl, Ariz.; Mammoth...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., May 27, 2025—Kirsten Lynch has stepped down as chief executive officer of Vail Resorts, and Rob Katz, who served in the role from 2006 to 2021, is returning to the role, effective immediately. Lynch had led the company since November 2021, succeeding Katz after his 16-year tenure as CEO. During her time at the h...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., May 22, 2025—The crews from Bogus Basin, Idaho; Burke Mountain, Vt.; Crotched Mountain, N.H.; Giants Ridge, Minn.; Marmot Basin, A.B.; and Mission Ridge, Wash., have been chosen as finalists in the fifth annual Rise Up Challenge, sponsored by Leitner-Poma of America (LPOA), to compete for an education grant valued at...

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., May 22, 2025—Aspen One, the parent company of Aspen Skiing Company, has promoted John Rigney, Susan Cross, and Ian Stuart, and hired Steve Stout and Trip Riggs as part of a senior-level leadership update.  “We are nothing without our incredibly talented people,” said Aspen One president and CEO Dave Tanner. “O...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., May 22, 2025—Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass will include access to resorts in Austria’s Saalbach, Zell am See-Kaprun, Mayrhofen, and Hintertux for the 2025-26 season.  The Epic Pass and Epic Adaptive Pass will include a total of five consecutive days of access across Mayrhofen and Hintertux, which encompass six di...

SAM Magazine—Marco Island, Fla., May 16, 2025—The heavy rain that was forecast for most of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) National Convention and Trade Show wound up missing Marco Island, where a total of 919 ski area operators and industry suppliers—up more than 200 people compared to the 2024 event in Texas—gathered for four da...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., May 14, 2025—Boreal MountainThe National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) recognized standout resorts and individuals for excellence in marketing, safety, sustainability, and guest conversion during its annual awards ceremony Tuesday, May 13, at the NSAA National Convention and Tradeshow in Marco Island, Fla. Boreal M...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., May 13, 2025—The National Ski Patrol (NSP) and Snow Angel Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing on-mountain collisions, have partnered on a new initiative to increase awareness of collision risks and encourage responsible behavior among skiers and snowboarders.  The initiative will include campaigns to ...

SAM Magazine—Innsbruck, Austria, May 12, 2025—Interalpin returned to Innsbruck, Austria, May 6–9 for its 25th edition, marking 50 years since the alpine technology and cable car trade fair was first held. Hosted every two years, the event brought together industry professionals from across Europe and beyond to discuss infrastructure, innovati...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., May 13, 2025—Winter lodging results in the Western U.S. ended largely flat for the season, and summer is continuing the trend. Aggregated results among 17 destinations spread across Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho showed a slight dip in occupancy of 0.3 percent, offset by a 1.9 p...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., May 12, 2025—U.S. ski areas reported a total of 61.5 million skier visits for 2024-25, a 1.7 percent year-over-year increase, according to preliminary data from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). It was the second-highest total since NSAA began tallying skier visits in 1978, trailing only the record-setting...

SAM Magazine—Vernon, N.J., May 9, 2025—Starting in 2025-26, Snow Partners will offer the Snow Triple Play Card (S3P), a new multi-property product designed for occasional skiers and riders that don’t participate enough to justify buying a season pass yet wish to avoid paying the price of ever-rising day tickets.  According to data from the ...

SAM Magazine—Twyford, UK, May 7, 2025—Accesso Technology Group has acquired the 1RISK suite of software solutions, including the company’s cloud-based online liability waiver and incident risk management data technology and related assets. Founded in 2012, 1RISK developed technology to streamline the process of securing liability waivers for...

SAM Magazine—Burke, Vt., May 6, 2025—The Bear Den Partners ownership group closed on its purchase of Burke Mountain Resort on Friday, May 2. The resort has been in receivership since 2016, and the sale was allowed to go through following the approval by the overseeing Florida judge for the group’s $11.5 million bid.  Members of the new grou...

SAM Magazine—Kaprun, Austria, May 6, 2025—The World Women’s Snowsports Organization (WWSO) hosted its inaugural Summit, April 20–26, 2025, in Kaprun, Austria. The event brought together more than 50 women leaders, coaches, instructors, and advocates from 12 countries to advance the visibility, influence, and impact of women in snowsports ed...

SAM Magazine—Windham, N.Y., April 30, 2025—Chip Seamans, a 39-year ski industry veteran who has served as president of Windham Mountain Club (née Windham Mountain) since 2011, has retired from day-to-day operations. Former director of membership Kristen Leach has been promoted to president, effective immediately. Seamans will continue in an a...

SAM Magazine—Southington, Conn., May 1, 2025—Mount Southington partnered with local schools to introduce students to both winter sports and sustainability through On Board, a youth-focused program developed in partnership with Snowball Effect. Rolled out this past winter, the initiative blends environmental education with physical activity to ...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., April 29, 2025—Vail Resorts reported a 3.1 percent decline in skier visits across its 37 North American mountain resorts this winter, even as lift ticket revenue rose 3.4 percent for the season-to-date period ending April 20, buoyed by strong pre-committed season pass sales. While destination visitation from pas...

SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Utah, April 24, 2025—Doppelmayr USA promoted Keith Johns to the role of chief executive officer. He succeeds Katharina Schmitz, who stepped down March 31 after five years as CEO. Johns, a mechanical engineer, started at Doppelmayr USA in 2021 as vice president of project management before taking on his most recent ...

SAM Magazine—Fontcouverte-la Toussuire, France, April 22, 2025— Les Sybelles, one of Europe’s largest ski areas, is working with French company MND to develop a new, board game-themed attraction based on Trek 12, an adventure and mountaineering board game. The year-round experience will include 27 installations spread across the resort.  M...

SAM Magazine—Boyne, Mich., April 21, 2025—Boyne Resorts has launched season pass products that provide access to all 10 of its properties for the 2025-26 winter season: the unlimited Boyne Passport and the 3–6-day Boyne Explorer. This is the first time Boyne Resorts has offered company-wide season pass product. Its properties remain partners ...

SAM Magazine—Burke, Vt., April 21, 2025—Bear Den Partners has submitted a purchase and sale agreement to acquire Burke Mountain for $11.5 million. The group is led by Ken Graham, founder and chairman of private investment firm Inverness Graham and whose father, Don, once owned Burke Mountain in the early 2000s; Burke Mountain Academy, located i...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo. April 18, 2025—Uneven snow conditions and tumultuous economic policies in March and April converged to make the final weeks of the 2024-25 ski season less robust than hoped. But according to Inntopia’s most recent DestiMetrics monthly Market Briefing report, two of three core performance metrics for the season...

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., April 18, 2025—Through the sale of 125 carriers from the historic Explore 2 lift, Big Sky Resort raised an impressive $162,600 for three local nonprofit organizations: Big Sky Community Housing Trust, Gallatin River Task Force, and Wellness in Action.  The March 20 online sale sold out in less than 30 minutes, wit...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., April 16, 2025—While many North American ski areas have already stopped spinning lifts for the season, plenty have plans to stretch their spring skiing and riding into May and even beyond.Credit to Jay Peak The cast includes the usual characters, as well as a few outliers looking to capitalize on conditions. Of the ...

SAM Magazine—Aspen, Colo., April 15, 2025—It’s going to be a busy summer at Aspen Snowmass as the resort will take on a broad range of capital projects that will touch all four mountains—Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk—and cost nearly $80 million. The plans include two new lifts, restaurant reconstruction and exp...

SAM Magazine—Bend, Ore., April 7, 2025—After putting Mt. Bachelor on the market in August 2024, POWDR has decided it’s going to keep the resort in its portfolio after all.  In a statement, POWDR said it considered “all facts and circumstances” in evaluating the sale of Mt. Bachelor, the fifth largest ski area in the United States by ski...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., April 4, 2025—Vail Resorts filed a notice with the state of Colorado Tuesday that it is closing its HR Shared Services unit in Broomfield. The closure will eliminate 64 jobs as part of the company’s two-year Resource Efficiency Transformation Plan to improve organizational effectiveness in anticipation of anoth...

SAM Magazine—Nederland, Colo., April 4, 2025—Longtime resort leader Brent Tregaskis will retire as Eldora Mountain Resort president and general manager, effective May 5. Brian Dobias, CFO of Eldora owner POWDR, will serve as the resort’s interim general manager.Credit: Eldora Mountain Resort Tregaskis’s 40-year career in the industry began...

SAM Magazine—Denver, April 3, 2025—Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec will join the Ikon Pass for the 2025-26 season, expanding Ikon’s Canadian footprint to nine destinations, including Quebec’s Mount Tremblant.  “Canada offers some of the best mountain experiences in the world,” said Erik Forsell, chief marketing officer of Ikon Pass ...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., April 1, 2025—Four remarkable leaders have been recognized with a 2025 SAMMY Leadership Award for their vision, hands-on dedication, and people-first leadership. This year’s honorees are: Bo Bigelow, executive director, Midwest Ski Areas Association and Minnesota Ski Areas Association; Greg Gavrilets, general manag...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., March 27, 2025—Nominations are now open for SAM’s annual “10 Under 30,” supported by Snow Operating. The feature recognizes 10 individuals under age 30 who are making significant contributions at their mountain resorts and demonstrating leadership potential within the industry. Industry professionals are encou...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., March 27, 2025—The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has named two longtime ski industry leaders as the recipients of two of its most prestigious awards. Chris Cushing and Chip PerfectResort planner Chris Cushing is the 2025 NSAA Industry Impact Award honoree, and Perfect North Slopes (Ind.) owner Chip Perfect ...

In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight personnel moves in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to awards, obits, and supplier news, we celebrate the people that make this industry thrive. PEOPLE MIKE VAN EYCK, TENNEY MOUNTAIN, NH Mike van Eyck has been named president and general manager of Tenney Mountain....

SAM Magazine—Danbury, N.H., March 21, 2025—Ragged Mountain Resort has been listed for sale, along with more than 2,000 acres of surrounding land. The ski area is currently managed by Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI), on behalf of a third-party owner that acquired it in 2007.  The listing includes both the ski resort operations and separatel...

SAM Magazine—Whistler, British Columbia, March 18, 2025—SAM’s Summer Ops Camp will be held at Whistler Blackcomb, Sept. 2-4, 2025, offering three days of education, networking, and hands-on learning focused on the future of summer operations at mountain resorts. This year’s camp will also feature a partnership with the Canada West Ski Areas...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., March 13, 2025—Snowfall, rates, and fluctuations in economic policies all contributed to declines in both booking pace and winter season occupancy at Western mountain destinations during February, according to the most recent monthly Market Briefing from Inntopia’s DestiMetrics division. While the second half ...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., March 11, 2025—Vail Resorts reported increases in visits, net income, and EBITDA for its fiscal second quarter, ended Jan. 31. However, it also reported season-to-date metrics through March 2, which showed slimmer upticks in revenues and a decline in visits. VR CEO Kirsten Lynch and CFO Angela Korch said that des...