SAM Magazine—Eden, Utah, June 29, 2026—Powder Mountain named Bill Cubbage as general manager of resort operations. He will oversee guest services, rental and retail, base area operations, ski and ride school, mountain operations, ski patrol and I.T. Cubbage joined Powder Mountain in 2024, previously serving as vice president of mountain operat...

SAM Magazine—Beaver, Utah, June 25, 2026—Credit: Marc LeducThe Cottonwood Fire has reportedly caused significant property damage to Eagle Point Resort, according to photos shared with news outlets.  The fire was first reported on Monday afternoon, June 22, and has since grown quickly, burning nearly 71,000 acres as of noon EDT Thursday. It is...

SAM Magazine—Biwabik, Minn., June 24, 2026—Starting in winter 2026–27, kids ages 12 and under will ski and snowboard for free at Giants Ridge with no blackout dates and no other purchase necessary. The ski area will also introduce free night skiing on Thursdays, 4–8 p.m., this winter. First developed in the late 1950s by local families who...

SAM Magazine—East Burke, Vt., June 24, 2026—Hannah Barrego has been hired by Bear Den Partners as its executive vice president of strategy, operations and integration, a new leadership position focused on strategic execution and operational alignment across the company’s portfolio of ski areas. Barrego joins Bear Den Partners with nearly two...

SAM Magazine—Reno, Nev., June 22, 2026—Despite a challenging winter season in the West, Ski California’s 2026 Lift Maintenance and Operations Education (LMOE) Conference drew 387 attendees from ski areas in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, just 16 shy of last year’s record attendance. Held June 2-4 across three venues near Reno—the ...

SAM Magazine—Deep Creek Lake, Md., June 22, 2026—Erik BarnesErik Barnes will join Wisp Resort as general manager designate, ultimately succeeding general manager Ron Hawkes following Hawkes' planned semi-retirement at the conclusion of the 2026-27 winter season. During the transition period, Barnes will focus on risk management, safety initiat...

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 ADELINE DEYOUNG, NATIONAL SKI AREA ASSOCIATION Adeline DeYoung was hired as the director of public policy for th...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo. June 17, 2026—Booking pace at western mountain destinations softened in May following an April surge, but summer lodging demand remains healthy, with occupancy, room rates, and revenue all tracking ahead of last year, according to the latest DestiMetrics Market Briefing from Inntopia. As of May 31, occupancy for...

SAM Magazine—Phoenix, Ariz., June 17, 2026—Sedona Golf ResortMountain Capital Partners (MCP) and affiliated fund Texas Capital Partners plan to acquire a portfolio of three Arizona resort and golf destinations—Tubac Golf Resort & Spa, Sedona Golf Resort, and Rancho Mañana Golf Club—known as The Arizona Hideaway Collection from owners t...

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., June 17, 2026—The Outdoor Industry Association’s 2026 Outdoor Participation Trends Report found outdoor participation reached a historic peak in 2025 of 183.2 million Americans, part of a continuing trend that has seen the addition of nearly 30 million participants since 2019.  While the overall picture is posit...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., June 10, 2026—Vail Resorts reported declines in nearly every financial metric for its 2026 fiscal third quarter ending April 30, including 2026-27 season pass sales to date, punctuating what was a historically challenging for its destination resorts in western North America.  Year-over-year, third quarter net i...

SAM Magazine—Jeffersonville, Vt., June 10, 2026—Smugglers’ Notch Resort appointed Brandon Swartz as its new general manager. Swartz most recently served as general manager of Attitash Mountain and Wildcat Ski Area in New Hampshire. “Brandon understands that great resorts are built on great people and strong communities,” said Jon Schaefe...

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 5, 2026—Visits to Colorado resorts declined by 24 percent in 2025-26 compared to the prior season, according to figures reported by Colorado Ski Country USA. The association projected preliminary statewide skier visits of 10.5 million for the 2025-26 Colorado season at its 63rd annual meeting yesterday, down from 13.9 ...

SAM Magazine—Bretton Woods, N.H., June 5, 2026—Doug and Liz Fichera, Summit Resources, with SAM's Karolyn Towle.New Hampshire’s alpine ski areas recorded 2,283,539 skier visits during the 2025-26 season, according to Ski New Hampshire (Ski NH), which represents more than 30 alpine and cross-country member ski areas in the state. The result is...

SAM Magazine—Jay, Vt., June 5, 2026—JJ Toland from Sugarbush with former Jay Peak teammate and 2017 SAM "10 Under 30" Andrew Lanoue and SAM's Dave Meeker.The 242 attendees at the Vermont Ski Areas Association’s (Ski Vermont) 57th Annual Meeting at Jay Peak, June 3-4, were the first to hear that the 2025-26 winter’s early start, good snowfal...

SAM Magazine—Palmer, Alaska, June 4, 2026—Skeetawk Ski Area has promoted Ryan Thompson to general manager. Thompson previously served on the board of directors for the nonprofit that runs Skeetawk before resigning in 2025 to serve as Skeetawk’s construction development manager.  As construction development manager, Thompson oversaw capital ...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., May 29, 2026—The crews from Castle Mountain, Alberta; Loveland Ski Area, Colo.; Massanutten Resort, Va.; Mount Snow, Vt.; Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort, N.M.; and Spirit Mountain, Minn., have been chosen as finalists in the sixth annual Rise Up Challenge, sponsored by Leitner-Poma of America (LPOA), to compete for a...

SAM Magazine—South Lake Tahoe, Calif., May 29, 2026—Vail Resorts has appointed Trent Poole as Heavenly Mountain Resort vice president and general manager. He currently serves in the same role at Hunter Mountain, N.Y., and succeeds former Heavenly chief Shaydar Edelmann, who was named as Vail Mountain, Colo., VP and COO in April.  This will be...

SAM Magazine—Charlevoix, Québec, May 27, 2026—Total skier visits were up 5.1 percent year-over-year, and lift ticket revenue reached a record $190.5 million (CA$263.7 million) for Quebec ski areas in 2025-26, according to the Quebec Ski Areas Association (ASSQ), the trade organization representing 73 member ski areas in the province. Prelimina...

SAM Magazine—Bolton Valley, Vt., May 26, 2026—Nick Lemire has been promoted to the role of general manager for Bolton Valley. He previously served as director of guest experience and will now oversee general day-to-day operations and all departments at the family-owned ski area. He is taking on the responsibilities of former vice president and...

SAM Magazine—Juneau, Alaska, May 22, 2026—The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly voted 8-1 Monday night to abandon Eaglecrest Ski Area’s long-planned used gondola installation and repay Goldbelt Incorporated’s $10 million investment in the project, now about $12.2 million with accrued interest. The vote reverses the Assembly’s 2022 deci...

SAM Magazine—Meadowlark Lake, Wyo., May 21, 2026—A new hospitality venture backed by Miami-based investment firm MAS Alpha Securities has acquired Meadowlark Ski & Lake Lodge in northern Wyoming, with plans to revitalize the property for the 2026-27 winter season. The acquisition marks the launch of MAS Tierra, a hospitality brand founded ...

SAM Magazine—Pincher Creek, Alberta, May 20, 2026—Castle Mountain Resort has hired Chris Salhany as its new president as part of a leadership restructure following the recent retirement of general manager Dean Parkinson. “Chris brings extensive operational experience, a strong track record in resort leadership, and a deep appreciation for th...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., May 15, 2026—As the winter season dragged across the finish line, lodging rates at western mountain destinations managed to cling to a modest seasonal increase, but a drop in occupancy resulted in a significant decline in revenue. Conversely, pent-up demand for summer lodging continued to drive a steady upward t...

SAM Magazine—Boyne Falls, Mich., May 14, 2026—Boyne Resorts has appointed Dan Cockerell to the newly created role of president of operations, effective Aug. 1, 2026. Cockerell will report to Boyne Resorts president and CEO Stephen Kircher. Cockerell spent most of his career at The Walt Disney Company in several leadership roles during his 26 y...

Banff Sunshine's web cam shows off mid-winter conditions in May.SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., May 12, 2026—Rocky Mountains ski areas closing in March? Snowmaking in the Mid-Atlantic in April? Feet of snow in the Sierras after all but a couple ski areas had closed? It’s been a wild few weeks for North America’s ski industry, and the season con...

SAM Magazine—Carlsbad, Calif., May 8, 2026—Nubs Nob Ski Area takes home the 2026 Conversion Cup.The 2026 National Ski Areas Association National (NSAA) Convention and Tradeshow drew 857 attendees to the Omni La Costa Resort near San Diego, May 4-7, strong attendance given the challenging winter in the West that resulted in total national skier ...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., May 5, 2026—U.S. ski areas recorded an estimated 52.6 million skier visits in the 2025-26 season, down roughly 14 percent and 9 million visits year over year, according to preliminary data from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA).  The season ranked 32nd out of 48 on record, with poor snow conditions across...

SAM Magazine—Twyford, United Kingdom, May 4, 2026—Chief operating officer Lee Cowie will become CEO of accesso Technology Group as part of a planned leadership transition. He succeeds Steve Brown, who founded the company’s namesake accesso business in 2008.  "I’m leaving the business in very good hands,” said Brown. “Lee's deep experi...

SAM Magazine—Gatlinburg, Tenn., May 4, 2026—The 14th annual SAM Summer Ops Camp is headed to Gatlinburg, Tenn., Sept. 1-3, 2026. Known as the gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park—the most visited national park in the United States, with approximately 12 million visitors anually—Gatlinburg is home to a wide variety of summertime mo...

SAM Magazine—Government Camp, Ore., May 1, 2026—Two Mt. Hood Skibowl employees were in a work carrier when it fell from the line of the Upper Bowl chairlift Thursday morning, killing one and injuring the other, according to a report from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. The carrier fell into rugged terrain. A third person on scene call...

SAM Magazine—Montville, N.J., May 1, 2026—Snow Partners is launching a new multi-mountain frequency product, Snow Pass. The pass will provide two days of access to each partner ski area and operate as a cooperative. The company is also expanding its three-day multi-mountain product Snow Triple Play to the Midwest after a successful inaugural se...

SAM Magazine—Claysburg, Pa., April 23, 2026—The parents of a 5-year-old boy who fell from a chairlift March 1 at Blue Knob All Season Resort were each arraigned this week on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child. The boy was riding the lift alone when he reportedly turned to adjust his goggles, slipped off the chair and fell 20 ...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., April 23, 2026—Skier visits, lift revenue, and other season-to-date metrics reported by Vail Resorts were down for the North American ski season through April 19, 2026, compared to the same period through April 20, 2025, due to “one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S.,” said Vai...

SAM Magazine—Grenoble, France, April 21, 2026—Global skier visits reached a record 399 million in the 2024-25 season, surpassing the previous high of 392 million set in 2018-19, according to the 18th edition of the International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism, compiled by Laurent Vanat.  The report was released today at the Mountain Pl...

SAM Magazine—Hancock, Mass., April 21, 2026—Packed house for older fixed grip roundtable.The 49th annual Lift Maintenance Seminar (LMS) returned to Jiminy Peak, April 13-16, drawing a sold-out crowd of roughly 415 ski area operations professionals, supplier representatives, state officials, and experts from all over North America to engage in a...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., April 20, 2026— National Ski Patrol (NSP) is surveying more than 300 ski area senior leaders to gather input that will help shape how the organization develops its education and training programs as well as its partnership efforts and revenue streams. It’s the first time in its 85-year history NSP has surveyed sk...

SAM Magazine—Canmore, Alberta, April 20, 2026—Climate/snowpack presentation. Credit: Reese Brown.The Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) Annual Conference drew 72 attendees from across North America to 1988 Winter Olympic venue Canmore Nordic Centre in Alberta, Canada, April 8-10, 2026. Attendance was up compared to the last three years...

SAM Magazine—Denver, April 17, 2026—Nearly 2,000 current and former ski and snowboard instructors have joined a collective action Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit against Vail Resorts, according to reports citing consent forms filed in federal court in Colorado last week.  Quint et al. v. Vail Resorts, Inc., was first filed in 2020 by three B...

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 TROY HAWKS, GIANTS RIDGE, MN Giants Ridge has appointed Troy Hawks as marketing director. Most recently, Hawks...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., April 16, 2025—SAM’s Supplier News roundup delivers a quick look at the latest business moves shaping the mountain resort industry. From mergers and acquisitions to new services, partnerships, and product expansions, this snapshot keeps operators up to speed on the companies and solutions driving change across the ...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., April 13, 2026—Economic news conspired with abysmal snowfall and record-breaking warm temperatures during March to continue to drag down the 2025-26 winter season. Despite a weak booking pace, though, western mountain lodging properties in 17 resort destinations are looking at strong early numbers for the upcomi...

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., April 13, 2026—A new leadership structure at Purgatory Resort includes general manager Dave Rathbun moving into the role of chief executive officer of Purgatory Resort Holdings, the company overseeing the resort’s affiliated businesses, owned by Mountain Capital Partners. In addition, Josh Benson will become senio...

Indy Pass and Entabeni Systems owner Erik Mogensen has transformed this legacy ski area and designated it as his laboratory. It’s the perfect pitch here, but how will it translate elsewhere?   (This is the fourth and final stop on the author’s Revival Road Trip.) By Andy Bigford At midafternoon on the first Saturday in March, with the sun ...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., April 13, 2026—Nominations are now open for SAM’s annual “10 Under 30,” presented with support from Snow Operating. The program recognizes young professionals who are making meaningful contributions at their resorts and demonstrating strong potential for future leadership. Resort leaders are encouraged to nomi...

SAM Magazine—Vail, Colo., April 8, 2026—Shaydar Edelmann has been appointed as vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. He succeeds Beth Howard, who is retiring at the end of the ski season after 41 years with Vail Resorts, but will “remain engaged” during a leadership transition period.  “I’m incredibly honored...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., April 6, 2026—Pat Campbell and Geraldine LinkThe National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) will recognize two longtime industry leaders at its 2026 National Convention and Tradeshow, May 4–7 in Carlsbad, Calif., awarding Pat Campbell the Lifetime Achievement Award and Geraldine Link the Industry Impact Award.  Camp...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., April 6, 2026—Nominations are now open for the sixth annual Rise Up Challenge. Hosted by SAM and sponsored by Leitner-Poma of America (LPOA), the contest recognizes up-and-coming lift maintenance professionals and the teams that support them. Six resorts will be selected to produce videos offering a behind-the-scene...

SAM Magazine—Denver, April 2, 2026—SilverStar Mountain Resort in British Columbia has joined Ikon Pass as a partner resort and Giants Ridge, Minn., has been added as a bonus mountain on the 2026-27 pass.  Matt Bowers, Alterra Mountain Company senior vice president of marketing, said British Columbia has some of the best mountain experiences i...

SAM Magazine—Jackson, N.H., March 31, 2026—Indy Pass has added seven new alpine ski area partners in the Midwest, Alps, and Japan as well as three cross country ski centers ahead of its public sales period for the 2026-27 pass, which begins at noon EDT on April 3. The new alpine partners added to the pass are Whitecap Mountain Resort, Paul Bun...

SAM Magazine—Beaupré, Québec, March 31, 2026—Rendering of the new gondola cabins. Credit: Doppelmayr.Mont-Sainte-Anne has ordered three new lifts to replace four existing lifts as part of a CA$100 million investment plan that operator Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) is undertaking in partnership with the Québec government to modernize ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., March 27, 2026—Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company have been named in a federal antitrust class-action lawsuit challenging pricing and competitive practices tied to their Epic and Ikon passes, respectively. Filed March 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the complaint alleges the compan...

SAM Magazine—Pierce County, Wash., March 27, 2026—Linnea Hansen has been named the new president and COO of Washington’s Crystal Mountain, effective immediately. She will report to Alterra Mountain Company regional chief operating officer and executive vice president of the Western Mountain Division Ron Cohen. “Linnea is a strong leader w...

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., March 27, 2026—Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) plans to invest more than $37.5 million in capital improvements across its Power Pass network ahead of the 2026-27 season in the United States and the 2026 season in South America, with projects focused on snowmaking expansion, lift infrastructure, and terrain developme...

SAM Magazine—Charlemont, Mass., March 23, 2026—Berkshire East and Catamount Resorts in Massachusetts have joined Bear Den Partners, formalizing an ownership transition that brings the Schaefer family’s two ski areas into a growing portfolio alongside Vermont’s Burke Mountain and Smugglers’ Notch. The move folds Berkshire East and Catamou...

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., March 23, 2026—The SAMMY Leadership Award Class of 2026 includes four terrific leaders whose spheres of influence and positive impact extend far beyond their office walls. This year’s SAMMY honorees are: Kari Brandt, risk manager, Sugar Bowl, Calif.; Jay Dougherty, president and general manager, Mount Southington, ...

SAM Magazine—Engelberg, Switzerland, March 18, 2026—A gondola cabin fell from the line this morning and tumbled down a slope at a ski resort in Engelberg, Switzerland, killing the only passenger, who police identified as a 61-year-old woman from the region.  The two-stage Titlis Xpress gondola stopped following the detachment, which occurred ...

SAM Magazine—Winter Park, Colo., March 16, 2026—Fickle February snowfall led to significant disparities in winter occupancy between two different regions in the West—Colorado and Utah (CO/UT) on the one hand, and the “rest of the West” (RoW), i.e., California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, on the other. The most recent monthly Mar...

SAM Magazine—Jackson, N.H., March 12, 2026—Indy Pass director and Entabeni Systems CEO Erik Mogensen has bought out early investors to take full ownership of Black Mountain in New Hampshire, in a significant shift from his original plan to sell ownership shares to individuals and create a board of trustees to operate the ski area. Mogensen led...

SAM Magazine—Denver, March 11, 2026—Jared Smith plans to step down from his role as chief executive officer of Alterra Mountain Company at the end of this season. An exact end date was not shared. Smith joined Alterra as president in June 2021, reporting to then-CEO Rusty Gregory. He previously served as president and global chairman of Ticket...