Welcome to the October edition of Snow People, our monthly roundup of happenings to prominent ski industry and supplier personnel.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Oct. 17, 2016—The six properties owned by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies— Nakiska in Alberta, Fernie, Kimberley, and Kicking Horse in B.C., and Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham in Quebec—are now accessible to M.A.X. Pass-holders. That brings the total number of resorts on the pass to 38.

SAM Magazine—Boswell, Pa., Oct. 14, 2016—For the first time in 11 years, Laurel Mountain in Pennsylvania will open for skiing and riding this winter. Thanks to a $6.5 million grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in 2010, several necessary upgrades to the resort’s infrastructure are nearing completion.

SAM Magazine—Donnelly, Idaho, Oct. 14, 2016—Less than a week before a scheduled auction that would have sold off several of Tamarack Resort’s critical assets necessary for operations, including chairlifts and an unfinished mid-mountain lodge, a group of local homeowners swooped in and acquired “substantially all of the assets of NewTrac,” which owned a bulk of the property at the resort.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Oct. 6, 2016—In the aftermath of a chairlift incident in West Virginia last February, Outside Magazine’s website has cast a skeptical eye on the lift infrastructure at ski resorts in the U.S. The story, published Oct. 4, puts a spotlight on the age of currently operating lifts and questions their safety, even as it acknowledges that “mechanical lift failures remain exceedingly rare in the United States.”

SAM Magazine—Inkom, Idaho, Oct. 4, 2016—Nobody ever said you have to have ski resort operations experience to own a ski area. The latest example of that is Shay Butler, who is acquiring Pebble Creek Ski Area in Idaho. Butler is the man behind the popular YouTube channel called “Shaytards,” which has nearly five million subscribers.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Oct. 3, 2016—Vail Resorts, Inc. has reported net income of $149.8 million for fiscal 2016, an increase of 30.5 percent compared to fiscal 2015, and EBITDA of $452.6 million, an increase of 29.5 percent. VR expects an even better year in fiscal 2017, as its guidance range is for EBITDA of $480 million and $510 million, excluding results from Whistler Blackcomb. VR revealed its purchase of WB in August.

SAM Magazine—Greenwood, Maine, Oct. 3, 2016—Mt. Abram in western Maine will open six new trails this winter, and each trail will be covered with snowmaking. The new terrain consists of two expert trails, two terrain parks, one race trail, and a short connector trail.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Oct. 3, 2016—SnowSports Industries America (SIA) has made some big moves as of late—both physically and organizationally. The move from its office outside Washington D.C. to its new home in Park City is complete, and the non-profit trade association recently added four new staff members.

SAM Magazine—Salzburgerland, Austria, Oct. 3, 2016—Zell am See in Austria’s Salzburgerland has built a new lift that will allow it to re-open terrain not used for more than three decades. The lift, the first stage in a two-year plan to (re)connect Zell am See to the Saalbach- Hinterglemm-Fieberbrunn, will make Zell am See part of one of Austria’s largest ski areas.

SAM Magazine—White Haven, Pa., Sept. 29, 2016—Nearly 20 member ski areas are again participating in the Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association First-Time Ski and Snowboard Program, which offers $49 advance-purchase learn-to packages valid any day—including weekends and holidays—during the 2016-17 season. The package includes a beginner lift ticket, beginner group lesson, and rental equipment.

Since April, the news about Vermont’s Jay Peak has been heavily focused on the alleged indiscretions of its two former principals and the ensuing legal situation. What many headline-readers may not realize is that Jay has been operating daily—and business is strong.

SAM Magazine—Durango, Colo., Sept. 23, 2016—The investment group led by James Coleman has acquired Hesperus Ski Area, a small, family-oriented hill located 11 miles outside of Coleman’s hometown of Durango. Hesperus is the fifth ski area in the group’s portfolio, which also includes Purgatory Resort, Colo., Arizona Snowbowl, Ariz., Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort, N.M., and Pajarito Mountain, N.M.

More than 160 summer operations managers, vendors, and schemers gathered at the Canyons Grand Summit in Park City, Utah, to explore the state of the art in summer activities at SAM’s Summer Ops Camp, Sept. 14-16.

SAM Magazine—Snowmass, Colo., Sept. 21, 2016—After several years of uncertainty, the dormant Base Village project at Snowmass is being acquired from Related Companies by a joint venture that includes an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners, LLC, East West Partners, and Aspen Skiing Company. The partnership expects to close on the transaction by the end of 2016.

Welcome to the September edition of Snow People, where we highlight happenings to prominent ski industry and supplier personnel. 

You can tell that winter is right around the corner when ski industry operators and suppliers gather at the annual New England Summit. This year’s event attracted nearly 420 ski industry personnel, exhibitors, and speakers at Sunday River in Newry, Maine, Sept. 13-15.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Sept. 19, 2016—Summer business continues its record pace at several western destination mountain lodging properties, according to a recent DestiMetrics report. As of Aug. 31, aggregated occupancy for the six-month summer period from May through October was up 7.3 percent and revenues showed a stellar 14.7 percent increase compared to the same time last year.

Randy MacDonald, managing partner at Windham Mountain Resort, N.Y., died last Friday after a long battle with cancer. Mentor, visionary, leader, loving husband, devoted father and grandfather, Randy leaves behind a rich legacy.

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., Sept. 13, 2016—Rich McCoy has been promoted to director of operations at Pico Mountain, Vt., which is owned and operated under Killington’s umbrella. McCoy joined Killington in 1999 and managed the retail operations for several years. He will continue to oversee revenue management of the resort’s mountain bike park and adventure center during the summer months.

SAM Magazine—Bridgton, Maine, Sept. 2, 2016—Ralph Lewis has been named general manager of Shawnee Peak Ski Area. Lewis succeeds long-time GM Edward Rock, who is retiring after 34 years at Shawnee Peak, and who will become a senior advisor through 2017. Lewis will officially start in late September.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 1, 2016—Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass now includes a few days of skiing at several resorts in Europe. To varying levels and with certain requirements, passholders can now access Les 3 Vallees, Paradiski and Tignes-Val d'Isere in France, Skirama Dolomiti Adamello Brenta in Italy, 4 Vallees in Switzerland, and Arlberg in Austria.

SAM Magazine—Waterville Valley, N.H., Aug. 30, 2016—The Green Peak expansion project, which gained permits in 2013, is finally underway at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. The resort is cutting 10 new trails that will add 45 skiable acres, served by a new fixed-grip triple that is scheduled to be open for the coming winter season.

About 400 ski area and supplier members attended the 2016 Midwest Ski Areas Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show, Aug. 21-24, at Shanty Creek Resorts in northern Michigan. The event addressed a wide range of issues, from beginner trial and conversion to leadership succession, lift maintenance and safety.

SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Aug. 29, 2016—Registration for SAM’s seventh annual Summer Ops Camp—a series of seminars, workshops, and site visits that explore the state of the art in summer operations—closes Sept. 6. A few spots are still available for the Camp, Sept. 14-16 at Park City, Utah.

SAM Magazine—Big Sky, Mont., Aug. 25, 2016—An ambitious, top-to-bottom enhancement project called “Big Sky 2025” with an anticipated price tag of $150 million is underway at Big Sky, Mont.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 25, 2016— The Winter Park Express will once again ferry skiers and riders round-trip from Denver to Winter Park every mid-winter weekend this season, for the first time in seven years. The ski train was a popular mode of transportation from the city to the resort and back from 1940 to 2009.

SAM Magazine—Wildwood, Mo., Aug. 24, 2016—Peak Resorts has reached an agreement to sell $20 million of its Series A cumulative convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase common stock to CAP 1 LLC, a family client of Summer Road LLC. Summer Road will also have the right to nominate a person for election to Peak’s board of directors. Peak plans to use the proceeds from this offering for working capital and for future growth, including expansion through acquisition.

SAM Magazine—Rossland, B.C., Canada, Aug. 24, 2016—Red Mountain, the oldest ski resort in Western Canada, is turning to a new funding source: the internet. In what may be an industry first, it is turning to equity crowdfunding.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Aug. 24, 2016—In addition to the return of regular commercial flights into Telluride Airport (see earlier report), increased traffic into nearby Montrose will also ease access to Telluride this winter. Montrose is getting new Denver service with the addition of twice-weekly Allegiant Air flights. In addition, the region will see a major jump in service to Montrose on the American Airlines network.

SAM Magazine—Valemount, B.C., Canada, Aug. 17, 2016—The Valemount Glacier Destinations Ltd. master plan for a proposed ski resort on Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau in interior British Columbia has been approved by the government. The proposed project has gotten tremendous local support, which developers say helped expedite the recent approval.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 17, 2016—Occupancy figures nearly reaching winter levels during the summer? It’s true. Western mountain destinations participating in DestiMetrics’ tracking program have reported visits and reservations that are expected to eclipse last summer’s record, which reached 92.5 percent of occupancy rates for the winter of 2015-16. This would be the fifth consecutive record summer for aggregated lodging occupancy and revenues at western mountain resorts.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 17, 2016—Apparently, everybody wants in on the M.A.X. Pass. One of the newest products in the rapidly growing space of season passes that offer access to multiple, mostly unaffiliated properties, M.A.X. is adding 10 more resorts to its roster.

SAM Magazine—Squaw Valley, Calif., Aug. 16, 2016—A controversial $1 billion, 25-year development plan for Squaw Valley cleared a major hurdle after the Placer County Planning Commission approved the plan in a 4-2 vote last week. Now, the plan moves on to the Placer County Board of Supervisors for the final verdict.

SAM Magazine—Londonderry, Vt., Aug. 16, 2016—Magic Mountain, a classic New England ski area that has stuck to its roots—both out of preference and financial limitations—appears to finally have stable ownership taking the reigns.

The August edition of our monthly highlight of happenings to prominent people and suppliers in the mountain resort industry.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., and Revelstoke, B.C., Canada, Aug. 9, 2016—The collection of destinations accessible via The Mountain Collective just grew to 14, for now, with the addition of Telluride, Colo., and Revelstoke, British Columbia.

SAM Magazine—Denver, Aug. 8, 2016—After filing for bankruptcy in February, Echo Mountain owner Nora Pykkonen appears to have found a buyer for the small ski area just outside of Denver.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 8, 2016—In revealing its plan to acquire Whistler Blackcomb (see separate report), Vail Resorts (VR) outlined some initial intentions:

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., and Whistler, British Columbia, Aug. 8, 2016—Vail Resorts (VR) is purchasing Whistler Blackcomb, the largest ski resort in North America. In what the company calls a “strategic business combination,” VR will acquire 100 percent of Whistler Blackcomb stock in a cash and stock deal worth a total of about USD$1.056 billion. The transaction is expected to close in fall of 2016.

SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., July 28, 2016— Commercial air service to Telluride Airport will resume Dec. 17 following a two-year hiatus, now that Colorado Flights has completed a deal with Great Lakes Airlines to reinstate its service from Denver.

SAM Magazine—Olympic Valley, Calif., July 21, 2016—Industry veteran Casey Blann will be taking the reigns as vice president of mountain operations for Alpine Meadows, as well as overseeing risk management and loss prevention for both Alpine and Squaw Valley.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, July 21, 2016—Vail Resorts abandoned its effort to trademark the name “Park City” on July 16 in the face of opposition from a long line of critics.

SAM Magazine—Newry, Maine, July 20, 2016—Investigators think they may have discovered why the upper terminal of the Spruce Peak Triple seemed to uproot from the ground at Sunday River on July 10.

SAM Magazine—Taos, N.M., July 14, 2016—Resort industry veteran David Norden has been appointed chief executive officer of Taos Ski Valley and will begin work on July 25. He will oversee all existing Taos Ski Valley resort operations including The Blake, a new slopeside hotel, which is slated to open this winter.

SAM Magazine—Newry, Maine, July 13, 2016—In one of the more unusual lift failures to occur in recent memory, the upper terminal of the Sunday River, Maine, Spruce Peak Triple chairlift “detached” from the ground underneath it.

SAM Magazine—Centennial, Colo., July 11, 2016—Reviving an old concept, the Snöbahn indoor ski and snowboard center in suburban Centennial hopes to entice both new and veteran skiers and snowboarders to its revolving-deck facility. It’s the first of its kind in the Denver area, and it has the backing of some impressive skiing athletes: Bode Miller, Eric Schlopy, and Chris Anthony.

Welcome to this month’s update on happenings about people in the ski industry. Two former colleagues at the Tecnica Group return to the ski biz, inside and outside the Group, and two managers with Vail Resorts ties take on new jobs, inside and outside VR.

SAM Magazine—Northeast Kingdom, Vt., July 8, 2016—There have been several developments and goings on at Jay Peak and Burke Mountain in Vermont since the SEC came to town. Some relate to the SEC’s case against the resorts’ operators for alleged EB-5 fraud, some relate to general operations.

SAM Magazine—Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, July 8, 2016—Ski resorts have been built in war zones (Syria/Israel, Iraq, and Pakistan, for example), or in areas that have become war zones (Bosnia), and some war movies have been filmed at ski areas, but a plan to build a “war themed” ski resort is believed to be a first.

SAM Magazine—Vail, Colo., July 1, 2016 —Vail Mountain unveiled its new Epic Discovery summer mountain experience at a ribbon cutting ceremony June 28. Epic Discovery immerses guests in “learn-through-play” activities that provide big-time thrills, challenge guests physically, and guide them to explore and better understand their natural surroundings. Vail Mountain and Heavenly, Calif., are implementing the concept this summer, and in 2017, Breckenridge will follow.

SAM Magazine—Oliver, B.C., June 30, 2016—Mt. Baldy in British Columbia is about to get new owners, who plan to revive the ski area after several years of financial instability. The area was placed under receivership in 2014 and did not open for the 2015-16 season. The court approved the sale of Mt. Baldy to an investment group led by Vancouver-based lawyer Victor Tsao for $3.4 million, plus $300,000 for one serviced lot—a steal considering the booming real estate market in the province. The property will now do business as Baldy Mountain Resort.

SAM Magazine—Snowshoe, W.Va., June 28, 2016—Snowshoe Mountain and the Snowshoe Foundation have established a disaster relief fund to assist those affected by the devastating flooding in nearby parts of West Virginia. The resort and the foundation have each committed $5,000 to the cause, and are accepting donations through July 8, 2016. All contributions will be donated to the American Red Cross of West Virginia.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 24, 2016—Registration for SAM's seventh annual Summer Ops Camp opens today. The camp will take place at Park City Sept., 14-16, 2016, one week later than originally planned. Please make a note of the change! It's the ideal time and place to pursue this year's theme, "play. discover. profit."

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 21, 2016—Following a record-breaking winter, summer bookings at Western destinations are continuing at the same torrid pace. According to DestiMetrics, which compiles data from 290 property management companies in 19 western mountain destination communities, aggregated summer occupancy and reservations are up 10.5 percent and revenues are up a whopping 17.9 percent compared to the same time last year. Numbers are for the six months from May through October, tallied as of May 31.

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 21, 2016—Powdr Corp has submitted plans to build a 52,000-square-foot indoor action sports center at Gorgoza Park outside of Park City that would be called Woodward Park City. This would be the fifth Woodward location in the U.S.

Welcome to this month’s update on important happenings about prominent people in the ski industry. The July issue of SAM will have a full list of people, awards, and obituaries in the Industry Report department.

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., June 10, 2016—Vail Resorts (VR) saw net income rise to $157.6 million in its all-important third quarter, as visits jumped nearly 14 percent for the period. For the season overall, visits were up 18.2 percent from a year ago, to 9.7 million from 8.1 million. The company also reported very strong early season pass sales for 2016-17.

SAM Magazine—Mclean, Va., June 10, 2016—The staff at SnowSports Industries America (SIA) will all soon have skis hanging from the walls of their offices in Park City, Utah—a sight not necessarily seen at its current digs outside of Washington D.C. The decision to move SIA’s headquarters to one of the nation’s premier snow sports hubs came after a unanimous vote by the SIA board of directors in May, and an approval from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development for a post-performance Industrial Assistance Fund grant. The relocation will happen in August.

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 10, 2016—The 21 member resorts of Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) recorded a record 7.4 million skier visits during the 2015-16 winter season, up five percent year-over-year and 10 percent over the five year average. Combined with Vail Resorts’ areas, which are not included in CSCUSA figures, visits for all Colorado resorts likely topped the 12.5 million statewide record set two seasons ago.