SAM Magazine—Wrightwood, Calif., Aug. 12, 2015—Mountain High is giving skiers and riders added assurance that they will get more value out of their season passes by introducing the Winter Guarantee, which applies credits to those who use their season pass less than five days. Offered only to Mountain High Powder Alliance pass holders, t...

SAM Magazine—Nelson, B.C., Aug. 12, 2015—Whitewater ski resort has signed on to the Powder Alliance making it the second Canadian resort to participate in the season pass program that also includes 12 U.S. ski areas. Now, Whitewater season passes are also good for three days of skiing and snowboarding at each of the other 13 locations, ...

SAM Magazine—Norden, Calif., Aug. 11, 2015—More season pass partnerships among ski areas in the U.S. and internationally are being unveiled as the 2015-16 season approaches. Sugar Bowl, Woodward Tahoe, and Royal Gorge—all located atop Donner Summit—have partnered to offer skiers and riders unrestricted access to their facili...

SAM Magazine—Stowe, Vt., Aug. 11, 2015—Stowe Mountain Resort and Taos Ski Valley have joined the Mountain Collective that now includes skiing and riding access at ski areas in six U.S. states, Alberta and B.C., Canada, and Australia. Stowe is the first ski area in the East to sign on to the partnership. “As the only Eastern res...

SAM Magazine—Hood River, Ore., Aug. 7, 2015—The 12th OITAF-NACS Symposium will be held Sept. 8-11 at the Hood River Inn. Themed “Trams, Dams, and Bridges,” the gathering brings together ropeway operators, manufacturing companies, engineers, inspectors and others to discuss and analyze leading issues impacting ropeway transpo...

SAM Magazine—Idaho Springs, Colo., Aug. 6, 2015—Echo Mountain is re-opening its slopes to the general skiing and snowboarding public once again this winter. The Front Range Ski Club purchased the area in 2012 and turned it into a private race training center. It continues to manage the 226-acre area, but plans to open Dec. 10 with a ren...

SAM Magazine—Reno, Nev., Aug. 3, 2015— With Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe increasing its minimum wage to $11 an hour, ski area employees in the Tahoe region may be hoping for an all-out bidding war among resorts. The pay increase sets the starting wage at Mt. Rose $2.75 above Nevada’s $8.25 per hour minimum wage, and $2 more than Californ...

SAM Magazine—New York, July 31, 2015—New York State and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) have entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement with Borrego Solar, a San Diego-based firm that develops, finances, and implements solar energy projects, to supply power to state-owned Belleayre, Gore Mountain, and Whiteface sk...

SAM Magazine—Beijing, China, July 31, 2015—Beijing has been selected to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, beating out Almaty, Kazakhstan, by a 44 to 40 vote. It will be the first city to host both a summer and winter Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that Beijing was awarded the Games because it aligned with the IOC&...

SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, July 30, 2015—Let the rebranding begin: Officials at Vail Resorts unveiled a new brand campaign that combines Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons into one name, Park City. A new logo combines the Canyons’ insignia with the existing color palette of Park City Mountain Resort, with the tag line &ldquo...

Artist rendering of the new 2.3 megawatt Community Solar facility being installed in Hancock, Mass. SAM Magazine—Hancock, Mass., July 29, 2015—Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, widely lauded for being the first ski area in the U.S. to install a wind turbine in 2007, continues to distinguish itself as one of the “greenest&rdq...

SAM Magazine—Snowbird, Utah, July 27, 2015—Richard Daniel “Dick” Bass, partner and chairman of Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and the first person to climb the highest point on each of the seven continents, died Sunday, July 26, 2015 at the age of 85 surrounded by family in Dallas, Texas. Bass suffered from pulmonary fibrosi...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., July 21, 2015—Summer revenues among lodging properties at 19 mountain destinations in six mountain states are up 12.5 percent over last year, while future reservations are up 6.8 percent. The figures, compiled by DestiMetrics, are based on occupancy and bookings for the six months from May through October. ...

SAM Magazine—McLean, Va., July 15, 2015—The SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Board of Directors has chosen Nick Sargent, former vice president of global business alliance at Burton Snowboards, as its incoming president. Sargent will begin in a transitional role Aug. 24 before succeeding David Ingemie as president following the 2016 S...

SAM Magazine—Vancouver, B.C, July 15, 2015—SBC Media has filed for bankruptcy and closed its 10 magazine titles, including Snowboard Canada, SBC Skier, SBC Business, SBC Skateboard, and SBC Wakeboard. Officials at SBC said investors that stepped in 2014 to help support the media group made the decision to cut additional funding. Scot...

SAM Magazine—Santiago, Chile, July 14, 2015—A heavy storm that dumped more than five and a half feet of snow on Portillo, and nearly three feet of new snow in other areas of the central Chilean Andes and parts of Argentina, has allowed several ski resorts to open after a delayed start to the season. Valle Nevado opened today, July 15...

SAM Magazine—Sydney, Australia, July 13, 2015—After what local ski area operators described as the worst start to a season in 50 years, a cold winter storm system continues to deliver freezing air across southeast Australia and new snow to the mountains. Meteorologists are calling it the “Antarctic vortex,” and in Sydney, it...

SAM Magazine—Mt. Hood, Ore., July 13, 2015—This summer Mt. Hood Meadows is growing its presence in Portland by expanding an existing office in the city into an “alpine lifestyle center,” called Altitude. The space, which is set to open Labor Day Weekend, will include a mountain retail store and après bar, a ski and sn...

SAM Magazine—West Windsor, Vt., July 10, 2015—An eight-member committee is working to form a non-profit organization that would manage and maintain the assets of the West Windsor Town Forest, including reopening Mt. Ascutney ski area. Officials estimate it will cost $905,000 to purchase Ascutney and the 1,581-acre town forest; and ab...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., July 7, 2015—Mark Dorsey, CEO of the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI), is stepping down to assume a similar role with another association outside of the ski and snowboard industry. “This is a terrific opportunity for Mark, and...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., July 2, 2015—Vail Resorts is increasing its minimum wage for entry-level positions to $10 an hour. Effective Sept. 26, the pay hike will affect nearly 7,500 of Vail’s 25,000 employees in eight states, including workers in housekeeping, lift operations, food preparation, and retail sales.

Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but 29 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages above that level.

SAM Magazine–Donnelly, Idaho, July 2, 2015–Tamarack Resort will restart its mountain bike operation, which hasn’t been running since 2007, on July 4. But instead of providing uphill access via chairlift, Tamarack will offer a shuttle service and bike rentals. The services will begin July 4. The 10-passenger shuttle will run fro...

SAM Magazine—Athena, Ore., June 29, 2015—The listings of ski areas for sale recently grew by two, as Spout Springs, Ore., went on the market for $1.25 million and Marshall Mountain, located seven miles northeast of Missoula, Mont., is also for sale for $2.95 million. John Murray has owned Spout Springs since 1999, and said he wants t...

SAM Magazine—Sheridan, Wyo., June 29, 2015—The board of directors of the Antelope Butte Foundation (ABF) signed a purchase and sale agreement with the U. S. Forest Service on June 19, paving the way for the purchase of the ski area located in the Bighorn Mountains near Dayton, Wyo. Mark Weitz, ABF board president, said the Foundation...

SAM Magazine—Truckee, Calif., June 29, 2015—In a move to dampen the danger of accidental fires, the Tahoe Donner Association has implemented a smoking ban on all its properties. The ban, effective through the end of the year, prohibits smoking at all amenities, common areas, and other association-owned properties. The Truckee Fire Prote...

SAM Magazine—Steamboat Springs, Colo., June 26, 2015—Rob Perlman has been named president and chief operating officer of Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation effective July 1, 2015, by parent company Intrawest Holdings. “After an extensive nationwide search and deliberate process, the Intrawest leadership team is proud to pro...

SAM Magazine—Mt. Ashland, Ore., June 24, 2015—Mt. Ashland has launched a $650,000 public fundraising campaign, primarily to help fund operation and maintenance costs until the end of November. The campaign, billed as the 2015 Local Mountain Fund, has already brought in $275,000, including $68,000 donated by Mt. Ashland Association board...

SAM Magazine–Santiago, Chile, June 24, 2015–The 2015 ski season is off to a slow start for some ski areas in the Southern Hemisphere, including those in Chile, where six ski areas remain closed due to lack of snowfall. Traditionally skiers and riders in the Southern Hemisphere start hitting the slopes by early to mid June. However, F...

SAM Magazine—Lincoln, N.H., June 16, 2015—Ski NH’s 33 alpine and cross-country resorts hosted more than 2.57 million alpine, X-C, and tubing visits during the 2014-15 season, according to Ski NH. Abundant snowfall in February and March resulted in numerous record-breaking spring skiing days for many New Hampshire ski areas. That h...

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., June 16, 2015—This coming winter, Whistler Blackcomb will conduct a snowmaking pilot project aimed at preserving the Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb Mountain. The area will operate four low-energy guns in the Horstman Hut area to determine if a full-scale snowmaking system is an option to prevent further reces...

SAM Magazine—Denver, June 16, 2015—Following a record season across much of the West, summer occupancies and revenues are continuing that momentum, according to the most recent data released by Denver-based DestiMetrics. As of May 31, summer occupancy and reservations were up 8.5 percent compared to the May through October period a year...

SAM Magazine—Jay Peak, Vt., June 12, 2015—Ski areas in Vermont tallied a record-breaking 4,670,903 million visits during the 2014-15 season. The visit totals were released during the Vermont Ski Areas Association’s (VSAA) 46th Annual Meeting here on Thursday. Early openings at ski areas, recent capital investments in new snowma...

SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., June 12, 2015 – Skier and snowboarder visits at the 21 member ski resorts of Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) totaled 7.1 million during the 2014/15 season, about one-half of 1 percent fewer than last year’s record season and 6.5 percent more than the five-year-average. The figures were released durin...

SAM Magazine—Santa Fe, N.M., June 9, 2015—New Mexico’s 11 ski areas saw a 19.4 percent increase in skier and snowboarder visits in 2014-15 compared to 2013-14, to 909,357, contributing to a $98 million increase in local economic activity, according to Ski New Mexico. The net gain of 176,000 visits, to more than 909,000 total vi...

SAM Magazine—Calgary, Alberta, June 9, 2015—While final skier and snowboarder visits to Canadian ski areas have not yet been released, resorts in Western Canada had a poor to average season. The winter's warm temperatures, below average snow, and decreased days of operation have led a few ski areas to offer dramatically reduced rate...

SAM Magazine—Lausanne, Switzerland, June 8, 2015—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved big air snowboarding and an alpine team event as new event inclusions for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) had been among the nations lobbying for inclusion of big...

SAM Magazine—Dresser, Wis., June 8, 2015—Ski areas across the country are ramping up their summer operations with new aerial adventure parks, zip lines, canopy tours, water parks, mountain bike parks and more. With the slew of new year-round activities being offered (too many to report on here) it’s clear that ski areas have a bul...

SAM Magazine—Vernon, N.J., June 8, 2015—The Koffman family, one of four partners that purchased New Jersey’s Mountain Creek from Intrawest in 2010, became the sole owner of the resort on June 4. The Koffman family was also a partner in the original Great Gorge ski area in the 1970s. The transaction provides for improvement and exp...

SAM Magazine—June 5, 2015, Tannersville, PA—Registration for SAM's 6th Annual Summer Ops Camp officially opens today. The camp, which will take place at Camelback Mountain Resort Sept. 9-11, will explore the many benefits of and growing opportunities in summer recreation at winter resorts. Camelback is an exemplary host: it has a...

SAM Magazine—Terrebonne, Qué., June 5, 2015—Ski areas in Quebec tallied 5,887,000 skier and snowboarder visits this season, down 2.7 percent over last year ,according to the Quebec Ski Areas Association (ASSQ). The news was announced during the association’s annual meeting in the Laurentians at Manoir St-Sauveur, with more ...

SAM Magazine—Kensington, Minn., June 2, 2015—Under the strain of tighter profit margins, two ski areas in the Midwest are looking for local government funding to continue operations. In Minnesota, the Douglas County commissioners recently voted to investigate turning Andes Tower Hills, currently owned by brothers Vern and Paul Anders...

SAM Magazine—Nagano, Japan, May 28, 2015 —Hakuba Valley in the Japanese Alps has joined the Mountain Collective for the 2015-16 season. The Collective now provides access to 18 mountains in five countries that combined have more than 41,000 skiable acres of terrain and 244 lifts. Hakuba Valley is comprised of 10 distinct areas that e...

SAM Magazine – Salt Lake City, Utah, May 20, 2015 – The Utah ski and snowboard industry closed the 2014-15 winter season with a total of 3,946,762 skier days, down 4.9% from the previous season's 4,148,573. This year's number represents a 2.2% decrease vs. Utah's 5-year average of 4,037,349. Nationally, skier days were do...

SAM Magazine – Butler, Ohio, May 18, 2015 – Clear Fork Resort will go on the market via a sheriff’s sale in early June after a judge ordered foreclosure on the property to recover nearly $2.5 million in loan debt. On Feb. 13, Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese signed a foreclosure paving the way for five land parc...

SAM Magazine – Whistler, B.C., May 18, 2015 – Whistler-Blackcomb announced it will roll out a new smoke-free policy May 31 coinciding with World No Tobacco Day. The policy will prohibit smoking anywhere on Whistler-Blackcomb property including lift lines, chairlifts, gondolas, ski runs, hiking trails, valley base areas, parking lots, th...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., May 15, 2015—A number of leadership changes first detailed by Vail Resorts last fall are currently underway. John Buhler, current COO of Keystone, is transitioning to COO of Breckenridge. Buhler joined Vail Resorts in 1994 as manager of the Breckenridge ski school. He became ski school assistant direct...

SAM Magazine—South Lake Tahoe, Nev., May 15, 2015—The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board added the final stamp of approval to an extensive expansion of on-mountain summer activities at Heavenly Mountain Resort. Billed as Epic Discovery, new attractions will include multiple zip line canopy tours, a ropes course, an alpine coa...

SAM Magazine—Mill Valley, Calif., May 13, 2015—The California Ski Industry Association (CSIA) board of directors has chosen Michael Reitzell, an experienced attorney representing the ski and outdoor recreation industries, to be the new president of CSIA. Reitzell succeeds longtime CSIA chief Bob Roberts, who retires this month. Reitzell...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., May 13, 2015—Bolstered by last fall's aquisition of 100 percent interest in Blue Mountain, Ontario, Intrawest reported consolidated revenue increased $36 million, or 12.6 percent, to $321.8 million, for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2015. On a same-store basis, treating Blue Mountain as if it was fully owned...

SAM Magazine—Whistler, B.C., May 13, 2015—Skier and snowboarder visits to Whistler Blackcomb fell 9.3 percent, to 1.52 million compared to last season, according to Whistler Blackcomb Holding’s second quarter financial report, for the season through Mar. 31, 2015. Revenues, though, rose 1.5 percent, to $191.4 million, as the decli...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—NSAA handed out a variety of awards at the National Convention here. Left: Bob Roberts (on left) accepting his award from Michael Berry, president of NSAA. Right: Dave Ingemie (on right) with Michael Berry. 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award: NSAA pre...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—The U.S. ski industry tallied an estimated 53.6 million skier and snowboarder visits this past season, making 2014-15 the second-worst since 2000-01, according to the National Ski Areas Association. The results represent a 5 percent decrease from 2013-14, and are down 3.8 percent from the five-sea...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—The U.S. Ski Team is assuming operational control of NASTAR through a partnership with the program’s owner, Active Interest Media (AIM). NASTAR is featured at 115 resorts nationwide, with more than 165,000 racer days each year. Tiger Shaw, ski team CEO, said the integration will capitaliz...

SAM Magazine—San Francisco, May 6, 2015—Thredbo, Australia, has joined The Mountain Collective as a full resort partner for the 2015-16 season, making it the first resort outside of North America to be added to the multi-resort pass. The news comes on the heals of Vail Resorts’ purchase of Perisher last month and further indicates...

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., April 28, 2015—Vail Resorts has reported that for the 2014-15 season, total lift revenues, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue, were up approximately 8.5 percent, while total skier visits for the company's nine mountain resorts were down 2.8 percent compared to 2013-14. Additional...

SAM Magazine—Rossland, B.C., April 27, 2015—Don Thompson has been promoted to president at Red Mountain. Thompson is the former vice president of operations and development and is now in charge of all aspects of resort operations, as well as project and property management. "I look forward to continually increasing and improving...

SAM Magazine—Donnelley, Idaho, April 23, 2015—Brad Larsen is set to become the new general manager for Tamarack Resort. He is joining the team of Replay Resorts, which was chosen last month to run Tamarack by the resort’s owner, New TR Acquisitions Co. (NEWTRAC). Replay is taking over management on May 1 from the Tamarack Municipa...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., April 23, 2015—The National Ski Patrol (NSP) has bestowed its Minnie Dole Award on Ed McNamara, chair of the NSP board of directors. The award is given to patrollers who exemplify a spirit of service, dedication, and sacrifice that was epitomized by the organization's founder, Charles Minot "Minnie...

SAM Magazine—Denver, April 14, 2015—Despite mercurial temperatures and sporadic snowfall throughout the Rocky Mountain and Far West mountain resorts in February and March, resort lodging posted double-digit increases in revenue for the third straight winter, with summer reservations following a similar track, according to Denver-based D...

SAM €ˆMagazine—Natick, Mass., April 14, 2015—SAM Magazine is proud to announce the 2015 SAMMY Leadership Award winners: Beth Howard, Ryan Locher, and Hiram Towle. The awards, now in their 19th year, are given each year to individuals who will shape the future of the mountain resort industry. This year saw a record number of nominations, and almost 3,000 votes were tallied for our 12 finalists. Winners will be presented with an award on May 3 at the SAMMY Awards event at the National Ski Areas Association conference in San Francisco, CA.