SAM Magazine-Welch, Minn., Jan. 21, 2009-Welch Village is opening its Back Bowl slopes and new quad chairlift to all guests daily beginning Thursday, Jan. 22, until the end of the season in March. The quad is the first installation of a "cookie cutter" design created by Doppelmayr in conjunction with Welch Village specifically for smaller resorts. ...

SAM Magazine-Killington, Vt., Jan. 19, 2009-Killington Resort and Burton Snowboards joined forces this past summer to break ground on the East Coast's first Stash run, one of only five in the world. The Stash opened to the public in December, with a grand opening on Jan. 15. Celebrating the day were Burton pro riders Dave Downing, Yale Cousino, and...

SAM Magazine-Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 16, 2009-In the wake of a mixed holiday season that saw both slumps and records set, resorts are still seeking ways to drive traffic to the lifts. One of the more recent promotions is Squaw Valley's Sacramento shuttle service. The shuttles leave Sacramento at 7 a.m. every Saturday for Squaw Valley, providing...

SAM Magazine-Helena, Mont., Jan. 16, 2009-The Montana House of Representatives is considering an assumption of risk law to protect a wide range of recreation businesses from liability lawsuits. The bill would shift the burden for managing the inherent risks in many sports to participants, much like ski-related assumption of risk laws in many other ...

SAM Magazine-Granby, Québec, Jan. 16, 2009-The Leitner Technologies Group has acquired the Camoplast Track Machine Group and will integrate the division into Prinoth, Leitner's snow grooming division. Prinoth will manage production and sales of the group's utility and municipal vehicles as well as its existing Alpine machines. Leitner expects th...

SAM Magazine-Cody, Wyo., Jan. 13, 2009-Wyoming's Sleeping Giant ski area, which has been closed since 2004, has just received a $500,000 grant from the state as the resort seeks to remake itself as a non-profit, community venture. The grant was part of $22 million doled out by the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) at its meeting last Thursday ...

SAM Magazine - Crystal Mountain, Wash., January 10, 2009 - With surrounding resorts reopening after warm rains caused havoc to conditions and spiked avalanche danger, Washington's Crystal Mountain remains embattled due to road closures. The Washington Department of Transportation has continued road closures on Highway 410, the only access road to t...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Jan. 9, 2009-Unaudited interim data for Vail Resorts (VR) show season-to-date skier visits for the company's five mountain resorts were down 5.8 percent compared to the prior year. Lift ticket revenues dropped 7.5 percent, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each year. Bookings through VR's central re...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., Jan. 9 2008-Following news of declining occupancy rates in Vail, Aspen lodging properties are reporting lower occupancy rates for the holiday season. In Aspen, a soft Christmas week holiday period saw occupancy at just 67 percent compared to last year's 87 percent. Advance reservations are similar reduced. As of the la...

Robert Drake  SAM: You guys had a near miss with a fire this summer, tell us about it. Robert Drake: We did. The Cascade Fire started at the far end of the West Fork Canyon behind the resort and quickly made its way down canyon toward us. It started over the weekend when there are typically not a lot of people on the mountain over the s...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Jan. 8 2009-Ski resorts across the U.S. have been reporting strong holiday visits as December snowfall brought out skiers and snowboarders in droves. In Vermont, Okemo Mountain Resort saw skier rise seven percent above of the same Monday-through-Sunday period over the Christmas holiday last year, and six percent ahead o...

SAM Magazine-Snoqualmie Pass, Wash., Jan. 8, 2009-Heavy rains and high snow levels have taken a toll on Washington ski resorts, with avalanches, mudslides and floods shuttering resorts and making access roads impassible. At Snoqualmie Pass, rain sparked a 300-foot-wide slide that toppled two lift towers on the resort's Keechelus chairlift. The debr...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Jan. 2, 2009-Two separate avalanches-in areas closed due to avalanche danger-have resulted in fatalities at Canada's Whistler/Blackcomb resort. The incidents occurred on separate parts of the resort. In the first case, a 37-year-old Whistler resident died after triggering a Class 2 avalanche with a three-foot crown, ...

SAM Magazine-Nederland, Colo., Dec. 30, 2008-Eldora Mountain Resort general manager Brian Mahon, 49, was the victim of an apparently random shooting this morning at the resort. The suspect, 24-year-old Derick Bonestroo, a lift attendant at Eldora, fled the scene and was pursued by a Boulder County deputy sheriff. After a brief chase, Bonestroo stop...

SAM Magazine-Jackson Hole, Wyo., Dec. 30, 2008-Routine avalanche control work at Jackson Hole on the resort's Headwall area triggered a substantial avalanche, which damaged the resort's Bridger Restaurant and forced the closure of the ski area's upper lifts. The slide, which occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, was triggered by patroller...

SAM Magazine - Squaw Valley, Calif., December 27, 2008 - In the second in-bounds avalanche fatality of the year, 21-year old Randall Davis died on December 21 after getting separated from a friend and caught in a slide in the Red Dog area. The victim was found by ski patrol who determined Davis had been caught by a slide after finding his ski prot...

SAM Magazine - Ludlow, Vt., December 27, 2008 - Vermont Resorts Okemo and Stratton are offering a joint lift ticket product that will enhance the destination visitor experience. The deal allows any purchaser of a three-day lift ticket to use on day at the other resort. The tickets can be purchased separately or as part of each resorts' skiing and l...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Dec. 24, 2008-The recent adoption of the ACL Prevention Program by Arapahoe Basin (see earlier report) is only the most recent case of what has been a broader spread of the program. Several resorts in Colorado and, more recently, California, are using it. So are Mt. Bachelor, Ore., Bogus Basin, Idaho, Red Lodge, Mont.,...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 24, 2008-Blackcomb's Excalibur Gondola reopened today after the BC Safety Authority reinstated the operating permit for the lower line of the lift. The gondola's tower 4 failed Dec. 16, and repair work was completed Monday. Testing and inspection took place throughout Tuesday in accordance with BC Safety Authority ...

SAM Magazine-Ogden, Utah, Dec. 24-Atomic Ski USA, Inc. is carrying out a voluntary precautionary recall of heel components of certain bindings manufactured between 1998 and 2002. This recall applies to the below listed models of the Atomic Race, Xentrix, Device, Centro and Dynamic ski bindings produced between 1998 and 2002. This safety recall i...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Dec. 24, 2008-Consumers are holding off on booking vacations to destination resorts, waiting till the last moment to make sure conditions are good and to get the best possible deal, according to Ralf Garrison of MTRiP, the travel tracking clearinghouse. MTRiP data show that bookings slowed dramatically last month. For the 250...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 22, 2008-The BC Safety Authority reinstated the operating permit for the upper line of Blackcomb Mountain's Excalibur Gondola on Saturday, following inspections earlier in the week in the wake of the tower failure on the lower portion of the lift. Repair work has commenced on the lower line, and crews are working t...

SAM Magazine-Carroll Valley, Pa., Dec. 22, 2008-Liberty Mountain Resort and Conference Center, which had announced its intent to purchase neighboring Carroll Valley Resort and Golf Course, has abandoned the deal. After two months of careful review and diligence, the two companies agreed to continue operations under separate ownerships. "It appea...

SAM Magazine-Arapahoe Basin, Colo., Dec. 22, 2008-Arapahoe Basin is the latest resort to partner with Pinnacol Assurance, a worker's compensation insurance company, to offer employees a knee safety program. The program focuses on preventing ACL injuries through education. Educational sessions last approximately 30 minutes and give employees tools t...

SAM Magazine-Twin Bridges, Calif., Dec. 22, 2008-Sierra-at-Tahoe has received USFS approval to incorporate Huckleberry Canyon into the resort's boundary. The 350-acre zone was accessible via backcountry access gates last season but will now be subject to control work, rescue operations and closures based upon the resort's ski patrol assessment of t...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Dec. 18, 2008-Last week's massive ice storm resulted in ski resort closures as areas shut down to assess damage and pick up the pieces. Most disruptions were minimal, but not all: Massachusetts resorts Jiminy Peak and Wachusett ceased operations, with Wachusett closing for five days. Other ski resorts, such as Vermont...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 18, 2008-Whistler Blackcomb, the BC Safety Authority and Doppelmayr personnel continue to investigate Tuesday's tower collapse on the Excalibur Gondola. By Wednesday evening, towers on eight lifts had been inspected and cleared of issues. Whistler Blackcomb lift maintenance crews worked late into the night to...

SAM Magazine-Whistler B.C., Dec. 16, 2008-Fifty-three guests were safely evacuated from the lower line of the Excalibur Gondola after a structural failure on tower 4. The Excalibur Gondola evacuation was completed at 5:51 p.m., about three and a half hours after the incident occurred. (See earlier report on the tower collapse.) "We are very t...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 17, 2008-A preliminary inspection of the Excalibur Gondola tower that failed yesterday afternoon showed that it resulted from water that seeped through a flange and froze, causing "ice jacking." This finding means that Whistler Blackcomb's other lifts, especially those that have different types of towers, will resu...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., Dec. 17, 2008-With snow falling across the northern part of the continent, the ski season is finally in full swing. Although West Coast saw the snow come late, it has come in abundance. Conditions ahead of the holidays look to be favorable across North America. Canadian resorts now open include British Columbia ski ar...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 17, 2008-The British Columbia Safety Authority (BCSA), B.C.'s independent auditor on passenger ropeway systems, has given approval for Whistler Blackcomb to continue regular operations on its mountain lifts, with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola. "Preliminary inspection by BC safety officers has determined...

SAM Magazine - Aspen, Colo., December 15, 2008 - In a tragic final note to a December Sunday which saw an inbounds avalanche kill a Snowbird skier as well as several other incidents involving avalanches both inside and outside the ropes, a former Aspen Ski Patroller died in a slide outside of Aspen Mountain late Sunday. Fifty-two-year-old Cory Bret...

SAM Magazine - Teton Village, Wyo., December 15, 2008 - Jackson's new tram is scheduled to open on December 19. The new tram replaces the original red boxes that were an iconic symbol of the Wyoming ski resort. Built by Doppelmayr/CTEC, the new lift has double the capacity - 100 people - per box versus the old tram and travels 4,139 vertical feet ...

SAM Magazine - Snowbird, Ut., December 14, 2008 - An in-bounds avalanche in the Eye of the Needle area of Snowbird's Mt. Baldy claimed one life on Sunday in the wake of a storm that pounded both Utah and Colorado and pushed avalanche danger into the red zone. A similar in-bounds slide in the Lover's Leap area of Vail's Blue Sky Basin buried a man u...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Dec. 16, 2008-At approximately 2:30 p.m. PST, a tower on lower section of the Excalibur gondola at Blackcomb Mountain split and "bent over," leaving several gondola cars dangling from the line and forcing an emergency evacuation that, at 5 p.m. PST, was still underway. Five people have received medical attention, but no...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Colo., December 9, 2008 - Recent storms across the Rocky Mountains and other parts of North America have sparked terrain openings. But resorts seem unwilling to rely upon Mother Nature to drive guest bookings and are aggressively marketing discounted vacation packages and other deals to drive business over the upcoming holiday ...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 7, 2008-In response to the economic downturn, Vail Resorts has laid off 50 year-round employees, eliminated 92 open positions, and frozen executive pay. In addition, the company will stop matching employee contributions to the company's 401 (k) plan. The cuts were announced last week in a memo sent by Vail Resort C...

SAM Magazine-Ludlow, Vt., Dec. 5, 2008-CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. is purchasing Okemo, Vt., Crested Butte, Colo., and Mount Sunapee, N.H., from Tim and Diane Mueller's Triple Peaks LLC, and leasing the properties back to Triple Peaks to manage the ski, golf, hospitality and conference operations under a long-term lease. Purchase price is report...

SAM Magazine-Breckenridge, Colo., Dec. 3, 2008-Uphill traffic is growing at several Colorado resorts including Aspen and Breckenridge. At the latter, the traffic is starting to frustrate mountain operations crews, who are looking to limit uphill access for safety reasons. Breckenridge ski resort can see up to 50 people each weekend who skin or s...

SAM Magazine - Bretton Woods, NH., December - When it snows, they will come. At least that's the lesson that Chris Ellms, Mount Washington Resort's director of ski operations, is drawing from a Thanksgiving holiday weekend that was up by 22 percent over the previous season at Bretton Woods. "We're thrilled, of course, but not completely surprise...

SAM Magazine - Smithers, B.C., - Ski and Ride Smithers, a northern British Columbia resort, has received approval for the resort's master plan. The plan features a a multi-year expansion including ski terrain and retail and residential development. The primary feature of the plan are trails to connect the mountain, which will change its name to Hu...

SAM Magazine - Girdwood, Ak., December 3, 2008 - After a dry November across North America delayed some openings and forced snowmaking crews to work overtime, winter seems to finally have arrived. Alaskan resort Alyeska received more than 117 inches over the last week, pushing the ski area's total to more than 200 inches on the year. "This is t...

SAM Magazine-Zermatt, Switzerland, Nov. 26, 2008-Huge snowfalls in recent weeks have brought fantastic early-season conditions to ski resorts across Europe, according to Patrick Thorne's www.Skiinfo.com. Resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland have reported more than three feet in the past five days, and more than 200 ski...

SAM Magazine-Durango, Colo., Nov. 25, 2008-Winter resorts received a record 18 A grades in the Ski Area Environmental Scorecard this year, compared to 12 last year, thanks to increased efforts to reduce energy consumption, install green energy technologies and reduce greenhouse gases. "Ski areas have accelerated their efforts to become more ener...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Ut., Nov. 25, 2008 -While many areas have opened across the Eastern U.S., thanks to a persistent cold wave, resort openings are mixed across the west, where warm weather has delayed the start of skiing at The Canyons (to Dec. 5) and Park City (to Nov. 28). Many Colorado resorts are open, though, and Whistler will open a day ...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 25, 2008-Frank DeBerry has become president and chief operating officer at Mountain Creek, N.J. DeBerry will be responsible for all aspects of Mountain Creek's resort operations and will report to Hugh Smythe, Intrawest's senior vice president of mountain resorts, as do Intrawest's other eastern mountain resorts. ...

SAM Magazine--Aspen, Colo.., November 21, 2008, 2008 --The Aspen Skiing Company has developed a partnership with shipping company UPS to create a program which allows guests to ship skis and snowboards, bypassing the latest baggage fees implemented by airlines. Resort guests can save approximately $50 to $300 depending on the number of bags bei...

SAM Magazine - West Dover, Vt., November 21, 2008 - Mount Snow has announced that the resort is tweaking its snow reporting methods and will no longer list "runs open", focusing instead on acreage available for skiing. The ski area says that the move will increase snow and condition reporting accuracy, and give guests a better feel for exactly what...

SAM Magazine-Breckenridge, Colo., Nov. 12, 2008-Colorado's Breckenridge resort will host the first stop of the 2008-09 Winter Dew Tour on Dec. 18. The tour will also make stops at Vermont's Mount Snow (Jan. 8) and California's Northstar-at-Tahoe (Feb. 19). The tour will feature many of park and pipe's biggest names, including Simon Dumont, Tanner H...

SAM Magazine-Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 12, 2008-Charlie Locke, the former owner of Lake Louise, has reacquired a 50 percent share in the resort from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR). As part of the agreement, Locke will assume the role of managing partner for Lake Louise. Locke was instrumental in creating the resort as a primary investor ...

SAM Magazine-San Francisco, Nov. 12, 2008 -Call it a sign of the times: online lift ticket discount retailer Liftopia has doubled the number of resorts that use the service, to more than 80, for the 2008-09 season. The roster includes Park City, Crested Butte, Taos, Snowbird, and Arapahoe Basin. "We hope that we can help get more people on the hill...

SAM Magazine-Jackson, Wyo., Nov. 12, 2008-Tom Fortune has joined Snow King Resort as director of recreation, a new position that includes overall management of the Snow King ski area as well as summer operations and management of the Snow King Center, a year round ice skating arena and conference center which is owned by the city of Jackson and ope...

SAM Magazine-Bozeman, Mont., Nov. 11, 2008-The Yellowstone Club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, with a combined debt of $344 million and assets listed at $1.1 billion. The club is seeking court approval for a $4.5 million loan from Credit Suisse-to which it already owes $307 million-that would allow the resort to remain open a...

SAM Magazine-Mt. Crested Butte, Colo., Nov. 7, 2008-Crested Butte Mountain Resort is teaming up with Crested Butte Mountain Guides to offer a new "Adventure Guide Program" this winter. The program will combine backcountry ski skills and education with guided in-bounds and out-of-bounds skiing. "This is the perfect addition to our programs," says...

SAM Magazine-Princeton, Mass., Nov. 7, 2008-Despite the flurry of recent negative economic news, Wachusett Mountain Ski Area has seen several positive indicators this fall. Among them: attendance at the resort's several fall festivals was up more than 20 percent, including record attendance at some events. Sales during the annual Columbus Day eq...

SAM Magazine-Copper Mountain, Colo., Nov. 7, 2008-The North American ski season has kicked off in earnest, with resorts opening across the continent. Early openings include Snowbird, which is taking advantage of more than 40 inches of snow this month to chalk up the second earliest opening in the ski area's history to open today. Colorado ski ar...

SAM Magazine-Snowmass, Colo., Nov. 3, 2008-The snow blanket experiment at Snowmass ski area was a success. The resort utilized the blanket, called Ice Protector Optiforce and produced by the Swiss flooring firm Landolt, over the summer to preserve snow in the ski area's terrain park. According to Rich Burkley, Aspen's general manager of mountain...

SAM Magazine-Franconia Notch, N.H., Nov. 3, 2008-SE Group received the New England Ski Museum's Spirit of Skiing Award at the Museum's 31st annual meeting Oct. 25 at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. The 50-year-old SE Group, originally named Sno-engineering, was founded in Franconia, N.H, home of the Ski Museum. But there's more to the...

SAM Magazine -Windham, N.Y., Nov. 3, 2008-Eastern ski resorts got a jump on the ski season after an October storm brought snow and colder temperatures to the region. The storm dropped more than two feet of snow in parts of the region. Windham Mountain in the northern Catskill Mountains reported 27 inches of snow on the ski area's upper elevation...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Mountain, Calif., Nov. 3, 2008-Skiers and snowboarders took the slopes Monday morning as Mammoth Mountain officially kicked off the 2008-09 winter season, 10 days prior to its scheduled opening. A powerful storm hit the area over the weekend, dropping up to 18 inches of snow. On Monday morning hundreds of skiers and riders ...