SAM Magazine-Selva Gardena, Italy, July 5, 2007-A swath of improvements in the Italian Dolomiti Superski region this summer includes high speed quads, gondolas and additional snowmaking. The new lifts include a new covered detachable quad chairlifts in Cortina d'Ampezzo and Val di Fiemme/Obereggen. Val di Fiemme/Obereggen will also add more snowmak...

SAM Magazine-Lincoln, N.H., July 5, 2007-New Hampshire's Loon Mountain has started a $10 million investment on the resort's South Peak expansion. The development, which is expected to open in December, features a new high speed quad, which will serve approximately 50 acres of intermediate and advanced terrain. The area will be accessed by an additi...

SAM Magazine-Guatemala City, Guatemala. July 5, 2007-The International Olympic Committee has chosen the Russian resort of Krasnaya Polyana and the adjacent town of Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Games, beating out Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. "The Winter Olympic Games in Russia for the first time in our history stand as a his...

SAM Magazine--Lakewood, Colo., June 29, 2007--In a move designed to address the aging population of Boomer skiers, Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, has declared that 60 is the new 50. Ironically, the move coincides with Berry's own 60th birthday tomorrow, June 30. "Age is a frame of mind," declared Berry, rather ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., June 28, 2007-Vail Resorts (VR) will donate $5 from the sale of each 2007-08 Heavenly season pass sold between now and December 2007 to residents impacted by the Angora fire currently ravaging the South Lake Tahoe area. The program is expected to raise about $75,000. By early Thursday morning, the South Lake Tahoe...

SAM Magazine-Buffalo, Wyo., June 28, 2007- The auction sale of Big Horn Mountain Resorts-consisting of Big Horn Ski Resort and its sister resorts Meadowlark Lake Resort, Deer Haven Resort, and Wilderness Ranch-has been postponed until July 3, to give potential buyers more time to assess the properties. The auction includes all the buildings, equipm...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Ut., June 28, 2007-Park City will be the home of USSA's new national training center. Dubbed the Center of Excellence, the facility will be a state-of-the-art structure with world-class facilities designed to improve athletic performance. Construction on the $22.5 million center will begin this summer, with groundbreaking Ju...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., June 26, 2007-The Colorado Tramway Safety Board has cleared the Aspen Skiing Company of any wrongdoing in conjunction with a Feb. 19 incident that involved a 10-year-old German girl who fell approximately 60 feet from a chairlift at Aspen Highlands. The Board voted 4 to 3 to dismiss the complaint. The girl, who was in...

SAM Magazine-Killington, Vt., June 26, 2007-Powdr Corp.'s new management at Killington and Pico has restructured its workforce, laying off many longtime, year-round employees as a result. Officials said the job cuts touched all departments and levels. The company did not release numbers, but affected employees estimated that 30 to 90 people lost th...

SAM Magazine-Telluride, Colo., June 26, 2007-Dave Riley will become the new president and CEO of the Telluride Ski and Golf Resort in late July. Riley has been president and CEO of Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort, where he has worked since 1993. Telluride has operated without a CEO for the past few years-since the days when Booth Creek managed the a...

SAM Magazine-Danbury, N.H., June 26, 2007-Industry veteran Bob Fries is the new president of Ragged Mountain. Fries will be responsible for all facets of resort operations, including skiing, golf, and real estate. Fries takes the position after a five-year stint as co-owner and president of Bolton Valley, Vt. He previously served as president of...

SAM Magazine-Portland, Me., June 22, 2007-Maine ski resorts fought off a brutal early season to post a modest gain of 1 percent on total skier visits for the 2006-07 season. The gain came in the face of a 6.7 percent downturn on the year for the Northeast region, and a 6.9 percent drop for the nation as a whole. Late-season storms saved the stat...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., June 22, 2007-The Colorado Tramway Safety Board (CTSB) has received a complaint from the family of a girl who fell off an Aspen chairlift last winter. Celine Ofenito, age 10, slipped and fell approximately 60 feet off of Aspen's Cloud 9 lift in February. The girl suffered several injuries as a result of the fall, includin...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, June 21, 2007-American Skiing Company (ASC) plans to dissolve itself now that it has agreed to sell Sunday River and Sugarloaf, Me., to Boyne USA. As a result of the move to dissolve the corporation, ownership of the remaining ASC resort, The Canyons, will pass to Oak Hill Capital Partners, currently the majority stock...

SAM Magazine--North Woodstock, N.H., June 20, 2007--Ski NH reported a total of 1,960,251 visits for the 2006-07 season, which is three percent less than last season. Thanks to warm temps and little snow in New England for the first half of the season, visits were off in the state by 40 to 60 percent as of Martin Luther King weekend. Once the weathe...

SAM Magazine--Copper Mountain, Colo., June 14, 2007--Colorado Ski Country USA announced that the state set a new visit record during the 2006-07 season with 12.56 million skier visits. It's the second year in a row that Colorado's 26 ski and snowboard resorts have set visitation records, although this past season's 12.56 million visits bested last ...

SAM Magazine - Whitefish, Mt., June 14, 2007 - The Montana ski resort of Big Mountain, outside of Whitefish, has announced that the ski area is launching a new branding and positioning initiative for Big Mountain Resort. As a result, Big Mountain will change its name to Whitefish Mountain Resort As part of the resort's positioning strategy, the...

SAM Magazine - Salt Lake City. Ut., June 13 - Utah ski resorts set the state's fourth consecutive record for skier visits, racking up 4,082,094 skier days. The total bucked a national trend, which saw skier days slip 7% on the year overall. "We've seen some strong growth over the past five years." Commented Ski Utah President Nathan Rafferty. "M...

SAM Magazine - Broomfield, Co., June 13, 2007 - Lucy Kay has been named chief operating officer of Breckenridge Resort. Kay, formerly the vice president of marketing for Keystone and Breckenridge, will assume the reigns of COO immediately. Kay is a familiar face around Summit County, where she's been involved in the ski industry for the past twenty...

SAM Magazine-Warren, Vt., June 8, 2007-Skier visits declined 7 percent in Vermont last season, according to Vermont Ski Areas Association (VSAA). In 2006-07, Vermont ski areas tallied 3,820431 visits, down from the approximately 4.1 million skier visits in 2005-06. The decline was consistent with numbers across the country: total skier visits acros...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, June 6, 2007-Boyne USA is purchasing Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA, Me., from American Skiing Company (ASC) for $77 million in cash. Boyne will also assume $2 million in debt and other liabilities. "We are excited to bring almost 60 years of resort experience to the New England market," Stephen Kircher, Boyne's pre...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., June 4, 2007-Tim White, NSAA director of education, has resigned to become executive director of the National Ski Patrol (NSP), effective June 18. His appointment comes after nearly two years of internal turmoil for the organization, which had left its direction unclear. To that point, White told SAM, "I want to make i...

SAM Magazine - Vancouver, B.C., May 29, 2007 - Intrawest has announced that the company has appointed Michael Forsayeth as chief financial officer. Forsayeth will head Intrawest's global financial operations, reporting directly to president and COO Alex Wasilov. Based out of Intrawest's global headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, Forsayeth has ser...

SAM Magazine - Boulder, Co., May 29, 2007 - Mountain Sports Media, the owners of Ski and Skiing Magazines, Warren Miller's SnoWorld and SkiNet.com have announced the acquisition of SnowGallera.com by MSM. SnowGalleria.com, an online collective of retailers which sends business via the web to specialty retailers, was launched by Descente/DNA COO ...

SAM Magazine - Minturn, Co., May 23, 2007 - A private resort outside of Vail has won preliminary approval from the Minturn Planning Commission. Last night the Commission recommended that the Minturn Town Council approve the Ginn Development Company's private ski and golf community located outside the town on Battle Mountain. The proposed ski area, ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 24, 2007-Total dollar sales for wintersports specialty stores rebounded from a midseason slump, finishing at $1.8 billion, just one percent off last year's total, according to the end-of-season Retail Audit conducted by Leisure Trends Group for SnowSports Industries America (SIA). Overall unit sales and average retail ...

SAM Magazine, May 24, 2007--Stanislas Gregory Myerhof, the first of the two members of the Earth Liberation Front group-"the Family" responsible for the Vail arsons-has received a 13-year sentence. Myerhof, who pleaded guilty for 62 counts including the 1998 fires at Vail, which burned the Two Elk Lodge and other buildings, was known as the "Tec...

SAM Magazine-Bonita Springs, Calif., May 17, 2007-Source Interlink Cos., a magazine, CD and DVD distributor controlled by Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, has agreed to buy the Enthusiast Media division of Primedia, which includes Powder, Snowboarder, Hot Rod, Motor Trend and other special interest publications, for $1.2 billion. Source Inter...

SAM Magazine-Wellington, New Zealand, May 17, 2007-The New Zealand ski industry is starting to push for a bigger slice of the Aussie pie, targeting Australian skiers with television advertising for the first time. New Zealand already taps into an enthusiastic Aussi market. Last year, more than 101,000 overseas skiers spent an estimated NZ$342 mi...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, May 17, 2007-The ramifications are obvious: the Nestle Chairlift, The Remax Run (with associated million dollar ski-in, ski-out real estate), the Purina Poma. How about the Halliburton Jackson Hole Tram? That's what the future might look like if other resorts follow Whistler's lead and start selling naming rights to their lif...

SAM Magazine-Fayston, Vt., May 17, 2007-Mad River Glen has started work on the restoration of its iconic single chair, which has provided 59 years of service. The resort, which has raised $1.1 million with its Single Chair Capital Campaign, is on track to have the lift up and running for its scheduled December 15 opening. After considering the radi...

SAM Magazine-Snowbird, Ut., May 17, 2007-Snowbird resort claimed the 2007 Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence at the NSAA National Convention and Tradeshow in Palm Springs, California, earlier this month. The award recognizes the resort's participation in the American Fork Pacific Mine reclamation project. In 2006, Snowbird, ...

SAM Magazine-Danbury, N.H., May 11, 2007-Ragged Mountain ski resort and its 18-hole golf course are now owned by RMR-Pacific, an affiliate of Utah developer Pacific Group. Sale price was not disclosed, but is believed to be about $10 million. RMR-Pacific bought Ragged from Al and Walter Endriunas, who had been facing foreclosure for months. The two...

SAM Magazine-Killington, Vt., May 11, 2007-Powdr Corp of Park City, Utah and SP Land Company of Killington have finalized their purchase of Killington and Pico ski areas from American Skiing Company (ASC). SP Land will continue to focus on real estate development, and Powdr will run the mountain resort operations. Final proceeds from the sale were ...

SAM Magazine, Snowmass, Co., May 7, 2007 - Threats written on the walls of a portable toilet at the construction site of the new Snowmass Village have workers and authorities concerned. The threats, which involved shooting Mexican workers and named a time and date (2:15 p.m., Friday, May 4) resulted in increased police presence through the weekend....

SAM Magazine - Mammoth Mountain, Ca, May 7, 2007 - One of Mammoth's original chairs is finally getting a makeover. Chair 9, a double installed in 1969, is being replaced by a six pack detachable built by Doppelmayr. The lift has the largest vertical rise of any chair at Mammoth, at 1,700 feet. The new Doppelmayr lift will cost $6.5 million, will...

SAM Magazine - Hancock, Ma, May 7, 2007 - Massachusetts resort Jiminy Peak has received final approvals to install a $3.9 million GE wind turbine on the ski mountain and construction is expected to commence this summer. The project should be completed by August. The turbine is slated for the western side of the mountain, 350 feet below the summi...

SAM Magazine-Glens Falls, N.Y., May 4, 2007-Scott Brandi becomes president and executive director of the Ski Areas of New York (SANY) on June 1, replacing Dirk Gouwens, who resigned to join the Lake Placid Visitors' Bureau as vp of marketing and brand development. "In my new position I will be able to apply the skills and industry knowledge gath...

SAM Magazine-Wilmington, Vt., May 3, 2007-With the recent purchase of Mt. Snow and Attitash, Peak Resorts has reassigned some of its top executives to new positions within the company and promoted other key employees to new positions. Kelly Pawlak, who was the managing director of Mt. Snow, will become general manager there. John Lowell, who was...

SAM Magazine-Steamboat Springs, Colo., May 3, 2007-As part of a massive makeover worth approximately $40 million, Colorado's Steamboat Resort will embark on $16 million worth of projects this summer, a record investment for the resort. Highlighting the investment will be the new Christie Peak Express detachable six-pack chairlift, Headwall slope...

SAM Magazine-Bolton, Vt., May 3, 2007-Larry Williams and Doug Nedde have acquired Bob Fries' remaining financial interest in Bolton Valley. Williams and Nedde are partners in Redstone, a thriving commercial real estate development firm which purchased the 3,800 acres surrounding the resort in 2004. "In the past couple of years, we've made a lot ...

SAM Magazine-Revelstoke, B.C., May 3, 2007-Revelstoke Mountain Resort has closed on its purchase of Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing, which was announced in January. The deal, worth $6 million, gives Revelstoke Mountain Resort access to 500,000 acres of skiable terrain with annual snowfall that regularly exceeds 40 feet. Combined with the recent acquis...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 1, 2007-Sales at specialty ski and snowboard shops were down 1 percent in dollars for the August-February period, from $1.67 billion in 2005-06 to $1.65 billion this past season, according to The SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Retail Audit conducted by Leisure Trends Group. Unit sales declined 0.5 percent, as incr...

SAM Magazine-Bern, Switzerland, Apr. 30, 2007-A study conducted by Bern University's Research Institute for Leisure and Tourism predicts a rocky ride for Swiss ski resorts over the next 25 years as global warming causes a shift to reduced business in winter and increased business in summer. The study, commissioned by resorts in The Bernese Oberl...

SAM Magazine-Los Angeles, Apr. 30, 2007-Mountain sports are poised to become TV stars. Steve Bellamy, founder and former president of The Tennis Channel, will launch The Ski Channel-a "TV destination for the mountain lifestyle," he told SAM-as early as winter 2008. To help make this a reality, The Ski Channel has entered into a long-term affilia...

SAM Magazine-Scranton, Pa., Apr. 27, 2007-As part of a $13 million statewide package of grants and low-interest loans, the State of Pennsylvania has awarded a $5 million Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund (MELF) loan to Sno Mountain to assist with the development of snowmaking at the resort. Sno Mountain, formerly known as Montage Mountain, was purc...

SAM Magazine-Vashon Island, Wash., Apr. 27, 2007-As any local fueling up at the local java joint on a powder day will tell you, coffee and skiing go together like Vegas and drive-through weddings. The caffeine-skiing connection just became a bit closer as the Jarden Company, owner of such brands as Mr. Coffee, has announced the acquisition of K2 in...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., Apr. 25, 2007-RockResorts, owned by Vail Resorts, will manage Aspen's venerable Hotel Jerome for Elysian Worldwide and Lodging Capital, once this investment group completes its purchase of the 92-room icon. The Jerome sits in the heart of downtown Aspen and is recognized as one of the finest small hotels in ski country...

SAM Magazine-Brand, Austria, Apr. 25, 2007-The Austrian resort Brand has announced the biggest lift upgrades to date of any European resort for the summer of 2007. The improvements include a massive tram, akin to the Whistler/Blackcomb project, which will link Brand with neighboring resort Burserberg. The new Gulmabahn lift crosses a valley between...

SAM Magazine-Bridgton, Me., Apr. 25, 2007-Shawnee Peak Ski Area received the Red Cross Real Hero award for Environmental Service and Outreach for being the first Maine area to purchase renewable-energy certificates to offset 100 percent of its electrical energy use. Shawnee Peak's wind energy purchase powers everything electrical on the mountain, f...

SAM Magazine-Copper Mountain, Colo., Apr. 25, 2007-In an aggressive move to build upon its freeride programs, Copper plans to build an indoor training facility for athletes who are interested in improving their terrain park skills. Current proposals include trampolines, bungee systems, synthetic snow ramps and foam crash pits. The resort will co...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Apr. 25, 2007-Vail Resorts (VR) and the National Forest Foundation (NFF) raised more than $225,000 for local conservation projects, thanks to the generosity of Vail guests. Starting in September 2006, VR asked guests at its five mountain resorts to contribute $1 on purchases of season passes, online lift tickets, and...

SAM Magazine-Sugarloaf, Me., Apr. 20, 2007-Following three major April snowstorms, several eastern areas have pushed their closing dates into the latter half of April. Among those open until Apr. 29 are Sugarloaf, Le Massif, Que., and Stowe, and (possibly) Sugarbush, Jay Peak, Vt., and Wildcat, N.H.; the last of these had previously extended its...

SAM Magazine-Lyndonville, Vt., Apr. 19, 2007-Facing a shortage of qualified middle managers, a group of senior managers in the Northeast have helped create the first-ever Resort Industry Leadership Institute (RILI), a management training program for mid- and senior-level managers. The Institute will take place at Lyndon State College, Vt., June 13-...

SAM Magazine--Woodbury, Ct., April 18, 2007--In recognition of the accomplishments of up-and-coming personnel in the winter sports industry, SAM Magazine has chosen Chris Bates (Cataloochee Ski Area), Chris Jarnot (Vail Resorts), and Jeff Summers (Wolf Mountain) as the winners of the 10th Annual SAMMY Future Leadership Awards. Winter Park's Bob Hol...

SAM Magazine-Breckenridge, Colo., Apr. 17, 2007-The National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS) will host its 35th anniversary get-together at Breckenridge January 12 to 19, 2008. The organization's Annual Meeting and Challenge Cup (AMCC) is expected to attract more than 1,000 individuals representing 77 clubs from across the country. Since its foundin...

SAM Magazine-Whistler, B.C., Apr. 17, 2007-Whistler Blackcomb will unite its two mountains with the ambitious Peak to Peak Gondola, which will set world records for length and height. Construction is scheduled to begin in May, with completion by December 2008. The state-of-the-art gondola will be similar to a pioneering lift installed at Kitz...

SAM Magazine-Stowe, Vt., Apr. 16, 2007-With the high-elevation resorts of the Rocky Mountains shuttering winter operations for the season, it seems almost counterintuitive that Eastern resorts are extending their seasons. But plentiful snowfall and continued cold weather have sparked a slew of extended-season announcements, with Stowe being the lat...

SAM Magazine-Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Que., Apr. 16, 2007-Lack of snow at the start of the ski season led to a 16.7 decrease in skier visits for Le Massif. "Cold snaps, rain and unusually late snowfalls always greatly affect our urban clientele's commitment to slide sports," says Pierre Raymond, general manager of the ski area. "When...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Apr. 16, 2007-Vail, which hosted the 1989 and 1999 World Alpine Championships, may be heading for a threepeat. A local group is considering submitting a bid for the 2013 FIS World Championships, which would be held at Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas. The non-profit Vail Valley Foundation will spearhead the bidding proce...