SAM Headline News

News Search

SAM Headline News

FEATURED STORY

  • SAM Taps Whistler Blackcomb to Host 2025 Summer Ops Camp

    SAM Magazine—Whistler, British Columbia, March 18, 2025—SAM’s Summer Ops Camp will be held at Whistler Blackcomb, Sept. 2-4, 2025, offering three days of education, networking, and hands-on learning focused on the future of summer operations at mountain resorts. This year’s camp will also feature a partnership with the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA), bringing together a dynamic mix of resort professionals from across North America.   Whistler Blackcomb has been at the forefront of year-round recreation development, balancing business innovation with environmental sustainability. With a robust lineup of summer attractions—including the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, Peak...

    Read More

Get SAM Headline News delivered to your inbox. It's not just another email—it's industry news and special reports that matter to you, coming from the industry's trusted resource. 

GetNewsButton

 

Aspen Faces Complaint In Chairlift Incident

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...

ASC To Dissolve Following Sale of Maine Resorts

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...

New Hampshire Numbers Down--But Not By Much

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...

Colorado Announces Record Visits

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 ...

Montana's Big Mountain Changes Name

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...

Utah Breaks Record, Gains on Colorado

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...

Kay Named COO of Breck

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...

Slow Start Kept Vermont Visits Down in 2006-07

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...

Boyne USA Buys Sunday River, Sugarloaf

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...

Tim White Named to Head NSP

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...

Intrawest Tags Forsayeth As New CFO

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...

Media Group Moves Into Retail: Ski and Skiing magazines get retail partner in SkiNetShop.com

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 ...

Private Resort In Colorado Wins Preliminary Approval

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, ...

2006-07 Retail Sales: Apparel Up, Gear Down

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 ...

Vail Arsonist Gets 13 Years

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...

Powder, Snowboarder Mags Get New Owner

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...

Kiwis Aim at Aussie Market

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...

Put Your Name on Whistler's Gondola (For a Price)

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...

Mad River Starts Renovation of Single Chair

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...

Snowbird Earns 2007 Golden Eagle Award

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, ...

Ragged Mountain Sold to Utah Developer

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...

Killington Deal Closes, Nyberg Named President

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 ...

Threats Target Workers At Snowmass Village Construction Site

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....

Mammoth Gets a Six-Pack

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...

Jiminy Gets Nod For Turbine

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...

Scott Brandi to Head SANY

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...

Peak Resorts Shuffles Managers in East, Midwest

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...

Steamboat To Invest $16 Million In Improvements

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...

Williams and Nedde Acquire Full Interest In Bolton Valley

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 ...

Revelstoke Closes on Selkirk Heli Purchase

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...

Retail Report: Apparel Sales Up, Gear Down

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...

Swiss Study Says Global Warming Will Shift Business Patterns

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...

The Ski Channel to Launch Year-Round in 2008

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...

State Loans $5 Million to Sno Mountain

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...

K2 Acquired By Fortune 1000 Company Jarden

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...

Vail Resorts Scores Toehold in Aspen

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...

Austrian Ski Area Adds Tram With One-Mile Span

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...

Shawnee Peak Earns Red Cross Real Hero Award

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...

Copper Plans Indoor Ski Training Facilities

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...

Vail, National Forest Foundation Raise $225,000

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...

More Eastern Areas Extend the Season

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...

Eastern Areas Launch Management Training Program; Deadline Near

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-...

New SAMMY Winners Announced

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...

Breck To Host Brotherhood in 2008

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...

Peak To Peak Gondola To Unite Whistler And Blackcomb

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...

Stowe Jumps On Extended Season Bandwagon

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...

Le Massif Posts Soft Numbers Despite Late Season Snow

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...

Vail To Bid On 2013 World Championships

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...

Chair Breaks, Rider Skis Away

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., Apr. 16, 2007-It's the kind of happy ending story that you don't expect when a bad thing happens to a chairlift with customers on board. A chair on Aspen Mountain's Ruthie's Express failed due to metal fatigue on Apr. 15 and broke, spilling one skier to the ground. The modest fall of 10 feet didn't faze the rider, who ski...

Wildcat, Okemo Extend Season

SAM Magazine-Pinkham Notch, N.H ., Apr. 13, 2007-It came in with a whimper, but it's leaving with a roar. That's the reality of an extremely mixed Eastern ski season, which saw resorts delay openings due to unseasonably warm weather in November and December, and now extend their seasons in April due to wintery conditions. The latest two ski areas t...

Smoke Shacks Under Fire at Snowmass

SAM Magazine-Aspen mountain has long been known for hidden locals' shrines to folks as diverse as Bob Marley to John Denver. But while the resort has accommodated the funky tributes, hidden in the woods off of some of the ski resort's most popular trails, the story at the mountain's sister resort, Snowmass, is a bit different. Unlike the shrines...

Sugarloaf Golf Course Gets Top 100 Honors

SAM Magazine - Carrabassett Valley, ME., April 11, 2007 - Sugarloaf is a great place to ski, but it sure isn't bad when it comes to golf, either. According to Golf Digest, the resort's Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed course clocks in at number 45 on the magazine's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses for 2007-2008. In addition, Sugarloaf took the "bes...

Paralyzed Skier Wins $14 Million Judgment

SAM Magazine-Kent, Wash., Apr. 11, 2007-A skier, Kenny Salvini, was awarded $14 million last week as the result of becoming paralyzed after he outjumped the landing on a tabletop feature and crashed in the terrain park at The Summit at Snoqualmie. The incident took place Feb. 11, 2004, at 8:30 p.m. A jury found that the operator, Ski Lifts Inc.,...

Jackson Nearly Breaks Record: Resort Posts Second Strongest Year Ever

SAM Magazine - Teton Village, WY., April 11, 2007 - Jackson Hole Mountain Resort had a good year. In fact, it was a very good year. The ski area wrapped up the 2006-2007 season by posting its second best year ever, with just over 400,000 skier visits. The grand total clocked in at a whopping 402,400 skier visits on the year, impressive, given th...

Nyberg Steps Down at Prinoth; Company Restructures

SAM Magazine--April 10, 2007--Chris Nyberg is stepping down from his VP position at Prinoth to pursue other opportunities. As a result, the company has restructured its staff. Jim Coughlin, the Northeast USA regional manager has been promoted to director, Eastern North America sales and after sales support. Peter Craig, Mid Atlantic product represe...

Peak Purchase of Mount Snow, Attitash Final

SAM Magazine-St, Louis, Mo., Apr. 5, 2007-Peak Resorts has closed on the purchase of Mount Snow and Attitash resorts from American Skiing Company. The sale agreement, announced on Feb. 16, includes all properties and assets of Mount Snow and Attitash resorts, for a purchase price of $73.5 million. In addition, Peak Resorts assumed approximately $2 ...

Homewood Buys Alpine Meadows

SAM Magazine-Tahoe City, Calif., Apr. 4, 2007-Powdr Corp. has agreed to sell Alpine Meadows ski resort to JMA Ventures, the owner of Homewood Mountain Resort. The transaction is expected to become final in June, pending Forest Service approval and the usual closing considerations. The purchase price has not been disclosed. If completed, the sale...

Too Little, Too Late in Europe?

SAM Magazine-Valle di Fassa, Italy, Apr. 4, 2007-It's probably too late to save the European ski season, which suffered through some of the worst opening months in history, but snow is finally falling in many parts of the Alps, including Italy. The Trentino region in particular is scoring late-season storms, which have dropped between 20 and 50 cen...

Revelstoke Real Estate Revs Up

SAM Magazine-Revelstoke, B.C., Apr. 4, 2007-Real Estate is hot at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, and the boom seems to be just starting. The mountain, based outside of the logging and mining town of Revelstoke, will feature North America's longest vertical drop, over 6,000 feet, upon completion. In addition to the skiing, the resort will have a compre...

High Stakes in Snowbowl Snowmaking Battle

SAM Magazine-Flagstaff, Ariz., April 4, 2007-The battle over snowmaking continues at Arizona Snowbowl, where resort operators have proposed to use reclaimed water to make snow. A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling overturned a previous decision that would have allowed Snowbowl to move forward with its upgrade proposal. The Court's decision ...