SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, March 7, 2007--American Skiing Company (ASC), today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to conduct a strategic review of options for its Sunday River and Sugarloaf resorts, both in Maine, including the potential sale of the resorts. "As a result of our recently announced resort sales, w...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, March 7, 2007--American Skiing Company (ASC), today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to conduct a strategic review of options for its Sunday River and Sugarloaf resorts, both in Maine, including the potential sale of the resorts. "As a result of our recently announced resort sales, w...

SAM Magazine-Trysil, Norway, Mar. 6, 2007-It sounds like something you'd expect one of those private "members only" ski resorts to install: a heated chairlift so the moneyed set doesn't have to endure the indignity of a cold bum. And it's certainly not the kind of "improvement" you'd find at most major North American resorts, as they review their e...

SAM Magazine-Queenstown, New Zealand, Mar. 6, 2007-While the ski season heads toward its conclusion in North America and Europe after a wild winter that saw deep snows come late to the Eastern region, epic snowfall in the Pacific Northwest and a rough season for Europe, resorts in the Southern Hemisphere are dusting off the summer blues and finaliz...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Mar. 5, 2007-Vail Resorts is planning one of the most ambitious "green" development projects in the North American resort industry, to be called "Ever Vail." The $1 billion project will transform the 9.5-acre West LionsHead site into a green multi-use resort village consisting of residences, a hotel, offices, retail ...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Mar. 1, 2007-American Skiing Company (ASC) and Intrawest completed the sale of Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation today. Purchase price at the time the deal was announced in December was $265 million. But after preliminary adjustments for working capital and debt assumed by the buyer, and income realized by ASC from th...

SAM Magazine-Bejing, China, Mar. 1, 2007-Asia is seeing a boom in skiing that could provide opportunities for European and North American resort companies and equipment manufacturers. In the last decade, more 300 ski areas have opened in China, complemented by three indoor ski centers. The majority of the areas are very basic: a run or two, served ...

SAM Magazine-Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, Mar. 1, 2007-Russian president Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Krasnaya Polyana during the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Evaluation Commission for the XXII Winter Olympics inspection tour of the resort and nearby city, Sochi. "Sochi is the only place in Russia with a combination of develop...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Mar. 1, 2007-American Skiing Company founder Leslie B. Otten has resigned from the company's board of directors, effective as of late February. "I leave the board with mixed feelings," Otten said in a prepared statement. "It's been a pleasure to serve and help guide the company and I wish everyone well. I truly enjo...

SAM Magazine - Bansko, Bulgaria. February 21, 2007 - Eastern Europe is experiencing a boom in skiing, lead by the Bulgarian resorts of Pamporovo and Bansko. Most of the action in Bansko has been in real estate, with a property boom fueled by an influx of buyers from the UK. Increasing development has led to criticism from the World Wildlife Federat...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., Feb. 22, 2007-Overall sales for both specialty and chain stores were down 3 percent to $1.46 billion for the August through December period of 2006, compared to $1.50 billion reported last year, according to the SIA Retail Audit. Unit sales were down 9 percent. "Strong sales in the Rockies, California and the Pacific North...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, BC., Feb.21, 2007-Intrawest has made three executive management team appointments in the Intrawest Mountain Resorts Division, with one long-time employee departing in conjunction with the changes to the corporate structure. The new structure will serve to align management with the strategic direction and growth objectives of...

SAM Magazine--Park City, Utah, February 20, 2007--American Skiing Company (ASC) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Killington and Pico resorts in Vermont to SP Land Company, a major area land owner, for $83.5 million. SP Land Company, which has been in partnership with Killington since 2004 on a large develo...

SAM Magazine--Santa Fe, New Mexico, February 20, 2007--What a difference a year makes. New Mexico is enjoying great ski conditions with more than 15 feet of snow so far this year. Thanks to strong El Nino storms, New Mexico has seen a 60 percent increase in ski visits over last season, which was a season the region would rather forget. A storm l...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, Feb. 16, 2007-Following weeks of speculation, Peak Resorts has entered a purchase agreement for Mount Snow and Attitash with American Skiing Company for $73.5 million. When completed, the deal will leave Peaks with 11 resorts in Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Ohio. The agreement comes on ...

SAM Magazine-Aspen, Colo., Feb. 6, 2007-Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) has promoted John Rigney to vice president, sales and events and Connie Hamlin to director of sales. Also promoted are Auden Schendler, to executive director, community and environmental responsibility, and Matt Hamilton, to manager of community and environmental responsibility and ...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., Feb. 2, 2007-The American Snowsports Education Association (ASEA, doing business as PSIA and AASI) and the National Ski Patrol (NSP) are ending their 17-year agreement for joint management, and will each have their own separate, dedicated management teams by July 1. Mark Dorsey, currently executive director for both...

SAM Magazine - Keystone, Colo., January 24, 2007 - Keystone resort has named Doug Lovell as the new director of mountain operations. Lovell makes the move to Keystone from Beaver Creek, and brings more than 13 years of mountain operations and guest services experience in the ski and snowboard industry to his new position. Lovell started at Beav...

SAM Magazine--New York, February 1, 2007--With state-owned ski areas already exempt from sales taxes on equipment and energy purchases, the time may have come for private ski areas in New York to reap some tax benefits of their own. Under a bill proposed by State Senator Elizabeth Little, private resorts could see tax relief from sales and use taxe...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Jan. 30, 2007-With one of the strangest winters on record making things tough for resort operators on both the west and east coasts, June Mountain shuttered its doors for the season on Jan. 29 due to a lack of snow. The mountain currently has a mere 3-18 inch base, and a reopening is unlikely even if the Sierra M...

SAM Magazine-New York, Jan. 26, 2007-Bonnier Magazine Group and its U.S. partner, World Publications, are buying the 18 magazines Time Inc. put up for sale last September. The group includes Ski, Skiing, TransWorld Snowboarding, and the rest of the TransWorld stable. Estimated sale price is $220 million to $230 million. Bonnier said the acquisit...

SAM Magazine - Les Arcs, France, January 25, 2007 - Intrawest is committing to a second project in the French resort of Les Arcs. The company, which is close to finishing its first project at the resort, Arc 1950 Le Village, has announced that the new project will be located at Arc 1800 and will be called Edenarc 1800. Edenarc will be a four-st...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., January 22, 2007--Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc. (Booth Creek), owner of six mountain resort properties and select real estate holdings, announced today that it has been purchased by three principals of the company: George Gillett, chairman; Chris Ryman, president; Elizabeth Cole, chief financial officer. Jeff Joyce, a lo...

SAM Magazine--January, 22, 2007, Flagstaff, AZ--A storm this past weekend brought the Arizona Snowbowl 12 to 18 inches of new and wind-driven snow to the slopes. The optimism is high that the resort will be able to open limited terrain this week. "We did experience a lot of wind last night into today and conditions on the slopes are looking ...

SAM Magazine - Brighton, UT., January 20, 2007 - Utah's Brighton ski area has been purchased from Boyne USA by Orlando, Florida-based CNL Income Properties. The purchase includes the 850-acre ski and snowboard resort with its 66 marked runs and seven chairlifts, two restaurants, 20-room lodge, ski rental operation and retail space at the ski area's...

SAM Magazine-Revelstoke, B.C., Jan. 17, 2007-Revelstoke Mountain Resort, located on Mt. MacKenzie and in the process of being developed by Canada's Simpson Property Group, will soon feature a C$22 million gondola and high speed quad chairlift built by Leitner Poma Canada Inc. The signature lifts are scheduled for summer 2007 installation, in time t...

SAM Magazine--Lakewood, Colo., January 16, 2007--Recent cold temperatures and reports of snowfall at several resorts in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions are welcomed news to the entire ski industry. Nevertheless, the 2006/07 season will be recorded as one of the most challenging for some ski area operators. Recognizing this, NSAA has re...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Jan. 17, 2007-In an effort to bring the mountains to the people, Winter Park has started to make snow and install terrain-park features on Denver's unique Ruby Park. Located just outside of downtown Denver, the Ruby Hill Rail Yard is the first resort-built city terrain park for riders and skiers. The resort expects to make more...

SAM Magazine-Alta, Ut., Jan. 17, 2007-With adult single-day tickets at Aspen and Vail rising to more than $80, it may come as a surprise that Alta has been offering free lift-served skiing and riding for years. The area's Sunnyside chairlift provides free lift access for the last 90 minutes of the ski day. The deal is designed to give lower inte...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Jan. 16, 2007-Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) member resorts posted record-setting skier visitation for the season through Dec. 31, 2006. Collectively, the 26 resorts hosted 3,285,649 skiers and snowboarders, an increase of 6.74 percent, or 207,533 visits, over last season's record. "To see such a positive increase over wh...

SAM Magazine-Wilmington, Vt., Jan. 15, 2006-The Haystack Mountain Club, an exclusive private ski area, golf and equestrian resort being built on the bones of the old Haystack ski area, has suspended operations and laid off all but a few employees, according to a report in the local Deerfield Valley News. Contractors working at the site have receive...

SAM Magazine - Steamboat Springs, Colo., January 13, 2007 - Observers of the industry will remember Colorado's Stagecoach ski area. The resort, outside of Steamboat, never got off the ground, although a cat skiing operation did find modest success on the resort's trails in the 1990s. Today, however, the resort is booming, with three times as many h...

SAM Magazine - Pinkham Notch, NH, January 8, 2007 - While common in Europe, zip lines are just starting to make inroads in North America. The latest resort that has announced plans to install zip lines is New Hampshire's Wildcat Mountain. Wildcat's zip line , which should be operational by June, will feature two cables, allowing for side-by-side...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., January 13, 2007--Vail Resorts' CEO Robert Katz has told the Vail Daily newspaper that the company is shopping. According the the Daily, Katz has said that acquisitions remain, "very much a priority." However, Katz isn't letting slip any hints as to who or what Vail Resorts is interested in purchasing, hinting only that t...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co, January 5, 2007 - The worst on record? That's the question that eastern resort operators are asking themselves as warm temperatures continue to plague ski resorts across the region. With temperatures lingering in the 50's snowmakers are ripping out their hair as Mother Nature continues to stymie their efforts. The latest vi...

SAM Magazine-Paris, France, Jan. 4, 2007-Consolidation in the resort world is a global phenomenon. In the most recent chapter in Europe, ski resort operator Compagnie des Alpes (CDA) is holding talks with Groupe Sofival and its main shareholders in an attempt to merge the ski area management activities of the two groups. Groupe Sofival is a majo...

SAM Magazine-Golden, B.C., Jan. 4, 2007-Steve Paccagnan will replace Arijann van Vuure as president and general manager of Kicking Horse. Paccagnan, an experienced industry veteran, started his career in 1986 at Panorama Mountain Resort. In 1999, he became GM of Mont Ste. Marie in Quebec. When Intrawest sold Mont Ste. Marie in 2002, Paccagnan re...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co., December 30, 2006 - Forget the traditional ski school model. This year more resorts than ever are looking to expand the offerings available through their ski schools, tapping into new customers, some of whom would never consider lessons. While many North American resorts are already beefing up their pipe and park progr...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co., December 30, 2006 - Former President Ford, a fixture at Vail and Beaver Creek resorts, will be honored by having runs named after him at each ski area. Ford, who until his death owned a Beaver Creek residence, was an active skier whose mere presence at Vail and Beaver Creek during his tenure as president did more to market...

SAM Magazine - The Canyons, Utah, December 27, 2006 - The only unionized ski patrol in Utah has come to a tentative agreement with their employers, thus averting a strike over the holiday season. The Canyon's ski patrol, which is represented by the Communications Workers of America, had been working since the resort opened for the 2006-2007 winter ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Dec. 20, 2006-Vail Resorts, for whom snow is the raison d'etre, has postponed its annual meeting due to a major winter storm moving across Colorado. The meeting was originally scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 21, but by Wednesday afternoon, heavy snow and wind had brought travel to a standstill. More than a foot of snow ...

SAM Magazine-Steamboat Springs, Colo., Dec. 19, 2006-Backed by its new owner, Fortress Investment Group, Intrawest is purchasing the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation from American Skiing Company (ASC) for $265 million. The eighth most-visited resort in the U.S. in 2006, Steamboat will become the eleventh member of the Intrawest empire if the deal...

SAM Magazine-Keystone, Colo., Dec. 18, 2006-Keystone resort has become the first ski area to offer "geocaching." This high-tech treasure hunt challenges players to find hidden "geocaches" that are located via GPS units. "It's a cool way to introduce people to Keystone, as well as a fun kind of adventure for families," resort spokesperson Amy Kemp t...

SAM Magazine-Corvara, Italy, Dec. 18, 2006-Listed as "Number 1" in the Italian Registry of Lifts, Corvara's Col Alto chairlift has finally undergone the transformation to a gondola. Installed in 1947, the venerable lift was Italy's first chairlift. It debuted with a capacity of 163 passengers per hour. As time passed, the lift was upgraded, first t...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 18, 2006-Call it war, a rip-off or just a good way to pad the bottom line. But whatever you call it, there is no mistaking that for skiers, the two most expensive resorts in Colorado just got a bit pricier. Last week Aspen raised its single-day lift ticket price to $82. This week Vail upped the ante, raising its singl...

SAM Magazine-Portland, Me., Dec. 12, 2006-John Cumming, the CEO of Powdr Corp, which owns Park City Mountain Resort, Alpine Meadows, Mt. Bachelor and Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, is part of a group which has purchased Resort Sports Network (RSN), the television network dedicated to the creation and distribution of outdoor content in ski resort...

SAM Magazine - Boulder, Colo., December 8, 2006 - The Outdoor Industry Association is currently accepting nominations for the organization's Industry Awards. The Industry Awards recognize individuals who have implemented exceptional programs, demonstrated superior innovation or have gone that extra step to advance the outdoor industry as a whole. O...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co, December 10, 2006 - If you want a piece of the growing international market, you could do worse than learn German. Austrians are leading the charge when it comes to international visitors to North American ski areas. Aspen's international guests account for 20 percent of the Aspen ski company's on-hill business and at J...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 11, 2006-Vail Resorts reported quarterly revenues up nearly 33 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2007, primarily on increased real estate revenues, but expenses largely offset the gain. However, the resort cited increases in season's pass sales (21 percent in dollars) and advance bookings (24 percent in dollars...

SAM Magazine-Plymouth, N.H., Dec. 11, 2006-The ownership of Tenney Mountain Ski Resort has decided not to open the ski operation this winter. Instead, it is focusing on future planning for the entire resort including an outdoor adventure partnership plan with Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS). The decision came as the resort management and staff was in...

SAM Magazine--Tuxedo, N.Y., December 8, 2006--Sterling Forest ski resort, which was shut down during the 2005-06 season, was purchased by a local resident, Glenn Godsey. According to The Journal News, Godsey is hoping to open the 250-acre resort with the first snowfall this season. Sterling Forest has 4 double chairs, a vertical of 400 feet and ...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Dec. 8, 2006-CNL Income Properties, a Florida-based company, will soon own four of the six resorts currently part of Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc., as part of a complex deal that will net three current Booth Creek principals ownership of two of the resorts, along with a long-term lease for the other four areas. The dea...

SAM Magazine - Boulder, Colo., December 6, 2006 - While the methodology used remains controversial (ski areas are docked points if they have a master plan which could lead to additional terrain being developed, even if the resort has no plans to develop said terrain), the Ski Area Citizens Coalition (SACC) released its annual ranking of how "green"...

SAM Magazine - Vail, Co, December 5, 2006 - With western resorts opening more terrain by the day (the ropes drop on Vail's Back Bowls today and November was a record month for snowfall in Whistler), Eastern resorts are regrouping and European ski areas are wondering when winter will arrive. The guns are hard at work at Seven Springs.  In ...

SAM Magazine - McLean, VA, December 5, 2006 - SnowSports Industries America's (SIA) Winter Feels Good campaign and SnowMonsters are partnering to teach children how to dress for snow sports activities with a new interactive tool on the winterfeelsgood.com website. The tool is also featured on all SnowMonsters sites provided to more than 100 resorts...

SAM Magazine - Wolf Creek, CO, December 5, 2006 - Nordic skiers at Wolf Creek have found their groomed trail options limited as the conflict unfolds between the owners of the resort and a developer behind the Village at Wolf Creek project. The dispute revolves around access across land owned by the developer, Texas businessman B.J. McCombs, and ...

SAM Magazine--December 5, 2006, Mt,. Hood, OR - Mt. Hood Meadows will open for the 2006/07 season this Saturday, December 9, after a glacial outburst washed out the area's public access on November 7. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced today that highway 35 will reopen at 5 a.m. Saturday, allowing access to the resort for the ...

SAM Magazine--December 1, 2006, Korea (SnowHunter)--Korea's newest resort, scheduled to open today, December 1, is Land's High 1 in Gangwon Province. The resort has 18 trails, more than half of them graded black or double black diamond, served by five chairlifts named after Greek gods (Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Athena and the previously unknown Victoria)...

SAM Magazine--December 1, 2006, Snowhunter--The first stone of "Les terrasses d'Eos," the first building within the new Intrawest resort village being built at Flaine in France, has been laid. Les terrasses d'Eos is a four-star tourism residence made up of 91 apartments, the first part of Flaine Montsoleil village, which will ultimately have 2,...

SAM Magazine--December 1, 2006, Snowhunter--"Where to Ski and Snowboard", one of the world's leading guidebooks to ski resorts around the planet, is well known for pulling no punches. In its very first edition, back in 1994, the "skier's bible" labelled the French resort of Les Menuires 'The Ugliest Resort in the Alps'--in contrast to the resort's ...