SAM Magazine-Flagstaff, Ariz., June 8, 2009-The United States Supreme Court has decided not to review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the Untied States Forest Service and Arizona Snowbowl, clearing the way for Snowbowl to develop snowmaking using reclaimed water. Snowbowl GM J.R. Murray told SAM that the area will ...

SAM Magazine--Salt Lake City, Utah, June 3, 2009--Delta Airlines has announced that it is offering a non-stop flight from Salt Lake City to Tokyo. The maiden voyage of this service was made today, among much fanfare between the two destinations. According to published reports, the Governor's Office of Economic Development estimates that the new ...

SAM Magazine--June 3, 2009--A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved the $115 million purchase of the Yellowstone Club, Mont., by CrossHarbor Capital Partners. CrossHarbor will pay $35 million in cash and take on $80 million of the $375 million debt owed to Credit Suisse and the holders of loans arranged by Credit Suisse. In previous rulings, Credit Sui...

SAM Magazine--Lakewood, Colo., June 3, 2009--According to the 2008-09 NSAA National Demographic Study, helmet usage among skiers and riders in the U.S. increased 12 percent to 48 percent of all skiers and riders interviewed. Other data includes:77 percent of children 9 and under wear helmets; 66 percent of kids between 10 and 14 wear helmets; an...

SAM Magazine-Steamboat Springs, Colo., June 3, 2009-Steamboat Ski and Resort pulled out of a joint venture that was planning to build a $7 million high-speed people mover gondola connecting the Wildhorse Meadows development and the public Meadow parking lot with the base area. Instead, Resort Ventures West (RVW), the Wildhorse developer, will insta...

SAM Magazine--March 28, 2009--In just two months, Utah's unique liquor laws will change, most notably, the elimination of Utah's private club system, which required patrons to pay a membership fee. Beginning July 1, the state will no longer require patrons to be "members," but will require drinking establishments to scan the IDs of anyone under 35 ...

SAM Magazine--Whistler, B.C., May 28, 2009--Whistler Blackcomb officials announced that the last day for skiing and riding on Whistler Mountain will be Sunday, May 31. Originally slated for June 14, the closing date was moved up because of very warm weather, which has quickly diminished the snowpack and posed avalanche hazards. The mountain will...

SAM Magazine-Stowe, Vt., May 18, 2009-Stowe Mountain Resort, owned by insurance giant and ward of the government AIG, is for sale,
AIG spokesman Peter Tulupman confirmed last week. AIG has received "a surprising number" of unsolicited bids from qualified buyers, Tulupman said, though no bidders have been named or identified, nor has the askin...

SAM Magazine--Lakewood, Colo., May 18, 2009--Based on preliminary estimates, ski areas in the U.S. tallied 57.1 million visits for the 20008/09 season, making it the fifth best season on record. While last year's record of 60.5 million still stands, this year's number, given the circumstances, is still 0.8 percent above the 10-year average of 56.7 ...

SAM Magazine-Butte, Mont., May 18, 2009-CrossHarbor Capital Partners today won ownership of the Yellowstone Club resort after reaching a settlement deal with the club's primary lender, Credit Suisse, according to NewWest.net. The settlement ends a six-month legal battle that began when the Club filed for bankruptcy protection in November. U.S. B...

SAM Magazine--Vail, Colo., May 11, 2009--A ski accident in 2007 at Beaver Creek that involved a 7-year-old boy and an adult skier from Pennsylvania has been highlighted as a good example of a frivolous lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. According to the Vail Daily, the crash is being featured in movie trailers showing in the De...

SAM Magazine-Fairfield, Idaho, May 11, 2009-The managers of Soldier Mountain Ski Resort say the area will rebuild its base lodge and open for the 2009-10 season. The lodge burned to the ground on March 30. Shelly Scott, office manager for Valley Entertainment in Hailey, Ida., says the new lodge will be slightly larger than the old. However, wet ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., May 8, 2009-Retail sales for the 2008-09 season fell 5 percent, as fear about economic security kept consumers, retailers and suppliers in a cautious mood, according to Snowsports Industries America (SIA). Overall, the season's sales totaled $2.82 billion, compared to last season's $2.95 billion. Unit sales declined three ...

SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., May 6, 2009-The Vail Valley is pursuing a third World Alpine Ski Championships. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association has selected Beaver Creek/Vail as the American candidate applicant for the 2015 Championships. The Vail Valley hosted the 1989 and 1999 World Championships and has been a part of the FIS Alpine World Cu...

SAM Magazine-Oslo, Norway, May 6, 2009-The Southern hemisphere ski season is beginning five weeks early, even as snowfalls across Europe put a fresh face on the season there and provide a boost to Norway's summer season, according to skiinfo.com. The season in Europe was so strong this past winter, they're still skiing in Spain, at Europe's most so...

SAM Magazine--Quebec City, Que., May 4, 2009-- Daniel Gauthier, owner of Le Massif ski area in Quebec, announced today that he has found another financial investor for his tourism project in Charlevoix. The investor is Gauthier's long-time friend and business partner, Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil. Laliberte is making a CDN $10 mil...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., May 1, 2009-Henry "Hank" Lunde has received the National Ski Areas Association Lifetime Achievement Award, while Bill Gilbert has earned the Sherman Adams award, NSAA announced today. Lunde was president of Vermont's Killington and SKI, Ltd., for 28 years before spending nearly a decade as president of Stowe Mountai...

SAM Magazine-Mt. Hood, Ore., May 1, 2009-Not only are several North American resorts still operating, several others are reopening for the first weekend in May. Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort resumes operations today through Sunday, May 1, 2 and 3 for a season encore. Similarly, Wolf Creek and Echo Mountain, Colo., Jay Peak, Vt., and Alpental, Wash...

SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., April 30, 2009-The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has honored nine member resorts with its annual Heads Up National Ski Area Safety Awards, in recognition of the resorts' programs to educate employees and guests about skiing and snowboarding responsibly. The 2009 winners are: • Best Overall Safety Program...

SAM Magazine--April 28, 2009--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced the winners of the 2008/09 Marketing and Guest Service Awards. The awards are presented annually to ski resorts of all sizes nationwide for their successful marketing and guest service programs that ultimately help grow winter sports. This year's categories recogn...

SAM Magazine-Park City, Utah, April 24, 12009-Globally and in North America, the Rossignol Group is focusing on its core competencies, streamlining many of its departments and systems, and reducing its workforce by 30 percent, North American president Francois Goulet told U.S. and Canadian employees on April 22. "Those necessary reductions, whil...

SAM Magazine-Lyndonville, Vt., April 24, 2009-The Resort Industry Leadership Institute (RiLi), created to help resort executives prepare up-and-coming managers in their ranks for future leadership positions, returns to Lyndon State College for its third season June 3-5. The program consists of several parts. Workshops develop leadership flexibi...

SAM Magazine-Mammoth Mountain, Calif., April 24, 2009-Mammoth opened up sales of its Mammoth Value Passes (MVP) to the public on April 1, and all 38,000 sold out before the May 1 deadline. "We saw incredible demand for this product this April," said Joani Lynch, director of communications for Mammoth. "This is a good indicator for Mammoth next s...

SAM Magazine--April 22, 2009--A part of Colorado ski history will exist no more as the Ski Train to Winter Park was sold to Canadian National Railway. According to the Denver Post, the train will be moved north of the border before summer operations begin. The train was started in 1940 and has serviced Winter Park year-round since....

SAM Magazine--April 21, 2009--Mountain High, Calif., announced yesterday that it closed five percent up from the previous season, making it the fourth best season in the area's history. The season was not without its challenges: a bad economy coupled with lack of natural snow in the early season worried management at first. But, thanks to more p...

SAM Magazine-Carrabassett Valley, Maine, April 17, 2009-Sugarloaf is offering its guests the opportunity to decide what lifts will run for the remainder of the year, through its online community and via Twitter. Starting on Monday, April 20, Sugarloaf will scale back its operations to two daily lifts through the remainder of the season, which is...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., April 17, 2009-Vail Resorts today reported that visits to its five resorts were off by 6.2 percent and lift ticket revenue down by 8.7 percent for the season to date through April 12, compared to last year. Room nights booked through VR's central reservations and directly at the company's owned and managed properties...

SAM Magazine--Woodbury, Conn., April 16, 2009--SAM Magazine is proud to announce the recipients of the 12th annual 2009 SAMMY Leadership Awards and the third annual SAM Diversity Award. They are: 1) Alan Henceroth, COO at Arapahoe Basin, Colo. Alan first entered the ski industry working at Keystone Resort for five seasons and transitioned over ...

SAM Magazine-McLean, Va., April 13, 2009-Snow sports market sales declined 16 percent overall in February 2009 compared to February 2008, the largest year-over-year decline this season. Equipment sales were particularly hard hit in February as consumers hesitated to purchase big-ticket items like skis and snowboards. The dropoff in sales of alpine ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., April 13, 2009-Vail Resorts, Inc. (VR) will require all employees to wear helmets when skiing or riding on the job at each of its five mountain resorts-Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly-for the 2009-10 season. Helmets will be provided to every employee next fall as part of their standard uniform...

SAM Magazine-Nederland, Colo., April 3, 2009-Jim Spenst is the new general manager at Eldora Mountain Resort. Spenst was vice president of operations at Tamarack Resort in Idaho from 2004 to 2008, and worked in a variety of capacities at Copper Mountain from 1973 to 2004, including vice president of operations from 1998 to 2004. Spenst grew up i...

SAM Magazine- Alta, Wyo., April 1, 2009-Grand Targhee Resort has become the first winter resort to register its complete emissions inventory with the Climate Registry. The move establishes a baseline for measuring the resort's carbon footprint, which can be used to accurately and comprehensively manage the resort's emissions. The Climate Registr...

SAM Magazine-Concord, N.H., April 1, 2009-After extended contemplation and study, 100 acres of the upper portion of the dormant Mittersill ski area has joined the system of state lands as part of Cannon Mountain Ski Area. The move is part of a land exchange that transfers the 244 acre Sentinel Mountain Forest, including approximately ¼ mile of t...

SAM Magazine-Innsbruck, Austria, March 27, 2009-With great fanfare, PRINOTH unveiled its new European groomer, the Beast, on a clear night in the Austrian Alps in front of 600 spectators from around the world. Attendees of the event, which was themed "Beauty and the Beast," were treated to a visual extravaganza that included a helicopter shooting o...

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SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., March 31, 2009-Mike Federle is the new group publisher of the Bonnier Mountain Group where he will head up SKI and Skiing magazines and SkiNet.com, plus Warren Miller Films. He replaces Jamie Pentz, who was ousted in early February. Federle brings more than 25 years of sales experience to the task, including a succes...

Time is running out to send in nominations for two important industry awards: the SAMMY Leadership Award and the Diversity Leadership Award. Both awards close at the end of this week, April 3rd, 2009. Nominees for the SAMMY Leadership Awards can come from both the resort side of the industry and the supplier side. The SAMMYs honor people who, at...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., March 28, 2009-Not only is Snowsports Industry America's annual trade show moving to Denver after 37 years in Las Vegas, the organization is changing the name of the event to the SIA Snow Show. "With our move to Denver we have the opportunity to put the 'snow' back in snow sports and return to the core of our sport, s...

SAM Magazine-Winter Park, Colo., March 28, 2009-Winter Park and Copper Mountain have slashed the price of the areas' joint Rocky Mountain Super Pass Plus. The pass, which cost $439 this winter, is now offered for $399. The pass includes unlimited access at Copper and Winter Park and six days at Steamboat, as it did last eyar. In addition, consumers...

SAM Magazine-Corvara, Italy, March 26, 2009-World-renowned big-mountain freeskier Shane McConkey died today while ski-BASE jumping in the Dolomites. He was working on a new film with JT Holmes and a crew from Matchstick Productions. Details of the accident are not clear; McConkey had planned to do a double backflip off the Val Scura couloir on Sass...

SAM Magazine-Tannersville, Pa., March 23, 2009-Camelback Mountain Resort, in its 46th year, will set a new mark for length of season on Wednesday, its 124th day of operation. The old record was set in 1992-93. To celebrate the milestone, Camelback will offer a special $12.40 lift ticket on Wednesday. Camelback anticipates it will close temporari...

SAM Magazine-Squaw Valley, Calif., March 19, 2009- Squaw Valley is cutting season pass prices for the 2009-10 ski and snowboard season by up to $1,000 in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the ski area's founding and the 50th Anniversary of Squaw Valley hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics. Coined the "50/60 Pass," the restructured season passes go o...

SAM Magazine-Telluride, Colo., March 19, 2009-In the wake of additional spring snowfall, several resorts, among them Telluride, Mount Washington, B.C., and Belleayre, N.Y., are extending their seasons. Telluride will keep the Coonskin and Plunge lifts open for an additional week after the scheduled resort close, April 5. Only terrain off the Plu...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., March 18, 2009-Western destination lodging reservations were down 16.3 percent through February, according to the latest data from the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP). In addition, average daily room rates were down 7.6 percent. MTRiP data cover 216 properties in 15 destination resorts in Colorado, Utah, Califor...

SAM Magazine-Kiltarlity, Ireland, March 17, 2009-Recession, what recession? U.S. ski areas are selling 19 of the 20 most expensive six-day lift tickets on the planet, according to the World Ski Lift Ticket Price Report (2009). This annual study compares six-day, peak-season prices from more than 600 ski areas in 40 countries worldwide. The repor...

SAM Magazine-Denver, Colo., March 12, 2009-Skier visits at Colorado Ski Country USA's 22 member resorts in January and February were off by 5.8 percent compared to the same period last year. As such, visitation is up slightly compared to the five-year average for the period, and those five years include three years that were the highest on record. ...

SAM Magazine-Are, Sweden, March 11, 2009-Lindsey Vonn added yet another landmark to an already historic season for U.S. ski and snowboard competitors as she took her 21st career win in the downhill at the Audi FIS World Cup Finals. She then won her fifth super G in a row to extend her dominance of the women's tour. Her victories were the latest in ...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., March 11, 2009-Vail Resorts second quarter results for fiscal 2009, ended Jan. 31, show resort revenue (mountain operations and lodging) of $299.6 million compared to $314.5 million a year earlier, a decrease of 4.7 percent. Lodging bookings were down 14.9 percent. But total revenue, including real estate sales, came...

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., March 11, 2009-Vail Resorts will adopt a companywide wage reduction plan to reduce labor costs while preserving as many jobs as possible. Employee salaries will be reduced on a sliding scale, from 2.5 percent for seasonal employees to 10 percent for executives. This wage reduction plan, combined with certain other ad...

SAM Magazine-Gilford, N.H., March 11, 2009-More and more resorts are selling next year's passes at this year's prices. Gunstock, N.H., is one of the latest to make this offer. In addition, seniors will be given a break, with pricing the same as children. Unlimited season passes are $329 for adults and teens (13-64); seniors (65+) and children (6...

SAM Magazine-Reno, Nev., Mar. 6, 2009-A ski patroller working avalanche control routes at Squaw Valley was killed due to trauma sustained after being caught in an slide last Tuesday. Andrew Entin was partially buried by the avalanche, but injuries sustained during the incident were severe enough to kill him, according to Squaw officials. Entin was ...

SAM Magazine-Snowbird, Utah, Mar. 6, 2009-High winds derailed the Peruvian Express chairlift at Snowbird on Wednesday, when wind gusts topped 70 mph. According to the resort, wind caused a misalignment in the way one of the chair grips attached to the haul rope, shutting the lift down after the misalignment was detected by one of the tower sheave s...

SAM Magazine-Boulder, Colo., Mar. 6, 2009-Resorts are looking to lock in customers for next winter as well as get new customers this season with a variety of season pass deals, including discounted rates on next year's offerings and affordable spring passes. Both Massachusetts' Jiminy Peak and Minnesota's Wild Mountain are pushing season pass of...

SAM Magazine-Donnelly, Idaho, Mar. 2, 2009-Tamarack Resort, which has been in receivership since last fall, is shutting down after the close of business on Mar. 4. The area has been operating on funds provided by the lender group that has been attempting to foreclose on the resort, and that group has agreed to provide only limited funding for the n...

SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Mar. 2, 2009-Hugh Smythe, Intrawest's senior vice president of mountain resorts, is retiring on Mar. 12. He will remain an advisor to the company. Smythe, a 43 year veteran of the ski industry,has been with Intrawest since 1986, including 20 years as president of resort operations. Currently, he oversees the managem...

SAM Magazine-Whitefish, Mont., Feb. 27, 2009-On Feb. 24, the nearly 8,000 season pass holders at Whitefish Mountain Resort surpassed 1 billion vertical feet of skiing and snowboarding, as tracked by the resort's "Big Vertical" program. Resort officials were ecstatic to have an unfathomably large number to talk about-and a positive one at that. "...

SAM Magazine-McCall, Idaho, Feb. 27, 2009-Yes, even before many areas begin to sell next year's passes, Brundage is ending the first phase of its advance sales. This is the last week for customers to save up to $160 on the purchase of a 2009-10 season's pass. Prices currently range from $79 (ages 7 to 11) to $289 (adults ages 18 to 69); they rise i...

SAM Magazine-Bend, Ore., Feb. 27, 2009-Mt. Bachelor is one of the most recent resorts to partner with SOS Outreach, the Colorado-based organization that builds character and confidence for underserved youth through snowsports. The five-day program emphasizes core values and positive adult interaction. Clothing, equipment and lift tickets are provid...

SAM Magazine-West Lebanon, N.H., Feb. 24, 2009-Nordica has issued a recall for approximately 4,500 pairs of the company's XBi ALU skis. The skis were produced and sold between August 2006 and December 2008. There are concerns that the binding plates could fail, causing a loss of control. The recall involves the XBi binding component, which was used...

SAM Magazine-Krippenstein, Austria, Feb. 24, 2009-The snow just keeps falling across Europe as some areas are seeing record snowfall. In Austria, storms have been pounding most parts of the country with an additional meter expected for the week. "It's been amazing, says Kästle Skis president Siegfried "Sigi" Rumpfhuber. "One of the best seasons ...