AREA ROUNDUP
California enjoys fine season; a great one in southern areas
Ski areas in California enjoyed one of their longest seasons in many years. Most of the major resorts opened prior to Thanksgiving and didn’t close until after Easter, which came late—April 22. Attendance was generally up over last season, which ended early because of a snow shortage, but a quick survey of several key areas indicated profits lagged somewhat behind the rise in skier volume.
Excellent early snow conditions produced a record four-day Thanksgiving weekend at places such as Squaw Valley, Heavenly Valley, Alpine Meadows, Sugar Bowl, Bear Valley and Mammoth. However, a rainstorm in mid-December scared off some potential Christmas business, and an untimely blizzard wiped out Lincoln’s Birthday.
Otherwise, it was a good season, and Washington’s Birthday turned out to be ideal — good snow, good weather and big crowds everywhere.
Storms continued to arrive regularly right through March, and the first weekend in April saw snow-depths ranging from five to 15 feet, and all areas in full daily operation.
Northstar and Kirkwood, the two areas that opened for their first seasons last December, both proved to be popular with skiers. Northstar, located at the north end of Tahoe, exceeded its expectations and was forced to cut off ticket sales at 3,000 on several weekends to avoid overcrowding its five chairlifts and limited day-lodge facilities. Kirkwood, meanwhile, showed a steady growth pattern but rarely reached full capacity on its four chairs.
Both resorts have an abundance of intermediate runs, but Northstar, owned by Fibreboard Corporation, benefitted from the proximity of several other major areas as well as nearby accommodations, while Kirkwood, off by itself to the south of Tahoe, had virtually no overnight facilities within a 30-minute drive in any direction. This problem should be remedied, at least in part, by construction planned for this summer.
As for business, a Squaw Valley source said, “There’s no doubt we are definitely ahead of last season,” but he gave no figures.
Hugh Killebrew, who recently gained complete control of Heavenly Valley after lengthy litigation with other partners, said, “We’ve been up every week this year, but we’re not making any more money because costs have been going out of sight. Everything is more expensive, and we haven’t raised our lift-ticket prices.”
Killebrew also pointed out that skiing’s traditional growth factor had been absorbed this season by the two new resorts, Kirkwood and Northstar, meaning the established areas didn’t pick up as many new customers as they have in the past four or five years when no new ones had appeared on the scene.
Alpine Meadows figured business was “about 15 percent ahead” as of the end of January, but president Ray Johnson, who pulled the resort back from the verge of bankruptcy and into the black in just two years, said that “the early-February storms cut into this percentage somewhat.”
March and April, however, quite possibly shot it upward again, and Alpine, at least, planned to operate through Memorial Day—for the third straight year.
Southern California, meanwhile, is closing out probably its best season ever.
“In any category you consider,” said Dick Kun, manager of Snow Summit, “it has been a record year . . . number of days open, number of people, and the amount of money.”
He added: “Not only has it been just a record, but everything doubled or tripled.”
Snow Summit’s skier attendance by the end of March was 150,000, compared with 70,000 last season. And this boost came despite a poor Christmas period caused by a lack of snow.
Since then, these Los Angeles area resorts have been able to operate just about every weekend and were still going strong in April.
“We have had conditions this year that you see in very few years,” said Howard More, operator of Table Mountain. “We’ve had years when we’ve had a lot of snow for quite a long period but we did not get the small storms that conditioned the surface so beautifully. We’ve been getting a storm or two a week.”
The plentiful snow and hordes of skiers have also shown up on the books—Snow Summit figures its gross is three times normal, and Mt. Baldy anticipates profits quadruple those of any previous season in 21 years. —Bob Lochner
Pacific Northwest has good season, late snow
“What happened to the ski season? Where did it go so fast”? Such were the comments of Timberline Lodge, Oregon, operator Dick Kohnstamm as he stood surveying nearly eight feet of snow on the gound at the end of March. “Oh well, it’s been a good year anyway,” he added
And so it was for the greatest part of the season for the majority of Pacific Northwest ski areas. Snow may have been marginal (thin) at times, but very few days of skiing were missed by any of the areas.
One of the biggest problems in the Northwest this season was a result of many fickle skiers who think they need ten feet of snow to ski on. As a result, they missed out on some good skiing, Most area operators agreed, though, that the lift lines were very little shorter than in past years. Numerous reports, really rumors, were passed around that this area or that area was ‘out of business this season’ because of no snow. These reports were false.
Thanks to the spring equinox period, which ran true to form this year, one to two feet of new snow was dumped nearly everywhere.
As Bogus Basin’s Terry Lofsvold said, “Our packed slope skiing has been as good as it has ever been this season.” —John Hoefling
East Ski Reports —The winter that was not
If the winter of 1971-72 caused some ski area operators in the East to ponder their choice of careers, the past winter confirmed any doubts.
As with the preceding winter, it started out auspiciously. Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Mass. made snow at its open house October 17 and nearby Brodie Mountain began spewing out the white stuff the next week, so that skiers actually schussed through the crimson and purple foliage of the Berkshires the last weekend in October.
Natural snow began falling throughout the east in early November, to provide pretty good skiing by Nov. 15 at virtually all resorts choosing to open up. Then the first rain storm came Dec. 6, and a vicious cycle was underway.
“We suffered through 12 separate thaws or rainstorms before finally calling it quits the last Sunday in February,” mused a perplexed Manager Brian Fairbank at Jiminy Peak. “We also had 12 intense and costly periods of snowmaking, which was the only thing that kept us in business as long as we did,” he added.
Areas to the south had it even worse, with Dutchess at Beacon, N.Y., operating only a handful of days for the second winter in a row. Proud old Catamount, in Hillsdale, N.Y., had to declare bankruptcy in January.
While few areas would admit it, many a harassed board of directors have considered the same step and other operators have gone to banks to ask waiver of principal payments, plus a small loan until next fall.
To the north, it was not quite as bad. In fact, most areas were running somewhat ahead of the previous winter, until the rain and warm weather hit them in March.
Dutch Hill, the southernmost area in Vermont, seemed to be where the rain turned to snow, as that pioneer resort had good skiing right up until it closed March 18.
The rest of Vermont also escaped the early season and January and February rains. But the second week in March proved to be the bitter end for a score of Vermont areas, which had been skimping along with 10 to 30-inch snow depths all winter.
A dozen centers followed Mount Snow and Bromley in closing in mid-March. A provident snowfall March 19 improved skiing in Northern New England, but the damage was done. Crowds were light, the heart was gone from the season.
By April 2, only Killington and Stowe were still running in Vermont, with nothing else open in New York, New Hampshire and only Sugarloaf in Maine.
The unexpected income in November and early December had put most areas ahead of 1971-72 until March, but only those areas with major income “expanders” added this past winter could truthfully say their income was up to any degree. Most operators were happy to stay close to the previous year, and others were happy not to lose “too much.”
George Donovan of the Vermont Agency of Development and Community Affairs predicted that the March thaws could cost the state’s resorts up to 20 million dollars.
The impact in the Mount Snow area was enormous, as hundreds of lodge employees, ski area personnel and supporting service workers abruptly lost
with great skiing at end of March and had not decided on a closing date as of March 31. Good snow conditions most of winter.
DEVELOPMENT
Northwest areas announce plans for expansion
Expansion plans for Flattop Mountain, near the slopes of Mt. Adams, Washington, have been announced by developer Pat Parrish. Initial work will involve two chairlifts, a day lodge, restaurant, and condominiums, totaling $900,000. Presently served by two rope tows, the mountain’s entire 2,400 verticle feet of slope will be opened up.
One lift, 4,300 feet long, will rise 1,700 feet and carry 1,000 skiers-per-hour. The other will be 4000 feet long with a verticle rise of 1000 feet and a 1200 per hour skier capacity. The area is 25 miles north of White Salmon, Washington, and 87 miles from Portland, Oregon.
Central Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor has planned a $1 million expansion program for this coming summer. It will include two chairlifts, a central parking lot, and an added capacity of 5,000 skiers daily to the area. After the expansion, Bachelor will have six chairlifts, making it Oregon’s largest ski area.
One Riblet lift will rise 1,000 feet vertically and carry 1,100 skiers per hour in its 4,200-foot length. The other Riblet will be the Northwest’s first triple chair. It will rise 212 feet in its 1,527-foot length and will carry 1,800 skiers-per-hour.
Colorado ski areas plan extensive new facilities
Winter Park hopes to begin development of a 1,800-acre area south of the existing area this summer. Called Mary Jane, the new section will have about 300 acres of trails and a base facility. It will be connected to the existing area, and will increase skiing at Winter Park by 75 percent. Several chairlifts are planned, one of which will have a verticle drop of 2,000 feet.
Marketing Director, Andy Anderberg said the development of Mary Jane hinges on an environmental impact study which must be approved by 25 government agencies. “That might take one year or forever,” Anderberg said.
He added that the new area was originally scheduled to open in the fall of 1974, but that that plan has gone by the boards. He said that Winter Park also hopes to open up another area to the northwest after the Mary Jane area is completed.
Crested Butte has plans to get rid of their gondola and replace it with an enclosed chairlift. The area also plans to add two more chairs to the western side of the mountain.
The area expects to increase uphill capacity by replacing the gondola, according to Cal Queal, Marketing Director. Today’s high-capacity chairlift would have substantially higher capacity than the 3-person gondola which was installed in 1962.
There will be a $2 million expansion of ski facilities at Snowmass, according to D.R.C. Brown, President of the Aspen Skiing Corporation. Two new chairlifts will be built which are designed to serve East Alpine Valley between the Elk Camp and Big Burn, and also eliminate crowding on existing lower lifts.
One of these lifts, to be called Wood Run, will be the area’s first triple chair. It will be 4,541 feet long, have a vertical rise of 764 feet and a capacity of 1,800 skiers per hour.
Another feature of this new section of Snowmass will be a full-facility restaurant—the fourth on Snowmass slopes. It will be located at the top of the new Middle Park lift, and is designed to seat 100 skiers. —Lois Barr
Aerial hot-dogging banned at Vail
Peter Seibert, Chairman of the Board of Vail Associates, has announced a halt to all aerial hot-dogging competitions on Vail mountain because of possible injuries to competitors.
Seibert said his decision was influenced by an accident at Steamboat last February during the Super Hot Dog Open competitions. During that event, Scott Magrino, 21, of Malone, N.Y., and a veteran hot-dog competitor, was injured while attempting a double back flip. Doctors say Magrino may be paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the injury.
“After the incident at Steamboat,” Seibert says, “we began to question the whole format of hot-dog contests. Vail received assurances that extra precautions would be taken at Vail for the Rocky Mountain Regional Free-style Championships, but despite all of this, a very tragic accident occurred.”
Seibert continued, “As a result of these accidents, it’s about time that someone said ‘Stop’ and that ski area operators and industry officials evaluate the risk to competitors as well as to the impressionable younger skiers who wish to emulate the hot-doggers.” Seibert explained that the safer aspects of free-style skiing may be continued.
Steamboat gears for expanded summer program
Steamboat resort area this year is launching a major summer program designed to attract 1.5 million people who, according to studies, pass through the town of Steamboat Springs each summer.
Six tennis courts are being built at the ski area base, and there are plans to hire a tennis pro.
Also to be offered will be horseback riding, raft trips down the Elk, Green and Yampa Rivers, guided backpacking and horseback riding tours and bike rentals.
According to Mix Beauvais, Steamboat PR director, the area also plans to stage melodramas during the summer on the plaza. —Lois Barr
Hall of Fame elects eleven new members
Among the eleven ski athletes elected to the National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan, are three actively in the ski area industry. Howard Chivers, of Hanover, N.H., runs the ski facilities for his alma mater, Dartmouth. Chivers was national nordic combined champion in 1942, and was named to the 1940 Olympic team.
Corey Engen, of Brundage Mt., McCall, Idaho, was nordic national champion of 1952, and was captain of the 1948 Olympic nordic team. He was also three times national veterans’ alpine combined champion, the last time in 1969.
Luggi Foeger, long with Incline Village, Nevada, and recently involved with Northstar, was also honored for his contributions as international ski competitor and teacher.
Iceland looking into ski resort possibilities
Faced with a sagging economy, Iceland is seeking new directions, and is looking into the ski resort business.
Last fall, Iceland called on the United Nations to send it an expert on ski resorts. The U.N. sent Kingsbury Pitcher, owner-manager of Santa Fe Ski Basin, who helped in the development of Snowmass, Sun Valley, Big Sky, Vermont’s Jay Peak and Sierra Blanca.
On his return, Pitcher said he found several potential sites for major ski area development. The best one, he said, is located about an hour from the country’s capital, Reykjavik. In addition to some thermal hot springs in the area, Pitcher said he found some of the best salmon fishing anywhere.
“It’s so big we dubbed it Snowmass at Iceland,” Pitcher said. “The mountain is about 4,000 feet high, and the mountains there are very alpine, like the Colorado high country. It’s a beautiful place for a resort.”
The big question now is not when the area might be developed, but if it will. “They’re not really sure they want tourists, and if they do, they don’t want many of them,” Pitcher said. “Their feeling is Iceland for the Icelanders.”
Pitcher adds that he feels the country will ultimately decide in favor of a development. —Pat Lamb
Study recommends major resort for Michigan
Development of a major year-round resort complex on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan is the major recommendation in a feasibility study prepared by Sno-engineering.
The study was made for Universal Oil Products Company, owners of 234,000 acres of land in which the resort complex would be built. UOP stated that it is not in the resort business, and that it intends to seek an organization interested in developing a major resort along the lines recommended in the Sno-engineering report.
ACQUISITIONS
Snow Ridge sold to group headed by local physician
After 28 seasons of running Snow Ridge ski area, Turin, N.Y., Lawton Williams and Perry Williams (skiing friends but not relatives) have sold their area to a corporation headed by Dr. L. Miller Harris. Transfer will take place about July 1.
No stranger to the area, Dr. & Mrs. Harris have owned a chalet at Snow Ridge for many years, and have been very active in the Snow Ridge Ski Club and the junior racing program. Two of their children are junior racers.
Snow Ridge, well known for its early and unusually reliable snow, today has three double chairlifts, three T-bars and extensive base area facilities.
Trade magazines change hands
Ownership of Ski Area Management reverted in January to Beardsley Publishing Corporation, whose President and principal stockholder is David Rowan, who started the magazine in 1962. The property was sold by Popular Science Publishing Company which had acquired it as part of their purchase of Ski and Ski Business magazines in September, 1972.
In commenting on the move, Rowan said, “SAM is the one independent publication serving the field, and we like it that way.”
In a related move, ownership and editorial control of Skiing Area News was transferred to NSAA, and renamed National Ski Area News. Ziff-Davis Publishing, the previous owners (and publishers of Skiing Magazine) will continue to handle the publishing, but under the control of an NSAA Editorial review board.
The contract with Ziff-Davis calls for an NSAA service fee of $10,000 per year for five years. Profits from advertising, if any, will be shared equally by Ziff-Davis and NSAA, and Ziff-Davis will carry the burden of any losses.
Cross-country ski imports spiral
A report in the March issue of Ski Business Magazine shows a spectacular increase in the imports of touring skis. According to the magazine’s figures, 278,596 pairs of skis were imported from the Scandinavian countries in 1972, which represents “almost an 80 per cent increase over 1971, which in turn represented a quintupling of the market over 1969 . . . Statistically, almost one in four pairs of skis brought into the U.S. last year were of the cross-country variety.
Ski Business found that imports of Alpine skis actually declined from 1,069,163 pairs in 1971 to 972,000 in 1972. Alpine ski imports from the European countries, however, increased by 7 per cent, according to the report.
ENVIRONMENT
Vermont development battles selectmen
The words were sharp, and the charges and counter-charges pointed, in the running battle between the town of Wilmington, Vt. and Haystack ski area.
Although bad blood had existed for some time, it recently flared when suit was filed against the Haystack Corp. in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn. by seven persons who had purchased townhouse building sites in 1971. One of the plaintiffs said that it was not until August 1972 that they began to suspect that their plans to build on the site would not be realized because of zoning and environmental restrictions. He added that all of them tried unsuccessfully to sell their land back to Haystack. The suit alleges misrepresentation, claiming that Haystack falsely represented the development plans as having been approved.
After filing of the suit, Wilmington town officials started wondering out loud about the financial security of Haystack, and what its demise would mean to the town. Town Selectman, Robert Grinold, was quoted as saying, “Our problem is we fear the town may receive a severe financial blow.” Town Manager John Cronan charged that environmental standards required in the development’s permit have not been met, and that the state had not been policing the situation properly.
In response, W. Thomas Cullen, President of Haystack Corporation, lashed back at the selectman for “deceiving the people of Wilmington.”
“Regardless of what Grinold says, Haystack is sounder financially than ever before,” said Cullen in an interview in the Bennington Banner. “Grinold is aware of the fact, even though he intimates we’re going under and keeps talking about the severe financial blow Wilmington will suffer if we go under. Grinold knows that a bond is available to cover costs on sewers, water and roads in Haystack should the corporation ever fail.”
Cullen pointed out that Haystack, “which only paid 8.4 per cent of the total town budget in 1968, now pays 36.6 per cent of that budget. Haystack pays 36.6 per cent of that budget. Haystack pays 90.2 per cent of the non-school budget now as opposed to 18.5 per cent back in 1968.”
In this context Cullen said he found it “unfathomable” that the selectmen should be “trying to destroy Haystack.” He further charged that Grinold, who has had a dispute with Haystack regarding his trailer court, was “teeing off on Haystack” ever since the trailer park variance hearings.
LAW
Student group criticizes area safety in Oregon
Oregon has a Ralph Nader-inspired student group, the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG). The group just released a study they recently made entitled “Oregon Ski Areas: Safe or Unsafe”. Teams of inspectors from 14 colleges did some homework on Forest Service regulations and investigated compliance at 12 Oregon ski areas.
As could probably be expected, they found areas of alleged safety measure violations. The students conceded they lacked the engineering expertise to conduct a technical investigation but point out that the Forest Service have no major disagreements with its findings or conclusions.
OSPIRG feels the Forest Service needs to police ski areas more closely, and that District rangers are not adequately enforcing safety standards in ski areas under their jurisdiction. The report recommended that the ski area inspections be centralized under the control of one regional Forest Service official and that he be given authority to close down unsafe lifts.
There has been no reaction from ski area operators yet, but there are reports that several will issue statements contrary to the OSPIRG findings. —John Hoefling
SCHOOLS
Ski education scholarships set
Three scholarships of $500.00 each will be awarded this spring to students whose families are engaged in ski area operations, it was announced by David Judson of Otis Ridge, Mass., president of Ski Education and Research Foundation.
Opeting initially with funds donated by Barringer and Williams, managers of the NSAA insurance plan, the foundation expects to award three scholarships the first year, and four thereafter. Hope was expressed that other organizations would support the program and expand it further.
The scholarships are intended for students at college level, though not necessarily confined to this group.
To be eligible an applicant must be a member of the immediate family of a person principally employed in ski area operations, or so employed himself.
Scholarship application blanks can be obtained from Ski Education and Research Foundation, Inc., Suite 2700, 200 East 42nd Street, New York, N. Y. 10017.
MEETINGS
ARTA meeting set for Great Gorge
The Association of Recreational Tramway Authorities will hold its annual meeting on Monday, May 14, at the Playboy Club, Great Gorge, N.J., it was announced by Carl J. Mattei, president.
The meeting, which will run from 9:30 to 5:30, will cover accident investigation and reporting, lift evacuation seminars, lift inspector training programs as well as Federal and State administrative programs in recreational areas using aerial transport facilities.
USSEF to get control of ski team and autonomy from USSA
In a major reorganizational move within the structure of organized skiing, the control of the U.S. Ski Team is soon to be transferred from the U.S. Ski Association to an autonomous U.S. Ski Educational Foundation. The groundwork for this move was laid during the course of a stormy year for the team, during which coaches quit or were fired, budget shortages forced early return of some racers from the European tour, major race fixtures were switched at the last minute, top racers failed to make promised appearances, suppliers became increasingly critical of the equipment endorsement program, and other such crises, major and minor.
The highly vocal and well-informed Ski Racing reported the goings-on with relish, and provided spicey and tart commentary. Top fund-raisers, especially J. Neglie “Cookie” Cook, of the all-important New York Committee, became increasingly disenchanted, and it looked as though the whole money faucet might be turned off.
Then came an ad hoc meeting in February of concerned industry figures that included top echelon representatives from both ski publications, suppliers to the ski team, area operators and key fund-raisers. The consensus was that a USSEF, autonomous and separate from USSA, was essential. In this way, it was felt, individuals or organizations giving to the U.S. Ski Team would know that their funds were going directly to the organization that controlled both the money and the team functioning. It was also thought to be essential that the leadership of USSEF be broadened to include leaders from all segments of the ski world, especially the ski industry.
With the financial gun at its head, USSA could only acquiesce. Appropriately, the one-time divorce capital of the world, Reno, was chosen as the site for the enabling resolution to be passed by USSEF that would eventually result in the separation from USSA. First, the Board of Trustees was expanded to include SIA President, Fred Andresen; area operators Tom Corcoran of Waterville Valley, Gus Raaum of Big Sky and Peter Seibert of Vail; Denver fund-raiser Bill Griffith (New York fund-raisers Cooke and Warren Hellman were already Trustees); and Brad Briggs of Skiing and Ski Racing, who was elected President of the Board of Trustees. The expanded Board then passed a resolution which affirmed the approval in principle of transferring control of the U.S. Ski Team from USSA to USSEF.
Even as all this was being done, insiders were chuckling over the “gagging gambit” of getting Briggs elected President of the USSEF. Since he is Executive Vice President of the publishing company that owns Ski Racing, it is generally expected that this publication’s gadfly role toward those that run the ski team will be somewhat blunted.
No findings yet in Mt. Peter fatal lift accident probe
The lift accident at Mt. Peter, N.Y. in February resulted in unprecedented press coverage that included front-page stories both in the N. Y. Times and in the Denver Post. Contributing to this was the fact that the accident occurred on a news-light holiday weekend. Furthermore, the fatality, the subsequent serious evacuation injury and the 4-hour elapsed time for full evacuation turned the story into a tragically headline-type of event.
Because of the serious legal implications surrounding an accident of this type, nobody is saying much beyond the bare facts that were presented in the news reports. After the disengagement of the cable, the cable kept running for some 325 feet, with a fatality occurring as a result of chairs piling into each other at a tower before the cable was stopped. A derailment switch was in position, but the cable did not drop low enough to trigger the switch. The engineering studies can be expected to concentrate on determining whether this sort of “derailment” was a once-in-a-million fluke, or whether derailment switches will have to be redesigned to protect against such a cable configuration. Also undetermined at press time was how, why, and when the sheave unit turned.
On March 21 there was a New York State Labor Department hearing at which considerable testimony was given. Carl Mattei, Director of the Division of Industrial safety, told SAM that he expects to make his report to State Industrial Commissioner Catherwood by the end of April, and that he may make his recommendations at that time as to possible changes in the New York lift code. Much of the testimony centered around an adjustment screw that broke at some point. The adjustment screw was described as aligning the four-sheave train supporting the cable on the fourth of nine towers.
The secondary accident occurred when the evacuation rope that was lowering a passenger broke. The passenger eventually died from the injuries received. It is widely expected that the accident will result in the universal use of appropriate synthetic fibre rope for all such purposes.
SUPPLIER NEWS
Hall expands in the west
The Hall Ski-Lift Co. recently announced that it is actively pursuing steel fabricating and manufacturing facilities in the western U.S. No definite location has yet been set, though several are presently being considered.
The decision to open a western operation is part of an overall plan to provide faster and less expensive service for western customers, according to Ted Schneider, Western Executive Sales Co-ordinator.
A new parts warehouse was recently opened by the company in Walla Walla, Washington, with direct-line teletype service to the home office in Watertown, N.Y..
New appointments for Sno-engineering.
Dick McHugh, former president of Skier Feeding, has joined the staff of Sno-engineering’s eastern office in Franconia, N.H. McHugh will continue to operate in his specialty of hotel-motel and accommodations planning and will specialize in food and beverage service programs, according to Jim Branch, president of Sno-engineering.
Branch also announced the appointment of Terry Granger as operations manager of Sno-engineering’s western office, which has been relocated in Glenwood Springs, Colo.
Sneller purchased by B A. Rice
B. A. Rice Industries, Inc. has announced the acquisition of Sneller Ski Lift Co. of Euclid, Ohio.
Rice, which manufactures the Alp Maker III portable snow gun, is located in Canandaigua, N.Y., and the Sneller operation will also be housed in a new plant there.
In announcing the move, President Bruce Rice said, “It is our aim to continue the fine tradition of service and quality that has been the guide line of the Sneller Company for many years.”
Stadeli Lift switches to direct sales
Stadeli Lift Company, of Oetwil (near Zurich) Switzerland has announced an “amicable parting” with Stadeli-Waterville, which has handled U.S. sales in recent years. Future business will be handled directly with the Swiss company.
Spare parts service will still be handled from warehouse facilities at Waterville, N.H. and Boulder, Colo., through Fritz Schmutz, Stadeli’s field engineer and sales representative.
Lift inspection service started
A lift inspection service has been formed by Ed Ladd, lift supervisor at Waterville Valley, N.H. for ten years. Called Eastern Lift Consultants, the firm will produce confidential reports for the management of an area.
The service is designed to help management check on their own maintenance program. It will also give a check-up on the areas conformity to ANSI Code provisions.
For more information, contact Ed Ladd, P.B. 47, Campton, N.H.
Snow reports set records
The Ellis Ski Information Center reported a record 18,453 telephone calls on one day, January 5. Calls are all handled by the staff of 35 ski reporters. In addition to snow conditions, questions are answered on such things as lifts, night skiing, nursery facilities etc.
Frank Ellis, who started the service 25 years ago, said this was his biggest year ever. In addition to handling skier phone calls, the Ellis service receives calls from 60 ski shops daily who post conditions on their bulletin boards. Ellis also reports over a network of radio stations.
