Roundtop buys Windham; Gmuender named GM
Windham, a 1,500-ft. vertical mountain with 100 acres of skiing terrain, is serviced by 3 double chair lifts and 1 triple chair lift for a total uphill capacity of 4800 skiers per hour.
Originally built as Cave Mt., it was later developed as a private club by Tom Sheridan and his brother, Bob. It went into receivership in June of 1980, and the area was purchased by Ski Roundtop from Bankers Trust of New York City, who had been operating it as a public area since their takeover.
Ski Roundtop. Inc. owns and operates Ski Roundtop near Rossville, north of York, Pennsylvania, and Ski Liberty, south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where it also has a full summer recreational program, including a motel and the Alpine Slide.
Robert A. Kinsley, Vice President, at a meeting with Ski Roundtop employees, announced that Sepp Gmuender, manager of Ski Roundtop division since 1962, has been named the General Manager of Windham and Don Hoover, former Asst. Area Manager to Gmuender, has been promoted to Area Manager at Ski Roundtop.
PSIA launches national proficiency test program
The Professional Ski Instructors of America has launched a pilot program at 18 areas this winter to establish a 3-level proficiency testing program—bronze, silver and gold, equating respectively to intermediate, advanced and expert levels of skiing.
Designed to promote skiing and ski lessons to the public, the program is co-sponsored by Michelob Light Beer and Skiing Magazine. “Star Test” (for Standard Rating Test International) will be administered through PSIA member schools.
The selection of areas—all having PSIA member schools—to pilot the program was based on getting a mix of day and destination areas, plus geographic distribution.
Paul “PJ” Jones, PSIA VP, will serve as coordinator of the program.
Public television to air downhill racing
An hour-long documentary entitled, “The Dream Never Dies,” about Canadian downhiller Ken Read’s quest for the 1980 World Cup Downhill, will be aired on public television on Saturday, April 4. It is scheduled for 10-11 p.m. Eastern time, but those interested should check their local PBS station for their schedule.
Made possible by Alcan, the show was produced by Vermont Education TV in cooperation with Lauron Productions Ltd., of Toronto.
WARNING- AVALANCHE DANGER!
Forest Service avalanche school scheduled
The Forest Service will host the Seventh National Avalanche School in Reno, Nevada, November 1-6, 1981. The school will provide instruction for students who are relatively inexperienced, as well as classes for those who are experienced veterans. Instructors at the school are qualified avalanche scientists and winter sports administrators with broad backgrounds.
There will be a $200 tuition fee for selected applicants. Anyone wishing to attend must submit an application form, which can be obtained from: 1981 National Avalanche School, USDA, Forest Service, 240 West Prospect Avenue, Fort Collins, CO. 80526. Completed applications should be sent to the Fort Collins address by June 1, 1981. Two hundred students will be accepted and notified. Their $200 tuition fee, is due after notification.
Those completing this course are eligible to go on to Phase II (field seminars at high avalanche hazard areas) and Phase III in which an instructor visits the student’s home area.
OBITUARIES
Robert F. LeSage, 57, a well-known aerial tramway and skilift engineer, died in December after a year of cancer treatment. At the time of his death he was Supervisory Tramway Engineer for the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board. He had been involved in the design and construction of lift facilities for 20 years with the Heron Engineering Co., and its successors, in Denver. He was a member of the ANSI B-77 Committee, and was active in the Rocky Mountain Lift Association and related organizations.
Boyd French, Jr., 65, the designer and builder of Oregon’s first ski lifts, died of cancer recently at his Bellingham, WA home. In 1936, in partnership with his father, French designed and built a 4,000-ft. rope tow at what is now the Multorpor Ski Area. Later, French added a second tow that went from Oregon 35 to the Ski Bowl and on to the top of Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain. French replaced the tows with chairlifts at the end of World War II, and sold the Ski Bowl operations in the early 1950s. French had been a candidate for the 1940 Olympic Team that was never selected because of the war.
Wallace “Bunny” Bertram, builder of the first rope tow in the U.S., died at 73. An interview and an editorial on Bertram appear elsewhere in this issue.
Robert S. Barton, president of the Woodstock Resort Corp., died January 17 in a two-car crash in Hartford, Vt. The Woodstock Resort Corp. includes Suicide Six Ski Area, Woodstock Ski Touring Center and the Woodstock Inn.
Consumer ski show group organized
On the eve of the silver anniversary of Harry Leonard’s first consumer ski show, the organizers of twelve major market ski shows met in Denver on February 6 to form Ski Shows of America, a cooperative umbrella for coordination and promotion.
Directors are Allen Adezio of the Chicago Ski Show Co., and Judy Gray, of Gemini Productions’ Ski Dazzle of California. Harry Leonard was elected as “sales ambassador” to represent the association to prospective national sponsors and exhibitors.
For information, contact Allen Adezio, Chicago Ski Show Co., 6832 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL. 60635.
Over-snow vehicle contest cancelled in France
“CIMEP-81”, an international competition for over-snow grooming vehicles, scheduled for Flaine in March, was cancelled in late January when three major suppliers withdrew: Kassbohrer, Ratrac (DMC in Europe) and Prinoth.
The competition had been supported by the French Ministry of Tourism, the French Ski Areas Association and the Mountain Trade Show organization.
Alaska’s ski areas form association
Chris von Imhof, VP and GM of Alyeska Resort, announced the formation of the Alaska Ski Areas Association. According to von Imhof, chairman of the new organization, “ASAA was established to identify and deal with the common problems and needs among its member areas, and we hope the organization will unify the ski industry in the State.” Approximately a dozen of the State’s ski areas have expressed a desire for such an organization.
CORRECTIONS
Snowmaking—In these days of double digit inflation, it is easy to get a little cavalier with the zeros. Which is exactly what we did in the article about Ontario’s Blue Mountain in the January issue, when we credited their snowmaking system with being able to lay down 100 acres with a foot of snow every two hours at 20-deg F. We overstated by a factor of 100: it should have been one acre. All snowmaking competitors, “At Ease!”
Lifts—Also in the January issue, in our annual Lift Construction Survey, we incorrectly listed six Doppelmayr chairlifts at Vail. We should have shown them at Beaver Creek, which is a Vail subsidiary. Also, the sixth one listed should have been a double instead of triple.
Additionally, we incorrectly showed Morin Heights in Quebec, together with its four chairs, as opening this season. This area opens next season, as it was always scheduled to.
PEOPLE
Bob Ash, was recently named president of Beech Mountain Resort in North Carolina. He has been with Beech for seven years, before which he was at Sugar Mt. Ash also markets his Snowstorm Snowmaking system. . . . Julie Wynhoff Schultz, has been appointed media coordinator at Copper Mt. . . . Terry Schieber, has become GM of Hilton Shanty Creek in northern Lower Michigan . . . Winona Thompson, formerly PR Manager for California’s Northstar-at-Tahoe, has been promoted to Sales Manager. Cheryl Gregorio-Crupper, takes her place in the PR slot . . . Richard E. Woodrow, is new Supervisor of the White River National Forest, according to Craig W. Rupp, Regional Forester . . . Douglas A. Burdon, VP and GM of the new Ski Morin Heights area being built in Quebec, has resigned “because of differing philosophies on operating the company.” . . . New Hampshire’s King Ridge has its first new ski school director in 20 years, following the retirement of Laurids Lauridsen, and he is Alan Ritchie. He has been at King Ridge since 1976.
SUPPLIER NEWS
Riblet school
The Riblet Tramway Co., is holding a maintenance school for ski area personnel, April 20 through April 24, 1981, at the Riblet plant. The subjects will be gear boxes by Cone Drive and Western Gear, and Caterpillar planetary units. Participants will disassemble and reassemble this machiney gaining “hands on” experience. Class size will be limited to 20 persons.
To make a reservation, call (509) 483-8555 or write to Riblet Tramway Company, P.O. Box 5220, Spokane, Washington 99205.
Inventex appoints VP for marketing, sales
Robert G. O’Hanneson has been appointed Vice President of Inventex Corporation, according to Stig Albertsson, President. O’Hanneson’s responsibilities will be overseeing the marketing and sales, along with field installation, of the various Alpine recreational systems marketed by Inventex. These include Alpine Slide; Alpine LectraPorta, a recreational monorail; Alpine Water Bob; Alpine Water Slide and Alpine Indycart.
O’Hanneson’s business background is in the amusement ride field, where he has held executive positions with Kilinski Manufacturing and Arrow Development, both leading suppliers in that field.
Valley adds new dealers
Alpine Equipment Service, of 1120 N. 28th Street, Pasco, WA, has been appointed a dealer for Valley Engineering. Territory covered by Alpine is the state of Washington, Oregon and Idaho (north of the Salmon River).
They will handle the complete line of Valley products, including three models of Kassbohrer Pisten Bully tractors, Baechler cross-country track setters and snow grooming attachments for Bombardier, DMC and Tucker Sno-Cat vehicles.
Bill Jensen and Jack Wood are the contacts at Alpine Equipment, and may be reached at (509) 547-5499.
The states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will be covered by Snow Enterprises, currently headquartered at Lutsen Mountain, Route 61, Lutsen, Minnesota. Snow Enterprises headed by Charles Skinner will carry the full Valley Engineering line of snow grooming attachments and the Kassbohrer Pisten Bully vehicles. Their phone number is (218) 663-7281.
