SAM Coverage
Weather
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North Carolina Ski Areas Sustain Minimal Damage from Helene, Communities Not as Lucky
Photo courtesy of Kim Jochl.SAM Magazine—Banner Elk, N.C., Oct. 2, 2024—Ski areas in the mountains of western North Carolina appear to have suffered relatively…
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Can We Still Count on Christmas?
Is Christmas week still the best benchmark for the season? December and the all-important Christmas holiday period were a bust for many North American…
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Nathan Hakseth Promoted to GM at Wild Mountain
SAM Magazine—Taylor Falls, Minn., Feb. 7, 2024—Wild Mountain snowsports manager Nathan Hakseth has been promoted to general manager of the Taylor Falls, Minn., ski…
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Fire on the Mountain
Sierra-at-Tahoe GM John Rice reflects on the devastating Caldor Fire, the hard lessons learned, and what’s next for the resort as it emerges from…
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Better Late Than Never
March snow helped offset a slow start to the season for many resorts, but didn’t erase the early deficit. Forget the lion. March was…
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Variable Conditions
An accurate and timely daily snow report is absolutely critical to success, but is still a work in progress for many. What gets reported every…
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Sugarloaf to Offer Cat Skiing
SAM Magazine—Carrabassett Valley, Maine, Sept. 15, 2017—Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine will offer cat skiing this winter on its Burnt Mountain terrain, which until this…
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2017 MSAA Summer Meetings and Trade Show
The 2017 MSAA Summer Meetings & Trade Show, held Aug. 20-23 at Devil’s Head, Wis., was memorable for several reasons. For one, this was…
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Mountain Spy :: July 2015 :: Disgruntled Pass Holders
In this month’s Mountain Spy, we address a hot topic this past season—disgruntled pass holders. The responses vary, but a personable employee is always…
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Does Dirt Work Work?
Faced with hosting major events during the 2015 Canada Winter Games, with no snowmaking, this area turned to dirt. The 2015 Canada Winter Games…
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Dealing With Adversity
Wild swings in the weather challenged resorts across the country. Even in an industry used to weather extremes, the first half of the 2013-14…
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When Lightning Strikes
Lightning has always been a problem with chairlifts, but now, with ziplines, canopy tours and more, staying on top of the weather is more…
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Mountain Spy :: May 2013
Mountain spy, Liz Eren, asks a question on finding the best snow. We’d like to give credit for this question to Arapahoe Basin’s Alan…
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Season Ends on High Note
For most resorts, good weather and snow helped salvage a season plagued with challenges at the outset. With the exception of drought-stricken California and…
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The Wake-Up Call
The 2011/12 season may go down in history as one of the worst for ski resorts. But there were some lessons to be learned…
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Adapting to Climate Change
New data on climate change paints a potentially scary picture for ski areas. The rains that drenched Los Angeles just before Christmas were nearly…
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Open Season
With good snow coast to coast, resorts racked up a second stellar year. Once again, proving that snow trumps all—even a still-weak economy—coast-to-coast great…
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Blue Pages :: September 2011
FOUR MORE YEARS?… FALLOUT IN SUGARLOAF… LEHMAN BROS. TAKES OVER MOONLIGHT–FOR NOW… TAMARACK MAKES LIKE A PHOENIX… WHO SAYS ALL TAXES ARE BAD?… BATHROOM…