National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat
March 2024
Indy Pass 2024-25 Pricing Flat, Adds 200-Resort Guarantee. Early-bird pricing for the 2024-25 Indy Pass will remain steady at $279 when it goes on sale March 1 to current and past passholders as well as people on last year’s waitlist, who can buy it for $329. Indy Pass currently has 185 independent resort partners, and the company is offering a money-back guarantee that it will grow to at least 200 partners for 2024-25. More. SAM
Sugarloaf Opens West Mountain Terrain Expansion. Sugarloaf is opening West Mountain, a new 120-acre terrain expansion served by a high-speed detachable quad with an uphill capacity of 2,400 skiers per hour. “It’s the largest terrain expansion to happen in the Northeast since the late 1970s,” said Sugarloaf president and general manager Karl Strand. More. SAM
Blue Mountain and Camelback Join for New Peak to Peak Poconos Pass. KSL Resorts will offer a new joint season pass product for the 2024-25 season called the Peak to Peak Poconos Pass that includes unlimited access to Blue Mountain Resort and Camelback Resort, its two properties in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. More. SAM
New Mexico’s First Ski Area Reopens After Multiple Year Hiatus. Sandia Peak Ski Area in New Mexico was out of operation since 2022. New Mexico’s oldest ski resort is outside Albuquerque. More. Powder
Mountain Collective Adds Bromont for the 2024-25 Season. The 2024-25 Mountain Collective pass will provide two-days of access to 25 mountain destinations with the addition of Bromont, in eastern Quebec, which joins Le Massif de Charlevoix as the second Quebec partner on the pass and the eighth in Canada. More. SAM
Taos Ski Valley, NM, Becomes First Resort in North America to Use Electric Snowcat. Taos Ski Valley is leading the way in this movement and is the first ski resort in North America to deploy a fully electric snow groomer. Taos Ski Valley is the world’s first and only certified B Corporation ski resort and has been a certified carbon-neutral company since 2021. More. SnowBrains via Google Alerts Ed. Note: Taos is hosting the NSCF Annual Meeting Aug. 21-25.
How a Vermont Ski Area Roared Back From a Financial Scandal. Less than a decade ago, the biggest fraud in ski industry history nearly took down a beloved ski area. But Jay Peak, long known for its powder, has since transformed into a sparkling modern resort. More. New York Times
New Vail Resorts Chairlift-Fall Lawsuit Examines Culpability of Lift Operators. The incident took place in Park City in 2020, where a father jumped off the lift to reach his fallen child. More. Ski
Solitude, UT Ski Patrollers Take Giant Step Towards Unionizing. Solitude Mountain Resort’s ski patrollers have submitted a petition for union representation by the United Professional Ski Patrols of America. The announcement comes after ski patrollers at Whitefish Mountain Resort, MT filed a petition to join the same union. More. Powder
Palisades Tahoe Ski Patrollers Take First Step Towards Unionizing. If successful, the Palisades Tahoe Professional Patrol Association would be the first unionized ski patrol in California. More. Powder
Seven Organizations Making Skiing More Inclusive for BIPOC. While the industry is starting to dig into these issues, it’s still a way off from solving them. Luckily, several organizations and nonprofits took up the mantle years ago before “DEI” became the buzzword it is today. These groups are at the forefront of making skiing more accessible and inclusive for underrepresented groups across the United States. More. Ski
Skier Dies After Falling Into Tree Well at Wyoming Resort. A skier died after falling into a tree well at Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming. He was skiing with a partner in bounds until the pair was separated. Other skiers reportedly found him upside down in the tree well before ski patrol arrived and attempted to dig him out. Ski Patrol and EMTs responded but were unable to revive him. More. The Inertia via Google Alerts
Should Wealthy Skiers Get to Buy Access to Powder Before the Lifts Open? Rising predawn to chase powder is sacred in ski culture, but an increasing number of resorts are offering early-access programs for people who can afford them. More. Ski Ed. Note: This is quite a long article and addresses all sides of the issue.
Climate Change Cost U.S. Ski Industry Billions, Study Says, Future Depends on Emissions. U.S. ski areas lost $5 billion from 2000 to 2019 as a result of climate change and could lose around $1 billion annually in the 2050s depending on how much emissions are reduced, a new study found. More. AP via Grand Junction, CO, Daily Sentinel & Google Alerts.
Northern Michigan Ski Industry Sounds Off on New Report Citing Climate Change for Loss of Billions. Northern Michigan’s ski industry reacts to a new report showing that US ski businesses have lost billions over the years because of climate change. More. 9&10 News via Google Alerts
