National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat
September 2016
Big Sky to Invest $150 Million Over 10 Years. An ambitious, top-to-bottom enhancement project called “Big Sky 2025” with an anticipated price tag of $150 million is underway at Big Sky, Mont. Over the next decade, the Boyne Resorts-owned property plans to install 12 new or upgraded lifts, expand its Mountain Village, add activities, and create new dining options at the mountain. Off-mountain, Big Sky aims to build affordable housing and add more frequent non-stop flights into Bozeman from more cities. Big Sky 2025 is set to be a phased project, and the initial 2015 – 2017 phase is already in motion. More. SAM
Telluride Air Service Expands Again. In addition to the previously announced return of regular commercial flights into Telluride Airport, increased traffic into nearby Montrose will also ease access to Telluride this winter. Montrose is getting new Denver service with the addition of twice-weekly Allegiant Air flights. In addition, the region will see a major jump in service to Montrose on the American Airlines network. American Airlines will operate twice-daily peak season flights from Dallas/Ft. Worth, including mainline jets. Flights from Phoenix will run daily through the season, rather than last season’s two to five days a week. Service will also continue from Chicago and Los Angeles. More. SA
Squaw Valley Expansion Plan Gets Initial Approval. A controversial $1 billion, 25-year development plan for Squaw Valley cleared a major hurdle after the Placer County Planning Commission approved the plan in a 4-2 vote. Now, the plan moves on to the Placer County Board of Supervisors for the final verdict. If the board approves the plan, developers would have the green light to add about 850 residential units and nearly 300,000 square feet of commercial space consisting mostly of a hotel and retail over the next 25 years. Plans also call for construction of a 90,000-square-foot indoor adventure center and water park at the resort. More. SAM
M.A.X. Pass Adds 10 More Resorts. One of the newest products in the rapidly growing space of season passes that offer access to multiple, mostly unaffiliated properties, M.A.X. is adding 10 MaxPass resorts to its roster. New for this winter, M.A.X. Pass (which is an acronym, btw, for Multi-Alpine Experience Pass) will include Okemo, Vt., Mount Sunapee, N.H., Wachusett, Mass., Mountain Creek, N.J., Buck Hill, Minn., Crested Butte and Eldora, Colo., Solitude, Utah, Mountain High, Calif., and Alyeska, Alaska. These additions bring the grand total to 32 resorts that are accessible to M.A.X. Pass-holders. More. SAM
Waterville Valley Begins Terrain Expansion. The Green Peak expansion project, which gained permits in 2013, is finally underway at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. The resort is cutting 10 new trails that will add 45 skiable acres, served by a new fixed-grip triple that is scheduled to be open for the coming winter season. More. SAM
Valemount Master Plan Earns B.C. Government Approval. The Valemount Glacier Destinations Ltd. master plan for a proposed ski resort on Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau in interior British Columbia has been approved by the government. Once complete, which is scheduled to take 10 years, the resort is “expected to provide sustainable public access to large glaciers that are more than 9,850 feet in elevation” and have the longest vertical drop in North America, totaling 6,726 feet. The vert title currently belongs to Revelstoke, B.C., with its 5,620 of vertical. The first phase of development is expected to be complete by December 2017. It will provide access up to an elevation of 8,530 feet and a vertical drop of about 5,775 feet. More. SAM
