National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat
April 2017
Wyoming Passes Skier Safety Statute. Wyoming has become the 29th state to adopt ski safety legislation after Gov. Matt Mead signed the Wyoming Ski Safety Act into law earlier this month. According to an NSAA report, the bill defines inherent risks involved with skiing and snowboarding, immunizes ski areas from claims resulting from these risks, and places operational requirements on ski areas to improve mountain safety. More. SAM
Seattle-area Ski Resorts Unite. Crystal Mountain, Stevens Pass Mountain Resort and The Summit at Snoqualmie have partnered on a new season pass alliance for the 2017-2018 ski and snowboard season. Skiers and riders will have the option to add a Cascadia Pass to a qualifying season pass from one of these resorts. The Cascadia Pass gives season pass holders three unrestricted days at each of the other partner resorts for a $199 premium, if purchased by May 31. More. First Tracks!!
The M.A.X. Pass Adds Six New Resorts. The M.A.X. Pass keeps growing. New for the 2017-2018 ski and snowboard season, the M.A.X. Pass now includes access to 44 resorts in North America on a single multi-mountain pass by adding six new ski resorts next winter: Windham, Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface Mountains in New York, Lutsen in Minnesota and Granite Peak in Wisconsin. Now available for $629, this lowest rate is only offered through May 1. More. First Tracks!!
OZRE, EPR, and CNL Complete $830 Million Resort and Attractions Sale. Och-Ziff Real Estate, EPR Properties, and CNL have completed the sale of CNL’s ski area and attractions portfolios. The deal leaves Ski Resort Holdings LLC, owned by funds affiliated with OZRE, with 14 former CNL ski resort properties. EPR, the REIT that has funded Peak Resorts, adds Northstar California resort to its portfolio, along with 15 of CNL’s water and amusement parks, and five smaller family entertainment centers. More. SAM
Epic School Kids Returns for the 2017-2018 Winter Season. Park City Mountain in Utah is offering more compelling reasons to ski or snowboard as a family next winter. Through the Epic School Kids program, all Utah elementary school students – kindergarten through fifth grade – can receive five free days of skiing or snowboarding at Park City Mountain and a free first-time ski or snowboard lesson with complimentary rental equipment. More. First Tracks!!
Ed. Note: Although the purchases by Aspen Skiing Co.-KSL Capital Partners have been widely reported, this Denver Post article looks at them from a different perspective and consolidates the purchase information.
New Aspen partnership buys Mammoth resorts, challenges Vail Resorts’ dominance in season pass sales. The new Aspen Skiing Co.-KSL Capital Partners alliance is buying the Eastern Sierra’s Mammoth Mountain, June Mountain, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, giving the nascent partnership more than 6,000 acres of southern California ski terrain across four resorts that host more than 2 million visits a year.
Dropping a mere two days after Aspen Skiing and Denver private equity firm KSL Capital Partners announced they were partnering on a $1.5 billion deal for Intrawest Resort Holdings‘ six ski areas — including Winter Park and Steamboat — the news is nothing short of a shot across the bow of industry giant Vail Resorts.
It is almost inevitable that the new, yet unnamed partnership between KSL Capital Partners, which owns California’s Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows ski area, and Aspen Skiing, which owns four ski areas in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, will be offering a season pass that will include Aspen Snowmass, Squaw Alpine, Steamboat, Winter Park, Quebec’s Mont Tremblant, Vermont’s Stratton, Ontario’s Blue Mountain and West Virginia’s Snowshoe ski areas. More. The Denver Post
