National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat
April 2015
California’s Squaw Valley plans base-to-base gondola connection with sister resort Alpine Meadows
For years, Andy Wirth and Troy Caldwell have skied the North Lake Tahoe resorts of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows together. They boot packed to fresh powder, fueled up with coffee cake made by Troy’s wife, and talked about the future of the California resorts. That’s standard fare for mountain town neighbors—except that Wirth is the President and CEO of Squaw, and Caldwell owns the 460 acres of private property that separates Squaw from its neighbor Alpine. And so their chairlift conversations led to the April 13 announcement that Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, LLC plans to connect the two resorts with a base-to-base lift. More. Mountain Magazine Ed. Note: There is a nice video at the link.
Multi-Resort Pass, Day Ticket Options Expand For 2015-2016; Buy Now to Save
Bargains abound for skiers and riders who can hit the road to get on the slopes at a variety of resorts next season. Also for those with itchy feet, a trio of multi-resort, multi-day passes give riders and skiers up to five days at a variety of resorts in both the East and the West. More. SnoCountry
Town Approves $50 Million Makeover at Canyons/Park City resort
The Park City Planning Commission gave unanimous approval for Vail Resorts’ plan to build an interconnecting gondola between Park City and Canyons ski areas, among other capital improvements totaling $50 million. The end result will reportedly represent the largest single ski area in the U.S., with more than 7,300 acres of skiable terrain. More. SAM
California Water Restrictions Not Likely to Hobble Ski Areas
California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered mandatory water use reductions for the first time in California’s history, saying that the state’s four-year drought had reached “near-crisis proportions.” Nonetheless, ski industry officials in California told SAM that ski areas are not likely to be hit hard by water restrictions, though they caution that the final language of the mandate is still forthcoming. More. SAM
Ski Blades Now Illegal in Vermont: Legislature Passes Mandatory 2:1 Height-To-Ski-Ratio
Vermont’s legislature voted on Tuesday to approve a bill banning the use of ski blades at all public ski areas in the state. H.54 passed with bipartisan support in both chambers of the General Assembly and was signed into law this morning. The ban will go into effect for the 2015-2016 ski season.
According to Vermont Ski Areas Association President Parker Riehle, “the presence of ski bladers on trails, on lifts, and around the base areas of resorts makes our most loyal guests uncomfortable,” and resort management shares those guests’ sentiments. These super-short skis, also known as skiboards, snowblades, and snowlerblades, are so ridiculous that they damage Vermont’s reputation as a serious snowsports destination, he said. More. Ski Vermont
Faulty Switch Contributed to Sugarloaf Lift Rollback
A team of investigators has determined that an inappropriately specified switch in one of the brake components on Sugarloaf’s King Pine lift contributed to the March 21 rollback accident that injured seven people. More. SAM
Ski Lift Company Warns Resorts of Potential Design Flaw in Dozens of US Chairlifts
A chairlift company is warning U.S. ski resorts to check about 170 lifts for potential problems after engineers announced that a design flaw likely contributed to a weekend accident that injured seven skiers in Maine.
Partek Ski Lifts, based in Pine Island, New York, advised ski resort operators using Borvig and Partek chairlifts to perform safety checks and to pay close attention to an electrical switch believed to have played a role in the accident at Sugarloaf.
The National Ski Areas Association believes about 170 Borvig and Partek lifts could be affected. There are 3,500 ski lifts in the U.S. More. AP via Fox Business News
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction 2015 in Steamboat Springs
Ten new inductees to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame were honored April 11 in Steamboat Springs. The annual induction ceremony capped off the April 6-12 Skiing History Week.
The Class of 2014 Hall of Fame inductees include a host of notable athletes and sport pioneers from Olympic champion Ross Powers to World Championship medalist Erik Schlopy, along with big mountain skier Chris Davenport, Professional Ski Instructors of America founder Curt Chase, ski goggle pioneer Bob Smith and more. More. (Complete list of inductees at link.) Box Score via Google Alerts
US Ski and Snowboard Athletes/Clubs Pass $1M Mark
USSA athletes and clubs have collectively raised more than $1 million on RallyMe. The $1M mark was met after a contribution to Myles Silverman, 17, a snowboarder from Steamboat Springs, Colo. The boost came from Silverman’s kindergarten teacher. More. RallyMe
Eldora (CO) Expansion Gets Initial OK From Forest Service; New Terrain Likely Next Season
Eldora Mountain Resort has cleared a major hurdle in its plan to add more expert and intermediate terrain, new and revamped chairlifts, and an on-mountain eatery in the coming years. The day-tripping mountain in Colorado’s Boulder area still must wait out about 150 days of objections and reconciliation to the U.S. Forest Service’s tentative decision before undertaking its first overhaul in decades. More. SnoCountry
British Columbia Develops Climate Change Action Plan
The provincial government of British Columbia is developing a Climate Change Action Plan aimed at helping B.C.’s 35 ski resorts better prepare for a future with less snow. Stakeholders involved with the plan met last month week in Whistler as part of on-going discussions. Arthur De Jong, mountain planning and environmental resource manager with Whistler Blackcomb, said the plan is forward-looking and will identify what ski areas will need to do in the future to build resilience in order to sustain their operations. More. SAM
Western Mountain Lodging Revenues Pacing Ahead of Last Season
The most recent results for western mountain lodging properties at 19 resort communities in six western states show revenues are up 12.3 percent compared to the same period last season, while occupancy is up 6.5 percent. The data include activity through Feb. 28 and are collected and reported on by DestiMetrics, a Denver-based mountain travel research firm. More. SAM
VIDEO: Remembering Sugarloaf’s Unlikely 1971 World Cup
Nearly 44 years prior to wunderkind Mikaela Shiffrin blowing out the slalom field by 4.31 seconds, Sugarloaf was busy hosting the only World Cup alpine event ever on Maine soil, before or since. In lieu of the U.S. Championship’s return to Sugarloaf, the historic 1971 competition was commemorated in a short documentary put together by Taylor Walker with help from the Ski Museum of Maine and the Sugarloaf Ski Club. More. Powder
