National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat
August 2014
Park City Says Mountain Lease Worth No More Than $1 Million A Year. Park City Mountain Resort, in a filing with the Utah court overseeing litigation with Vail Resorts MTN over a disputed lease, said it shouldn’t have to pay more than $1 million a year for the 3,000 acres that constitute most of the skiable acreage on the mountain.
Park City and Vail were required to present arguments for how much the mountain is worth so the Summit County court can set a bond as Park City pursues an appeal of a previous order evicting it from the land. The filing suggests the two are still very far apart on the numbers; landowner Talisker Corp. was demanding $7.7 million a year, Park City said, before it entered into a $25 million-a-year lease arrangement with Vail under which the Colorado ski resort operator took over control of the litigation.
Vail’s filing wasn’t immediately available (as of posting of this article). But the company has taken an aggressive stance with Park City, suggesting the only solution to the standoff between the companies is for the longtime operator of the Park City ski area to surrender and sell its base operation to Vail. More. Forbes
Uncertainty Over Coming Season Worries Park City Community. The ongoing maneuvering by the two sides in the PCMR lease dispute has left the Park City community unsettled. The resort is the major economic engine for the town, and the status of the resort for the coming season remains uncertain. Legal proceedings currently underway may not conclude before the season arrives, prompting community leaders to urge the two sides to publicly guarantee the resort will operate.
Talisker and Vail Resorts (VR) have said they will not oppose a move by Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) to stay the court’s July 1 eviction order, if PCMR should choose to go that route, until the case is ultimately decided by the Utah Supreme Court. That could secure PCMR as the operator for 2014-15. But Talisker/VR would seek a high price for their acquiescence: they would ask the court to require PCMR to post a bond equal to the rent for the past three seasons as well as for the coming season. That’s an amount that could easily run to several million dollars. More. SAM
Copper Season Passes Add Free Days at Taos and Targhee. In step with the trend toward multi-area pass privileges, Copper Mountain is sweetening its 2014-15 season pass deals, offering passholders three free days at Taos, N.M., and free skiing at Grand Targhee with a purchase of accommodations through Grand Targhee Lodging.
Those benefits are in addition to Powdr Perks, which give Copper passholders free skiing and riding at five other Powdr-operated resorts: Boreal Mountain Resort, Calif.; Killington Mountain Resort, Vt.; Mt Bachelor Resort, Ore.; Park City Mountain Resort, Utah; and Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, Nev. More. SAM
Mountain Collective Adds Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine. The Mountain Collective has added Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine to its roster for the 2014-15 winter season. The Canadian group joins Alta/Snowbird, Aspen Snowmass, Jackson Hole, Mammoth Mountain, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows and Whistler Blackcomb.
A limited number of Mountain Collective passes are on sale now for $389. That includes two days of skiing or riding at each of the seven destinations, plus a 50 percent discount on all additional days, with no blackout dates. Pricing for the kid’s pass (ages 12 and under) has been reduced to $99, more than 55 percent less than last season. More. SAM
Mount Baldy (B.C.) For Sale. A British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in favor of a sale of Mount Baldy in a foreclosure case brought by a secured creditor. G-Force Real Estate Inc. is the marketing agent and has received a conduct of sale to sell substantially all of the assets of Mount Baldy Ski Corporation and related companies.
Mount Baldy is located in the south Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and has a base elevation of 5,700 feet. Mount Baldy has two chairlifts and a conveyor lift, 750 acres of skiable terrain, 1,300 vertical feet and 30 runs, in addition to over 120 cabins and condos and a day lodge. The area had embarked on a master plan, which was approved by the government of B.C., that called for a13 additional chairlifts reaching 4,400 acres of terrain, 2,300 vertical feet and 150 runs, as well as a golf course and water park. The plan also calls for development of a commercial and residential village. SAM
Fairbank Group to Offer Free Gear, Lessons to Beginners. A year ago, Killington and Elan surprised the resort industry by offering free skis to beginners who completed a multi-day learning program. Now, the Fairbank Group’s Bromley, Vt., and Cranmore, N.H., are following suit. The two, along with Group mate Jiminy Peak, Mass., are also offering free terrain-based learning days on three dates this winter. The free gear offers include Rossignol and Elan skis at Cranmore and Bromley, respectively, that beginners can keep after they complete a three-day lesson. Participants will also receive steep discounts on boots, poles and apparel. More. SAM
Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Upgrades Lifts, Base, Terrain. Like the city where it lives, optimism reigns at Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort as one of the West’s smaller areas embarks upon a $35 million expansion with hopes to eventually triple its ticket sales. The 300-acre mountain is getting a new chairlift, base area realignment and a formal tubing area this summer. Along with last year’s snowmaking improvements and base area upgrades, this summer’s work signals that Phase One of a master development plan OK’d in 2011 is in full swing. More. SnoCountry
Park City Event Kick Starts New Era for Nordic Combined. U.S. Nordic Combined ski teams joined in with the nation’s ski jumping teams recently in the large hill U.S. Ski Jumping Championships at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City. The collaboration with the USA Ski Jumping organization came about after the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team was largely cut from the United States Ski and Snowboard Association budget.
Nordic combined athletes have joined in with their special jumping brethren in the past for the event, but this year’s competition marked the first time they did so fully under the same umbrella. Nordic combined joined in with the nation’s ski jumping teams in the USA Ski Jumping organization after the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team was largely cut from the United States Ski and Snowboard Association budget. More. Steamboat Today via Google Alerts
Jerome wins 11th National Title in Park City. Jessica Jerome demonstrated her world-class talent picking up her 11th national title on Sunday, Aug. 2 with a win in the large hill competition at the U.S. Ski Jumping Championships in Park City, Utah. Nita Englund and Tara Geraghty-Moats soared to their first national championship spots with a 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The normal hill U.S. Championship will be held in October during the Flaming Leaves tournament in Lake Placid, NY. More. Women’s Ski Jumping USA Ed. Note: Dee Dee Corradini, President, WSJ-USA will be the keynote speaker at the NSCF Annual Meeting in Park City.
Snow missing from New Zealand’s ski slopes. Winter has rolled into its third month in New Zealand, and Nick Jarman says he’s going stir crazy as he stares out at the driving rain on the small ski area he manages in the Southern Alps. The Craigieburn Valley Ski Area is one of several areas that haven’t opened for a single day this season, and some fear there may not be enough snow to open at all this year — something Jarman says has never happened during his 30 years carving turns on the mountain’s slopes.
Ski operators throughout New Zealand are feeling the effects of the country’s warmest start to the Southern Hemisphere winter since record-keeping began in 1909. And while one bad season doesn’t prove a trend, it comes at a time when scientists say the country’s snow pack and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to climate change. The country’s largest ski areas have managed to open only because they’ve invested in equipment to make their own snow, which they’ve been doing this year in unprecedented quantities. More. Canada.com via DestiMetrics
Several airlines announce record profits. Airlines reported record profits Thursday that yielded unexpected stock buy-backs, a rare dividend and even bonuses for workers who weathered the industry’s difficult financial straits in recent years. American Airlines, which was in bankruptcy court last year and merged with U.S. Airways in December, announced the company’s first dividend since 1980, based on record quarterly profits of $1.5 billion.
United Airlines, the only major U.S. airline to lose money in the first quarter, announced second-quarter income of $919 million, an increase of 51% from the same period a year earlier. Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier of U.S. passengers which began its first international flights July 1, also reported record quarterly net income of $485 million or 70 cents per diluted share, which beat analysts’ expectations of 61 cents. Southwest is offering workers a one-time bonus of $200 each to thank them. More.
The US House of Representatives Passes the Transparent Airfares Act of 2014 (H.R. 4156). The bill was rushed out of the Transportation Committee with just airlines’ input and was inappropriately included on the suspension calendar. H.R. 4156 would reverse a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rule implemented in 2012 as a cure to misleading airline advertising.
H.R. 4156, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, would not increase transparency in shopping for and purchasing air travel, but rather, would obfuscate the air travel purchasing process for consumers by allowing airlines to present prices that do not include taxes and other fees that are part of the final ticket price. More. Global Travel Industry News via DestiMetrics Ed. Note: The bill has not been introduced in the Senate.
Hilton Hotels to Allow Smartphones as Room Keys. Hilton Worldwide Holdings announced a portfolio-wide plan to roll out technology that would allow guests to use their smartphones as keys. The company also is widely introducing the ability for travelers to check-in early and reserve a specific room and make special requests of their stay.
Most of the rooms in Hilton’s portfolio will be equipped with the smartphone technology by 2016. In the United States, the company’s Waldorf-Astoria, Conrad and Hilton properties will be first in line. The process works via Bluetooth and is enabled by a chip implanted in existing door locks. More. Hotel News Now via DestiMetrics
Learn to Ski & Snowboard Month/Bring a Friend Aim to Get Back on Growth Track. Organizers of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (LSSM) and the Bring a Friend initiative (BAF) are introducing an updated toolkit for industry partners to use this fall and winter, and encouraging greater collaboration across the industry to bolster the recruitment effort. The program aims to increase participation over last year’s 100,000 newcomers. More. SAM
Understanding Millennials: How to Reach the Generation That Now Represents The Majority of the Snow Sports Market. Lately it seems to be all about the Millennials. Everywhere we look, articles, ads and studies are giving insights into how to reach the generation known as “Gen Y,” or Millennials, and throwing around labels like ‘short attention span’ and ‘entitled.’ But as SIA Research Director Kelly Davis points out in SIA’s GenY Report, “18-35 year olds represent the largest segment of the snow sports market. In order to grow, or even maintain participation levels in snow sports, Gen Y must be engaged. And it’s important for us to understand that increasingly in snow sports, they are us.” SIA Newsletter Gen Y in Snow Sports Report Ed. Note: While the SIA report’s focus is largely on retail sales, the Gen Y report is instructive to ski clubs working on engaging a younger demographic. Our thanks to SIA for sharing their research with us.
Maple Syrup Hits Energy Sweet Spot for Cochran Family, Pro Cyclist Ted King. Members of the Cochran family and pro cyclist Ted King are seeking crowdfunding for a new all-natural energy product for athletes – maple syrup. Known for grassroots in Olympic skiing, the Cochran family of Richmond, Vt., has joined with New Hampshire-native and pro cyclist Ted King to create Untapped: pure organic maple syrup in portable packaging.
The Cochran family has been in the maple syrup business since 2010, when four of the Cochran grandchildren started Slopeside Syrup as a way to utilize the nearly 20,000 maple trees surrounding the Cochran Ski Area and to sustain the not-for-profit Cochran’s Ski Area. More. SnoCountry
