National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat
July-August 2019
Delta Airlines Eliminates Fee for Sporting Equipment Including Bikes. Delta customers traveling with surfboards, bicycles, golf clubs, scuba gear and other large-sized sporting equipment will now be allowed to check them as part of their standard baggage allowance. More. SIA First Tracks
Latest Round of Tariffs Would Impact Winter Sports Goods. The latest round of tariffs announced by President Trump will impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports, including a great percentage of snowsports products, starting Sept. 1. More. SAM
Colorado Senators reintroduce legislation to strengthen investments in skiing communities. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), reintroduced the Ski Area Fee Retention Act. Currently, ski area permit fees paid to the Forest Service are sent to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and then appropriated back to the Forest Service. This legislation would create a Ski Area Fee Retention Account under the National Forest System, in which a portion of the roughly $37 million in annual fees generated by the ski areas would be retained by the National Forests they are generated in. More. The Villager
Vail Buys 17 More Ski Resorts. Vail Resorts, already one of the world’s largest ski resort operators with 20 ski areas in the US, Australia and Canada, including many of North America’s biggest and best-known resorts, has almost doubled the number of resorts it owns with the purchase of Peak Resorts, which operates 17 US ski areas on the East Coast and Midwest US. More. InTheSnow
Vail Resorts Put Investment Focus on Longer Season. Vail Resorts say their spending priority in Colorado ahead of next winter is on ensuring a longer ski season for purchasers of their Epic Pass season ticket. More. InTheSnow
Arapahoe Basin Joins Ikon Pass. Starting this winter, Ikon Pass holders will have seven days of access to A-Basin with no blackout dates, and Ikon Base passholders will have five days with select blackout dates. In February, A-Basin said it would not renew its longtime season pass partnership with Vail Resorts for the 2019-20 season…. More. SAM
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows Base-to-Base Gondola Approved. After years of environmental reviews, permit hearings, and opposition from conservation groups, the base-to-base gondola that will connect Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows was approved by Placer County officials. The gondola will begin at Squaw Valley, traverse over privately owned property, and end at the Alpine Meadows base area. More. SAM
Work Underway on One of The World’s Most Expensive New Base Lodges With $29m US Price Tag. Work has got underway on a complete replacement of Killington’s main K-1 base lodge with a price tag for the new building put at $29 million, with completion planned by November 2020. More. InTheSnow
Timberline Four Seasons (WV) Resort in Bankruptcy, Owners Plan to Sell Ski Operation. Timberline Four Seasons Resort in West Virginia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 30, with debts totaling more than $2.8 million to nearly 50 creditors. More. SAM
Italy wins vote to host 2026 Winter Games. Italy will host the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, taking the Winter Games to the Alpine country for the second time in 20 years. International Olympic Committee members voted for the long-favored Milan-Cortina bid over a bid from Stockholm-Are, Sweden, that also included a bobsled track in Latvia. More. ESPN via Outside
An Entire Chair—and a Skier—Fell Off an Australian Lift. For many, falling on a powder day is par for the course. But falling three stories along with a chairlift? Less so. For one skier at Australia’s Thredbo Resort, that unexpected scenario became reality. More. Outside
Wedding Ring Lost from Chairlift Last Winter, Found After Thaw. A Sydney man who lost his wedding ring when it fell from a chairlift at Big White ski resort in BC, Canada has got it back four months later. More. InTheSnow
It’s Official – Skiing Can Change Your Life. The Health Benefits of Skiing, produced by award-nominated ski agents Ski Line, breaks down all the key benefits of a ski holiday and includes hints and tips from instructors and fitness gurus on how to make the most of your time on the slopes, warming up and avoiding injury. More. InTheSnow
