October 2022

Winter Park Resort to expand terrain this winter. Among a series of announced improvements, Winter Park Resort is opening new terrain for the 2022-23 ski season that the resort says will almost double its expert-only terrain over last season.  More. Steamboat Pilot & Today

Three More Ski Areas Added to Indy Pass. Bluebird Backcountry, Colo.; Chestnut Mountain, Ill.; and Snowriver, Mich., have joined the Indy Pass starting in winter 2022-23. With the additions, Indy Pass holders will have two days of access to 96 alpine ski areas and 13 Nordic ski areas in North America and Japan. More. SAM

Mountain Collective Adds Sugar Bowl. The Mountain Collective Pass has added Sugar Bowl, Calif., to its now 25-destination roster. The Tahoe resort joins Sun Valley, Snowbasin, Marmot Basin, and Le Massif de Charlevoix as new partners for upcoming season. More. SAM

Ikon Pass Adds Sun Peaks, Grandvalira Resorts Andorra. Ikon Pass has added Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia and Grandvalira Resorts Andorra in Andorra for the 2022–23 season. With five other partners added earlier this year—Chamonix Mont-Blanc Valley, France, Sun Valley, Idaho, Snowbasin, Utah, Lotte Arai Resort, Japan, and Panorama, B.C.—Ikon Pass holders will now have access to more than 50 mountain destinations in 11 countries. More. SAM

Canada to Remove All COVID-19 Restrictions for Travelers. Canada will lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions for international and domestic travelers starting Oct. 1. More.  CBS News via Inntopia

Mountain Capital Partners to Operate Willamette Pass Resort. Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) has entered a joint venture with the Wiper family to operate and manage Willamette Pass Resort, Ore. The partnership will begin immediately. More. SAM

Telluride Renews Epic Pass Partnership with Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts and Telluride renewed their partnership for an undisclosed number of years. The terms remain the same: Full Epic Pass holders get seven days at Telluride with no blackouts. Four-to-seven-day Epic Day Pass holders with “all resorts” access can also redeem those days at Telluride. More. The Storm Skiing Journal

Pacific Group Submits Top Bid for Jay Peak at $76 Million. Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) made the highest and best final bid to buy Jay Peak, $76 million, following an auction with multiple bidders. More. SAM

No Immediate Changes Planned for Jay Peak. Pacific Group Resorts Inc. (PGRI) does not plan to make any immediate changes to Jay Peak’s pass products, management, or infrastructure for the 2022-23 season. More. SAM

Maine’s Shawnee Peak Returns to its Original Name, Pleasant Mountain. Maine’s Shawnee Peak will return to its original namesake, Pleasant Mountain, a move that honors its 84-year history and the mountain it calls home, said resort officials. More. SAM

Alterra Acquires Ski Butlers Rental Service. Alterra Mountain Company has acquired Ski Butlers, a leading ski equipment rental and delivery service based in Utah. Ski Butlers will remain a standalone business with ongoing operations in 50 worldwide ski destinations while maintaining its current staff and leadership. Alterra hopes to expand the service to more resorts, both within and outside Alterra’s portfolio. More. SAM

Indy Pass Sales Reflect Growth in Partnerships. After adding 40 partner resorts since the end of the 2021-22 season, the Indy Pass now has 96 alpine ski areas on-board offering two days of access each to Indy Pass holders, plus 14 cross-country ski areas. More. SAM

Vail Resorts Plans Mobile Access Feature for 2023-24. Vail Resorts plans to utilize technology that will allow guests to store and use their season pass or lift ticket directly on their phone. The new feature will be tested during the 2022-23 North American winter season, with roll-out to guests expected for the 2023-24 season. More. SAM

“Where There’s Snow, We’ll Go”: This Black Ski Club In D.C. Was One Of The First In The U.S. Black Ski, Inc. has been etching out a supportive space in the powder for jet-setting African Americans in the D.C. area since 1972. Based in the D.C. area, the organization was one of the earliest Black ski clubs in the U.S. More. DCist/WAMU American University Radio via Google Alerts

Vail Resorts Launches Youth Access Program. Vail Resorts will provide more youth of color with the opportunity to learn how to ski or snowboard through its expanded Epic for Everyone youth access program. During the 2022-23 winter season, Vail plans to partner with nonprofit and youth development organizations working to support youth of color to host 9,000 youth across 29 resorts. More. SAM

Season Passes Now Consistently Represent More Resort Visits Than Lift Tickets Nationwide. According to Aspen Daily News, season pass holders have been the dominant form of mountain access since 2019-20 season. In that year, 45.5% of visits were by season pass holders, while only 43.5% were made up by single day passes. Since then, it’s only gotten more severe, with last season seeing season passes representing 51.9% of visits and lift tickets representing only 37.3% of visits (the remaining percentage is represented by employee passes and complimentary tickets). More. Unofficial Networks via Inntopia

Best Months To Ski Colorado Ski Resorts. The short, fill-in-the-blank answer is late February into mid-March. At face value, it seems like a pretty easy question to answer. However, there are particular nuances that the ski enthusiast should be aware of. More. SnowBrains

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Class of 2022. The inductees include X Games gold medalist, U.S. Open champion and Boarding for Breast Cancer pioneer Tina Basich; America’s first Olympic snowboard medalist Shannon Dunn-Downing; “father of freestyle snowboarding” Terry Kidwell; speed skier C.J. Mueller; freeskiing pioneer Kent Kreitler; one of the U.S. Alpine Ski Team’s most successful coaches, Phil McNichol; longtime Ski Racing International publisher Gary Black (posthumous); Mammoth Mountain and Alterra Mountain  Company leader Alan “Rusty” Gregory; and adaptive snowsports pioneer Gwen Allard. More.  SAM

September 2022

Historic Climate Bill Expected to Benefit Ski Industry. The package includes the largest climate, energy, and environmental justice investment ($370 billion) in U.S. history, from which the U.S. ski industry stands to benefit. More. SAM

Ski and Sports Shops See Impact of Russia-Ukraine War on Equipment Supplies. Ukraine is one of the biggest producers of winter sports equipment in Europe, producing hundreds of thousands of skis and snowboards each year. Certain brands may be hard to come by this snow season as disruptions in ski production from the war could rupture the supply chain. More. Sacramento Bee via Stars and Stripes

After Apocalyptic Lift Lines Last Year, Vail Resorts will Limit Ticket Sales this Winter.  Daily tickets at all of the company’s 37 North American resorts will be capped, but Epic Pass holders will not be affected. More. Ski Magazine

Vail Resorts Drops Vaccine Requirements, Will Limit Day Tickets. Vail Resorts has updated its Covid protocols, dropping vaccine requirements for guests and staff, and will limit day ticket sales for the upcoming winter season, according to its 2022-23 operating plan. Across all its resorts, the company will no longer require face coverings, vaccines, or dining reservations for guests. More. SAM

More Bidders for Jay Peak Likely to Appear. With the likelihood that another bidder (or more) for Jay Peak will surface in the next few days, the resort’s federal court appointed receiver, Michael Goldberg, filed a motion Aug. 18 proposing a new deadline of Sept. 2 for the sale of the resort. More. SAM

Indy Pass Adds Mountain High and Dodge Ridge in Calif. Indy Pass has added two more resorts to its growing list of partners for the 2022-23 season:  Mountain High and Dodge Ridge, Calif. The additions bring Indy Pass’s total alpine and Nordic resort partners to 106. More. SAM

Big Rock, Maine Gets $2.5 Million Boost from U.S. Department of Commerce. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Big Rock Mountain to boost tourism by supporting investment into a new chairlift and increased snowmaking capacity at the Mars Hill, Maine, ski area. More. SAM

Big Snow, Mich. Acquisition Closed, Renames as  Snowriver Mountain Resort. Charles Skinner Jr. has closed on the acquisition of Big Snow Resort, which includes Indianhead and Blackjack ski areas, all of which will be renamed with new branding. Big Snow will transition to Snowriver Mountain Resort, the Indianhead area will be called Jackson Creek Summit, and Blackjack will be Black River Basin. More. SAM

Ikon Pass Adds Lotte Arai, Japan and Panorama, B.C. Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass has added Lotte Arai Resort in Japan and Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia. With the additions, the pass will provide access to more than 50 destinations in 10 countries for the 2022-23 season. More. SAM

The Most Legendary Skier in California History? “Snowshoe Thompson.” He was a skiing beast who charged 90 miles over the Sierra Nevada in the dead of winter – solo – on 10-foot skis carrying an 80-100-pound pack in only three days. Then, he’d turn around and charge the 90 miles back home in only two. The guy did this twice a month during winter for 20 years (1856 – 1876)…. More. SnowBrains

 August 2022

Vermont Ski Area Ditching Its Controversial Name. Suicide Six will become Saskadena Six to alleviate any negative impact the current name could have on visitors. More.  Ski Magazine

Keystone Bergman Bowl Restoration Approved, But Lift Will Not Open for 2022-23. Work on Keystone Resort’s Bergman Bowl Express will move forward after the U.S. Forest Service approved the resort’s plan to restore environmental damage to a high alpine area incurred during construction. However, the lift will not be completed as scheduled in time for the 2022-23 winter season due to construction delays. More. SAM

Mt. Hood Meadows Joins Indy Pass. Indy Pass will now include Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore. The ski area is Indy’s largest resort partner by skier volume, and it brings the pass’ total resort partners to 105 for the 2022-23 season. More. SAM

Mountain Collective Adds Marmot Basin. The Mountain Collective Pass has added Marmot Basin, Alberta, to its winter 2022-23 roster. Marmot Basin is the seventh Canadian resort to join the pass partnership. (Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec signed on in June.) Its addition brings the total number of Mountain Collective resort partners to 24 worldwide More. SAM

Indy Pass Adds Black Mountain of Maine, Meadowlark, Aomori Springs in Japan as Full Partners; Paul Bunyan, King Pine, Cherry Peak as Allied. The Indy Pass has added Black Mountain of Maine; Meadowlark, Wyoming; and Aomori Spring, Japan as full downhill partners. Black’s Nordic center will join the pass as a separate entity, becoming the fifth ski area to add both operations to Indy, and the 13th Nordic partner overall. King Pine, New Hampshire; Paul Bunyan, Wisconsin; and Cherry Peak Utah will join the pass’ new Allied Resorts program. More. The Storm Skiing Journal

Motion Filed to Sell Jay Peak, PGRI Begins Bid Process. A motion for approval has been filed for Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) to enter into a $58 million asset purchase agreement (APA) to acquire Jay Peak Resort, Vt. A judge has 10 days to accept or deny the motion; if accepted, the asset purchase agreement would become the initial bid in a potential auction to purchase the resort. More. SAM

Schweitzer Breaks Ground On $22 Million Employee Housing Development. Schweitzer, Idaho, is amongst a growing list of ski resorts across North America that are investing millions of dollars into employee housing initiatives. More.  Unofficial Networks via Inntopia | Destimetrics

Vail Town Council Blocks Permits for Vail Resorts Employee Housing Project. The Vail town council approved an emergency ordinance this week that suspended all permits for any activity on Vail Resorts’ 23-acre property in East Vail where the company planned to build a $17 million affordable housing development. The housing project was already in limbo after the council began proceedings earlier this year to condemn the property, citing the development as a threat to a local herd of bighorn sheep that range on the land. More. SAM

Two More European Glaciers Close for Summer Skiing Due to Warm Temps, Melting Snow. Austria’s Mölltaler Gletscher and France’s Val d’Isère are the latest resorts to suspend summer operations. More. Ski Magazine

Italian Glacier Resort Closes as Glaciers Melt. Passo Stelvio is the latest summer ski resort to close as warm temperatures take their toll. Some question how many more years glacier skiing in Europe will be able to continue. The freezing level in Switzerland is currently over 5,000m (~16,250 ft.) – higher than any alpine peak. More. Planet Ski via Inntopia | Destimetrics

New Zealand Ski Resort Closes Due to Too Much Snow. Ski resorts in the southern hemisphere are having a great season with massive snowstorms dumping feet of snow on the mountains. In fact, there was too much at Mt Lyford Alpine Resort near Christchurch, New Zealand. More. SnowBrains via Inntopia | Destimetrics

The 13 Largest Ski Resorts on Earth. So, where are the biggest ski resorts on Earth?  Mostly in the Alps, it’s true, but there are a couple of others outside of the Alps in North America. More.  SnowBrains

Online Marketplace Takes the Hassle Out of Buying and Selling Used Gear. Got old skis and packs hanging around? Geartrade will take used gear off your hands and cut you a check in the process. More. Ski Magazine

World’s Oldest Skier Turns 105. “I’ve been able to ski consistently for 61 years, including a few runs this year at Sugar Bowl, but I can no longer ski at my favorite resorts in Utah because I can’t handle the altitude. I still do my 45 minutes of exercise every morning to keep limber, and that helps my mind, too,” he told Stanford Business School’s journal in July last year, after turning 104. More. InTheSnow.com

Europe’s Largest Dry Ski Slope Opens in Ukraine, Despite War. A huge dry ski slope has gone into operation near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Work on the facility began last autumn and was completed in early summer, despite Russia’s invasion. More. InTheSnow

Published on December 7, 2017
by Henrik Lampert

The 2017 winter storm, Stella, was no joke: It dropped nearly five feet of snow in some areas, including 58 inches in Vermont. Stella paralyzed several major cities, knocking out power to half-a-million individuals and crippling air travel for tens of thousands. Sixteen people died in the storm. And yet, the storm made possible skiing of a legendary sort.

The Ski The East crew has just released a video that highlights the Stella’ skiing at Jay Peak, Vermont. They called it a “memorable and exhausting day of blind turns, choking snow and sometimes simply being stuck. Basically, it was the best day ever.” Here’s to many similar skiing exploits in the 2017-18 season!

Posted from Freeskier