Sunday, April 17, 2011 - Ample snowfall early in the season and throughout the winter is getting much of the credit for a banner ski season at both Flathead Valley ski resorts.

Whitefish Mountain Resort set a new record for total skier visits and had an upswing in activity that beat the previous record in 2005-06 by 5 percent, resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said.

At Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, General Manager Steve Spencer estimated skier visits are up at least 16 to 20 percent over last year.

Compared to last ski season, Whitefish Mountain Resort skier visits increased by 12 percent. Season-pass visits were up 15 percent, while window ticket visits jumped 10 percent.

The upswing in skier numbers translated into revenue for Winter Sports Inc., the company that operates the resort. Total winter revenue was 8 percent above last year while lodging revenue was up 8.5 percent.

“We really saw strong growth in all segments,” Polumbus said. “Canadian participation was particularly strong over last year.”

With 355 inches of snow for the season and a 151-inch settled base at the summit when the runs closed on April 10, there were plenty of pleased skiers and snowboarders.

“Everyone knew we had great snow,” she said. “The resort also has had continued great value.”

Polumbus noted the resort’s popular Learn to Ride program that offered two days of lessons, lower mountain lift tickets and rentals for $69 as a very successful tool in getting novice skiers on the slopes.

Whitefish Mountain last week announced its 2011-12 season pass prices that are discounted until Sept. 30. The pass price will increase by $10 over 2010-11.

Blacktail had “a very good year,” Spencer said, despite a cold snap during the Christmas holiday week that nipped skier numbers a bit in late December.

“We had over 100 inches by mid-January,” he said. “We’ve been 100 percent open since the day we opened for the season. We’ve had powder most days.”

And the season isn’t done yet on Blacktail Mountain.

The resort is open this weekend and may be open for another weekend or two if the weather holds.

“We’ll see what it brings,” he said. “If people want to keep skiing they need to show up. It’s all north slopes here. It’s a shame to let it go to waste.”

An improved terrain park on Blacktail Mountain was a big hit this season, Spencer said.

Last year the resort thinned out trees between runs to enhance skiing conditions, and will work with the U.S. Forest Service on more thinning either this summer or next. The Forest Service also has approved a new beginner area at Blacktail and work on that may start this summer, Spencer said.

Whitefish Mountain also has summer projects on tap, including a new lift that will connect the Base Lodge with the Upper Village, with dirt work extending Russ’ Street through the trees that separate the Toni Matt and Big Ravine slopes.

As it is now, the only way to get from the Base Lodge to the Upper Village, other than by foot, is by shuttle bus.

Dirt work also is planned to improve skier access to Chairs 1, 2 and 3 from the site of the proposed Snow Ghost Lodge that would be built where Ed & Mully’s restaurant now stands.
source: www.dailyinterlake.com

April 17, 2011 - Vail Resorts is offering a temporary $20 price break on 2011-2012 season passes at its Colorado and Lake Tahoe ski areas.

The $20 discount for adult passes — and $10 discount for child, teen and senior passes — runs Friday through May 8.

The Broomfield-based resort operator (NYSE: MTN) said those who already have purchased passes for next season will get a refund of the discount.

Season passes went on sale March 15. This year, for the first time, certain Vail Resorts season passes include its newly acquired north Lake Tahoe resort, Northstar-at-Tahoe, as well as Heavenly at south Tahoe on the California-Nevada border.

The company also operates Colorado’s Breckenridge, Keystone, Beaver Creek and Vail resorts, and includes Arapahoe Basin in some of its passes.

Here are passes that Vail Resorts is offering for next season, along with the full (non-discounted) price for each:

• Epic Pass, $649, offering unlimited ski and snowboard access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar-at-Tahoe and Arapahoe Basin.

• Epic Local Pass (formerly Colorado Pass), $499, offering unlimited access at Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin as well as 10 restricted days at Vail or Beaver Creek and limited days at Heavenly and Northstar-at-Tahoe.

• Epic 7-Day, $499, offering seven unrestricted access days at all Vail Resorts areas plus Arapahoe Basin.

• Summit Value Pass (formerly Summit Pass), $409, offering full access to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin and “limited restrictions” on Breckenridge access. A Breckenridge lift ticket on restricted days is offered for $50.

• Tahoe Value Pass, $379, with “limited” access to Heavenly and Northstar-at-Tahoe; Saturdays excluded at Northstar-at-Tahoe.
source: ww.bizjournals.com

LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — It may be just a concept that is years and years away from being a reality — if ever — but Snowbird's plans to expand into American Fork Canyon are already raising concerns.

The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Service agreed to vet the expansion proposal by allowing Snowbird to begin the environmental review process, which will include a draft Environmental Impact Statement.

That step involves going through an exhaustive information-gathering stage that will delve into a host of potential impacts and possible alternatives, one of which could end up being the "no" option on any expansion.

Salt Lake City's director of public utilities Jeff Niermeyer said because of watershed concerns and the fear over cumulative impacts brought on by an increase in resort customers, the city wants a thorough environmental analysis.

"We want to make sure there is a robust environmental review done because of the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts to Little Cottonwood Canyon," he said.

The actual resort expansion mostly involves Snowbird-owned property in Utah County's American Fork Canyon, outside of Salt Lake City's municipal watershed area.

Niermeyer says while that may be true, Little Cottonwood Canyon would bear the brunt of the expansion, and all the headaches that come with increased usage.

Components of Snowbird's expansion proposal include:

A lower capacity tram to the top of the American Fork Twin Peaks

A chairlift from Mary Ellen Gulch that would return skiers to the Mineral Basin area of the resort and extension of the Mineral Basin express chairlift

Possibly adding beginning skiing terrain adjacent to the Baby Thunder area

Providing night-skiing from the Gadzoom chairlift and expansion of the Adaptive Sports facilities.

A statement by Snowbird indicates the resort is not proposing to put ski lifts in the White Pine area, but Niermeyer said the city is concerned that the proposal would facilitate more back-country skiing options, and more negative impacts in that area.

Brian Ferebee, supervisor of the Wasatch-Cache-National Forest Service, said an agreement to move forward on an environmental review of the proposal is a far cry from any agency endorsement and simply one step in the process.

The general plans for the Uinta and Wasatch-Cache national forests have not been updated since 2003, and going through the environmental impact statement process will allow all interested parties to lend their voice to how the forest properties should be managed, particularly in the context a ski resort expansion.
source: www.deseretnews.com

12 April, 2011 - Salt Lake City, UT - While April showers are already prompting flowers to bloom around many parts of the U.S., many ski resorts in the West are blanketed with their deepest snow bases of the season. Some are already planning to keep the lifts turning into May and beyond.

“This past weekend was unquestionably some of the best skiing of the season,” said Dave Fields, Vice President at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in Utah. “La Niña storms keep lining up for Little Cottonwood, and at this rate we could be topping our snowiest and longest season on record.”

Snowbird has already received more than six feet of snowfall in the first 10 days of April alone, bringing snow depths on the mountain to 180 inches. Standing as of today at 631 inches, Snowbird is fast approaching the record 688-inch mark that was set during the 1983-84 season. The latest closing date in the history of the Little Cottonwood Canyon resort is July 4, set in 2005. Snowbird plans to offer skiing and riding until Memorial Day Weekend this year and potentially beyond if the impressive snowpack holds.

Snowfall next door at Alta Ski Area has accumulated 637 inches season to date and base depths have settled back to 189 inches after reaching a season-long high of 196 inches over the weekend. Alta is set to close on Easter Sunday, April 24, but will reopen for a bonus weekend April 29 to May 1, marking the first time in many years that Alta has operated into May.

In California, officials at Squaw Valley USA say that they've hit the 700 inch mark for cumulative season snowfall for the first time ever. With records dating back to 1970, Squaw Valley USA previously beat their highest recorded season snowfall total of 662 inches during an epic March that brought 211 inches (17 feet) of snow to the resort, which has greatly exceeded its 450-inch average annual snowfall total.

“With 700 inches of snow, we are going to have amazing spring skiing through our extended closing date of May 30,” said Andy Wirth, Squaw Valley’s Chief Executive Officer. “We have so much snow that we will be examining the possibility of opening for the 4th of July, conditions permitting.”

Following May 8, the resort will move to Friday through Sunday operations, offering skiing and riding May 13-16, May 20-22 and May 27-30, 2011. Additional days of operation include Monday, May 16, for the Stage 2 start of the Amgen Tour of California and Monday, May 30, the Memorial Day holiday.

Alpine Meadows on Lake Tahoe's North Shore will remain operating through May 15. Officials at nearby Sugar Bowl Resort west of Truckee, Calif., have decided to extend their ski and ride season to Sunday, May 1st. Boreal Mountain Resort, also near Truckee, will remain open daily through April 24 and weekends only into May, snow and business conditions permitting, while Donner Ski Ranch anticipates staying open through June. South of Lake Tahoe, Kirkwood has extended its ski and ride season into early May. On the Nevada side of the lake Mt. Rose–Ski Tahoe expects to stay open through May 6.

California's spring king this year, however, is Mammoth Mountain which has already confirmed that it will keep operating to July 4th this year, something it's done for four of the past seven seasons. Mammoth has racked up 624 inches so far this season, which resort officials say is the most the resort has ever received in a single season.

April roared in like a lion at Mt. Hood Meadows as a powerful storm delivered four feet of new snow to the Oregon ski and snowboard resort last week, bringing the snowpack to a season high 152 inches before settling back to 145 inches on Monday.

Meadows is scheduled to operate until May 1, and will most likely extend the season on weekends in May as it has the past several seasons, depending on conditions, weather and turnout.

In Idaho, Brundage Mountain in McCall will operate weekends only through May 1 and possibly beyond for as long as snow conditions permit.

“The past several years, we’ve been able to offer Bonus Weekends all the way into the month of May,” says resort spokesperson April Russell. “One of these years, we’d like to see if we can make it to June.”

Season extensions haven't been limited to the West. Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington, N.Y., near Lake Placid, is scheduled to reopen for a bonus weekend this Friday through Sunday. In Vermont, Stratton Mountain will do the same this Saturday and Sunday.
source: www.firsttracksonline.com

OLYMPIA -- The Washington Senate has approved a bill making it a misdemeanor to ski in clearly marked closed hazard areas at ski resorts. The 46-2 vote Friday follows passage of the bill in the House on April 6.

Those caught could face a criminal trespassing charge and a potential $1,000 fine.

"This is a problem I’ve experienced firsthand," Senate bill sponsor Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup) said in a statement after the bill's passage. "Five people have died going into closed areas in the last 10 years at Crystal Mountain. These areas are closed for a reason, and the people who trespass into them risk not only their own lives but the lives of ski patrollers who follow them to assist or rescue them."

Areas are typically closed off due to the threat of avalanche conditions, both natural and manmade in the form of avalanche control. Kastama, a volunteer ski patroller, said he was aware of more than 500 people who had crossed over into closed areas at his ski area in the last three years and that his legislation mirrors laws in California and other states.
source: www.komonews.com

DENVER — More than half of Colorado's ski resorts are now closed for the season, but the snow is still falling at the ones that are still open.

Breckenridge reported eight inches of new snow Monday. Loveland reported seven inches.

Among resorts shutting down their lifts for the ski season over the weekend were Eldora, Durango, Wolf Creek and Steamboat Springs.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today reported that skiers at Steamboat ended the season with a splash across an icy pond. Keystone hosted a free concert by Robert Earl Keen on its closing weekend. Durango stopped daily ski operations April 3 but reopened over the weekend one last time.

About 10 resorts are still open. Arapahoe Basin doesn't plan to close until June 5.