SKI FEDERATION POSTS FOR 11/01/2022

NATIONAL SKI COUNCIL FEDERATION NEWSBEAT 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

The post NSCF Newsbeat October 2022 appeared first on Ski Federation.

Read in browser »

Park City Mountain falls to bottom of SKI Magazine rankings

By Parker Malatesta

October 13, 2022

Park City Mountain fell from #13 in last year’s rankings to the very bottom this year at #30.

SKI Magazine surveyed readers about the best resorts in the West and the results are in: Park City Mountain is at the bottom of the list.

In SKI Magazine’s list of the top 30 resorts in the West, Park City Mountain fell from #13 in last year’s rankings to the very bottom this year at #30. According to the magazine, that’s one of the biggest drops in the history of the rankings.

Editor Samantha Berman wrote, “if that’s not a direct commentary on Vail Resorts’ management of the massive resort, we don’t know what is.” She reported that many reader comments were brutal, calling last year their worst experience at the resort ever.

Last winter was particularly challenging with lower-than-average snowfall, staffing shortages, COVID-19 outbreaks, terrain closures, and traffic problems. Members of the community loudly voiced displeasure with the resort to the Park City Council and on social media.

More people likely didn’t help. Park City Mountain owner Vail Resorts’ cut the cost of their season pass, the Epic Pass, by 20% heading into last winter. That led to an increase of nearly 50% in sales.

Out of the top 30 resorts in the rankings, eight are owned by Vail. Breckenridge and Beaver Creek were the only ones to go up.

Vail admitted it was having staffing problems last year. As a result, the company raised its minimum wage in March from $15 to $20 per hour.

Local changes ahead of this season include a paid reservation parking system at the Mountain Village base, and new employee housing in Canyons Village.

Park City Mountain spokesperson Sara Huey said resort leadership has been working hard to improve problem areas and to get to full staffing for this winter. Huey added that they’re looking forward to welcoming guests back next month. Opening day is scheduled for November 18.

Deer Valley stayed put at number two in the West, just behind Sun Valley. Deer Valley garnered the top spot in four categories: grooming, service, lodging, and family.

Statewide, Snowbird is ranked at 25, with Alta, Snowbasin, and Powder Mountain coming in at the middle of the pack.

Posted from KPCW

The post Park City Mountain falls to bottom of SKI Magazine rankings appeared first on Ski Federation.

Read in browser »