The Voice of the Mountain Resort Industry  |  Est. 1964

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  • A Big Move for Antelope Butte

    Giving season passes to kids jumpstarted the nonprofit ski area’s road to financial viability. The early returns were decent at Antelope Butte Mountain Recreation Area during the 2023-24 ski season. But John DeVivo didn’t uproot his life for decent. During his first season as general manager at the small nonprofit ski area in Wyoming’s Big…

  • Special Report: Sundance: Revival in Redford’s Shadow

    This rustic, soulful resort is an anomaly, but the well-capitalized, strategic rebirth of Robert Redford’s legacy is chock full of lessons for all resort operators. By Andy Bigford (This is the second stop on Andy Bigford’s Revival Road Trip, where he is offering monthly reports from the road as he works on the third installment in the Ski…

  • Feast, Famine Conditions Shape MLK Business

    SAM Magazine—Happy Valley, Ore., Jan. 21, 2026—MassanuttenThe 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend presented a stark geographical divide across North American ski areas. Based on a cross-continent survey of operators and regional associations, the weekend was defined by record-breaking snowfall and “all-time” attendance in the East, contrasted against a historic snow drought in the…

  • Winter Widows: A Survival Guide

    A look at the realities and joys of loving someone married to the mountain. I met my husband in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in December 2016 at Wildcat Tavern’s weekly pasta feed for ski area employees. He marched in like a bundled-up Stormtrooper dressed completely in black, hood up, “Wildcat Snowmaking” in bright white…

  • Where Climate Meets Community

    Mountain communities are facing climate impacts on multiple fronts, and ski areas are responding with climate strategies that scale outward. The Great Salt Lake is shrinking. Snowbird president and general manager Dave Fields, who grew up in the basin, recalls annual elementary school field trips to the lake, where he and his classmates would float…

  • Education for the Real World

    As enrollment dips, SAM degree and certificate programs are modernizing curriculum and evolving in step with the industry to keep the talent pipeline alive. For decades, ski area management degree and certificate programs served as a steady pipeline for resort talent. While many folks learned (and still learn) on the job, aspiring lift mechanics, snowsports school…

  • Safety Culture Pays Off

    How an employee-led safety committee at Holiday Valley has made measurable impacts on culture and the bottom line.  In 2017, Holiday Valley, N.Y., launched an Employee Safety Committee with the help of a loss control consultant from our insurance broker. Our goal has been to strengthen the safety culture at the resort to improve our…

  • Special Report: Nederland’s Eldora Purchase: Brave But Risky Business

    A special analysis and commentary by Andy Bigford. The town of Nederland’s efforts to buy neighboring Eldora Mountain Resort, with the support of an advisory group called 303 Ski, might be called heroic—and a model for others to follow. The town and 303 Ski rose to the occasion after Powdr Corp. put Eldora on the…

  • Black Mountain Files Federal Suit After Town Board Revokes Liquor Approval

    SAM Magazine—Jackson, N.H., Nov. 17, 2025—Black Mountain has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Town of Jackson selectboard of unlawfully attempting to revoke the ski area’s alcohol-service rights at its Alpine Cabin without due process. The ski area said the filing was necessary to “protect our business and the future of Black Mountain.” The lawsuit…

  • Perks of Employment

    Resorts share their winning and valued benefits, recognition programs, and other morale boosters. A nice benefits package can help attract and retain talented people. But it takes more than a season pass and health insurance to make team members happy and feel satisfied about work, which should be the ultimate goal for employers. This is…