Spokane, WA – After years of environmental reviews, court battles and appeals, Spokane County issued a grading permit to the Mt. Spokane ski area on Friday to begin its 80-acre terrain expansion. And just as quickly, native Americans and environmentalists who lost their legal battle against the expansion filed an injunction with the Washington state Court … Continue reading Environmentalists Obtain Injunction to Halt Mt. Spokane Construction→
Jackson, WY and Bellingham, WA – Avalanches over the weekend killed three more backcountry skiers in the western U.S., bringing the tally to 10 deaths by avalanche in the past 10 days, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Two ill-equipped skiers will killed in the sidecountry adjacent to Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) … Continue reading Three More Die in Western Avalanches→
Jackson, WY – Mountain Rider’s Alliance (MRA) has launched its latest initiative, the Mountain Playground Group, designed to assist community and independent ski areas to be more viable. The consortium of geographically diversified, like-minded ski areas will band together to reduce expenses while increasing efficiencies and profits. “Our organization has been studying the challenges facing smaller … Continue reading Independent Ski Areas Form Marketing Alliance→
Leavenworth, WA – With the arrival of cold and snow came record holiday period visits at Stevens Pass ski resort in Washington State. For the period from December 19 through January 3, Stevens Pass logged its best visitation numbers during a holiday period since skier visits started being electronically recorded in the 2006-07 winter season. Visits … Continue reading Holiday Visits at Stevens Pass Set Record→
Washington, DC – In the arid western U.S., water rights are a valuable commodity often fought over by competing interests. So in 2011, when the U.S. Forest Service sought to transfer the water rights of ski resorts operating on Forest Service land to the federal government, the agency encountered a ferocious backlash from the ski industry … Continue reading Forest Service Abandons Plan to Take Ski Areas’ Water Rights→
Snoqualmie Pass, WA & Sula, MT – Authorities have suspended two searches for skiers reported missing in separate incidents just before Christmas. In Washington State on Snoqualmie Pss, after a week of looking, rescuers on Saturday called off the search-turned-recovery mission for Monty Busbee of Maple Valley. Busbee, 43, never returned from a day of backcountry skiing in … Continue reading Two Skier Searches Suspended→
White Pass, WA – After a dismal winter last season, White Pass skiers were anxious to get their season rolling when deep snows finally arrived this month. With those storms on Dec. 9, however, came torrential rains caused rock slides and road damage to Highway 12 that cut the resort off from the outside world. Now, … Continue reading Road Repairs to Allow White Pass to Open→
