May-June NSCF Newsbeat ♦
Fire at Mount Snow ♦
World Cup Ski Racing to return to Killington Resort through 2020 ♦

May-June NSCF Newsbeat

By Jo Simpson on Jun 08, 2019 10:06 pm

National Ski Council Federation Newsbeat

May-June 2019

Industry Advocates for Federal Action on Climate Change. A coalition of outdoor businesses and associations converged on Washington D.C. to advocate for climate legislation that will help protect the outdoor recreation economy. May 22 was the Lawmaker Education and Advocacy Day (LEAD) on carbon pricing. And the Outdoor Business Climate Partnership (NSAA, Outdoor Industry Association, and SnowSports Industries America) joined more than 75 other businesses and associations, including Colorado Ski Country USA, Ski Vermont, Ski New Hampshire, and the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association (PNSAA), to “LEAD on Carbon.” More. SAM

Skier Visits Top 59 Million in 2018-19 Season. The preliminary total skier-visit numbers at North American resorts reached 59.1 million for the 2018-19 winter season, up nearly 11 percent compared to the 2017-18 total of 53.3 million visits. It ranks as the fourth most total visits since NSAA began tracking visitation in 1978-79. More. SAM

The Top 10 Places to Ski and Snowboard in the Summer. Is ski season over in the moderate climes and you’re still itching to hit the slopes? Check out these destinations South of the equator (or North enough) for summertime shredding. More. Outside Magazine Ed. Note: There’s also skiing at Mammoth and Squaw Valley in California. Mammoth states that they will be open through early August. Squaw plans to be open weekends through July 7.

Killington retains World Cup. U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced that it has signed a contract with POWDR, Killington’s parent company, to keep the World Cup at the resort through 2020. The event includes the women’s giant slalom and slalom races, the latter of which U.S. Ski Team racer Mikaela Shiffrin has won each year since the competition was first held at Killington in 2016. More. Rutland (VT) Herald via Google Alerts

One-Way Connection Creates Austria’s New Biggest Ski Area in 19/20. A new lift and a new lift pass will complete the connection between Austria’s huge Saalbach ski region and the Schmitten ski area at Zell am See next winter to give a combined area of nearly 350km of slopes, but the jury is still out as to whether this can be considered the new biggest ski area in Austria… yet. More. InTheSnow

All Electric Snow Groomer Unveiled. Groomer (or ‘piste basher’) manufacturer PistenBully has unveiled the world’s first all-electric slope groomer at the Interalpin 2019 trade fair, currently underway in Innsbruck. The new machine, the PistenBully 100 E, appears to be a major breakthrough for ski areas that have been looking for ways to cut their CO2 emissions. More. InTheSnow

Mary Jo Tarallo Leaves Learn to Ski and Snowboard Week. Mary Jo Tarallo is moving on to start Sun and Snow Adventures. The new project will feature a blog addressing issues related to recreational activities, health, and travel. It will highlight Tarallo’s expertise in strategic planning, public relations, communications, and writing. Tarallo will also be working with the North American Snowsports Journalist Association. SAM Ed. Note. Tarallo spoke to the 2015 NSCF Annual Meeting in Lake Placid.

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Fire at Mount Snow

Several departments responded to a two-alarm fire at the mountain operations building at Mount Snow, in West Dover, Vt., on Tuesday, June 4, 2019.

Fire at Mount Snow takes out carpentry shop, snowmaking controls

KRISTOPHER RADDER — BRATTLEBORO REFORMER

June 4, 2019

By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer

WEST DOVER — A fire ripped through a mountain operations building at Mount Snow on Tuesday night.

“It looks like it started in the carpentry shop,” Erik Barnes, general manager of the resort, said at the scene just before 11 p.m. “But we don’t have any definitive answers yet.”

At the time, West Dover Fire Chief Rich Werner said it was “way too early” to know the cause. Firefighters were still putting out hot spots inside the building, which is in the parking lot at the base area.

Barnes said no one was inside when the fire started. He did not know how it came to be reported.

“We lost the carpentry shop, snowmaking controls, electrical, plumbing, offices,” he said. “Vehicle maintenance also is going to be affected.”

Firefighters from towns including West Dover, East Dover, Wilmington, Readsboro, Brattleboro, Newfane, Brookline, Guilford, Stamford, Stratton, Wardsboro and West Dummerston were at the scene along with Deerfield Valley Rescue.

Just after noon Wednesday, Mount Snow spokesman Jamie Storrs said the fire marshal and insurance adjuster were on site. He did not have an estimate for the damage, a cause nor a plan for rebuilding but said visitors this summer or winter should not have their experiences affected.

“We’re weighing some options for the future now,” he said. “We’ll have more to announce when we come up with plans.”

Storrs said the resort is looking at ideas that line up with its master plan. He noted that while snowmaking offices were housed in the building, much of the infrastructure had been moved out when West Lake was built to improve snowmaking capabilities in 2017.

“There are no pumps,” he said. “There was a control room in there but what’s nice about our upgrade is all our snowmaking controls are in the cloud.”

Storrs said the building mainly housed offices and administration, and employees working there were relocated Wednesday.

“A lot of them came out last night to see some of the fire once word got out on social media,” he said. “We’re very lucky nobody got hurt. We had an incredible response from our mutual aid departments from as far as Stamford and Guilford. We’d like to thank them all for leaving their family dinners and coming into the night to save our building.”

Storrs said firefighters were called to the scene a few minutes after 7 p.m. and stayed until just past 2:30 a.m.

Reach staff writer Chris Mays at [email protected], at @CMaysBR on Twitter and 802-254-2311, ext. 273.

Posted from the Brattleboro Reformer

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World Cup Ski Racing to return to Killington Resort through 2020

June 3, 2019

Vermont Resort Welcomes Spectators and Athletes for Two More Years of World-Class Ski Racing

Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard resort in Eastern North America and part of POWDR, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the National Governing Body (NGB) of Olympic ski and snowboard sports in the USA, have a two-year agreement for Vermont’s Killington Resort to host the Audi FIS Ski World Cup. Killington’s place on the 2019 World Cup calendar has been confirmed by the International Ski Federation (FIS). HomeLight will be the title sponsor for the next World Cup at Killington, which will take place November 30 – December 1, 2019, Thanksgiving weekend.

As with the last three years of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup, the 2019 and 2020 races at Killington will be broadcast worldwide to more than 60 nations, along with national broadcast coverage across the US. The event has drawn an increasing number of spectators who converge in Killington each year to cheer on racers from around the world. Peaking at 39,000 spectators last year, the event is anticipated to bring millions of dollars in economic impact to the state of Vermont.

“Establishing another multi-year World Cup schedule here at Killington is an incredible opportunity for the resort and the surrounding community. I continue to be blown away by the sheer size of the crowds, and their enthusiasm leads me to believe that we’ll continue to see large numbers of spectators to watch the fastest female ski racers in the world take on the Superstar trail,” says Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort. “We use every cold period in October and November to build a world-class race venue on Superstar, and getting the job done early in the season showcases Killington’s state-of-the-art snowmaking system as an industry-leading powerhouse while also setting us up to offer the longest season in the East. In fact, we skied into June this season for the second time in three years.”

The World Cup includes women’s giant slalom and slalom races, attracting athletes such as U.S. Ski Team superstar Mikaela Shiffrin who has emerged victorious in slalom each of the last three years at Killington, for the hat trick.

“The Killington Cup has long been a highlight of mine on the World Cup tour the last three seasons,” says Mikaela Shiffrin. “In 2018 we – all of us together – set a new precedent for ski racing internationally, boasting the largest World Cup crowd for women on the entire circuit. To get that hat trick slalom victory in front of thousands of screaming fans at home is something I will never, ever forget. I’m looking forward to once again competing on home soil.”

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has had a long relationship with POWDR producing World Cup and Grand Prix events at other POWDR resorts including Copper Mountain, and the collaboration for Killington’s World Cup the past three years solidified The Beast of the East as a strong venue for World Cup alpine ski racing to continue on the East coast. Tickets go on sale August 21, 2019.

Highlights

U.S. Ski & Snowboard and its resort partners POWDR and Killington Resort are signing a two-year agreement to host the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Killington, VT in November 2019 and 2020.
2016’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup at Killington was the first World Cup in the eastern USA since 1991 at Waterville Valley, NH and the first in Vermont since 1978 at Stratton Mountain. Killington also hosted the event in 2017 and 2018.
Killington’s 2018 Audi FIS Ski World Cup set American attendance records with an estimated 39,000 spectators across three days (5,500 Friday’s opening ceremonies, 18,500 Saturday’s giant slalom races, 15,000 Sunday’s slalom races).
U.S. Ski Team superstar Mikaela Shiffrin has emerged victorious in slalom each of the last three years at Killington, for the hat trick.

Posted from Vermont Business Magazine via Facebook

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