As e-bike sales explode, resorts (and others) are grappling with how to integrate them into their trails and operations.

As the mountain resort industry remains at a standstill amid the expanding coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in North America, Alterra Mountain Company has made adjustments to maintain financial viability.

It’s no surprise that community is at the heart of everything we do at Taos Ski Valley. As the first certified B Corp ski resort, we are constantly looking for ways to improve and give back to those that help define who we are. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in ways that were unimaginable only a month ago. Yes, ending the season early means less days on snow, but also lost wages for our staff and the employees of many local businesses in our tight-knit town. Once the decision to close the resort was made, our Food and Beverage team quickly realized we had a surplus of incredible food that would no longer be needed on the mountain and would be put to great use distributed to those in need in Taos.  Chris Goss, Director of Food and Beverage, explained: “We feed hundreds of skiers up on the mountain every day with these same ingredients, yet being able to donate this quantity of quality food to feed our own community at a time like this feels much more impactful. We are grateful to help in this small way.”

In an effort to reduce expenses over the coming months, Vail Resorts will furlough the majority of its U.S. year-round hourly employees and institute pay cuts for salaried employees. It will also significantly reduce capital expenditures planned for this summer. The moves stem from the uncertainty of when, or if, the company’s businesses will be able to reopen this summer as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic grow.

Aspen Skiing Co. plans to proceed with multiple capital improvement projects this summer despite losing a significant chunk of revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.

More resorts are banning uphill traffic as skiers flock. And as a second snowy weekend approaches with the entire state now under stay-at-home orders, more health departments and sheriffs are following that lead with both orders and requests to limit outdoor activity by visitors from afar. 

Five Front Range ski areas and the U.S. Forest Service have collaborated to produce a video message imploring uphill skiers to stay away from their resorts.

Ski Blandford in western Massachusetts will not operate next season. The ski area was purchased in 2017 by the owners of nearby Butternut, and they made a variety of improvements to lifts and snowmaking. However, the area has continued to lose money, and coupled with the current economic uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the owners made the difficult decision now to close the ski area.

Sean Glackin’s phone exploded within minutes of the news that Vail ski area was closing. The outdoor retailer’s entire rental fleet of alpine-touring skis was quickly rented by a flood of uphill skiers the following day.

UPDATED Sunday, March 15, 2020 - All North American ski mountains operated by Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company will close Sunday for at least a week as the coronavirus spreads through North America.

As more resorts start to speak to their audiences about COVID-19, I’ll be gathering these tweets and posts so we can learn from others’ messages and communicate thoughtfully and effectively during the following days and weeks.

Join us for a global day of snowboarding to celebrate the legacy of Jake Burton Carpenter.

Andy Daly, Bill Kane and John Norton have more than 130 years of combined experience leading, planning and marketing skiing and resort communities in Colorado. 

In an unusually transparent move for the ski industry, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area has released data on skier numbers that Chief Operating Officer Alan Henceroth promised to provide following a particularly busy Saturday in February.

In the dark of a midwinter morning, chef Rebecca Clay jumps onto the back of a snowmobile at Okemo Mountain Resort. As the engine revs into gear, the last remnants of a full moon peek out from behind the clouds.

Well-groomed trails, sunshine and mild temperatures have kept the T-bar at Ascutney Outdoors busy with skiers and snowboarders the last two weekends.

Gore Mountain in North Creek; Whiteface in Lake Placid; and Belleayre Mountain Ski Center in Highmount, in central New York’s Ulster County. These three ski resorts all have one thing in common; all are operated by the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority.

Ski Twitter recently blew up when videos of nightmarishly long lift lines at Vail Ski Resort made the rounds. People bemoaned the traffic, the $200-plus lift tickets and Front Range folks in general. 

Sugarloaf ski resort has announced a 10-year plan that includes developing nearly 450 acres on the West Mountain area of the resort, with not only upgrades for skiing but real estate development, technology improvements and other changes to support year-round business on the mountain.

Not all ski areas are created equally. There are the mammoth mountains such as Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada, which boasts an astounding 5,280 vertical feet and Snowmass in the Colorado Rockies’ Elk Mountain Range which features 4,406 feet of downhill excitement. On the other end of the spectrum are smaller mountains such as Four Lakes Ski and Snowboard Area in Lisle, Illinois with 100 vertical feet and Cloudmont Ski Area, Mentone, Alabama with 150 vertical feet.