Sugar Bowl Resort on storied Donner Pass in the California High Sierra signed an agreement Oct. 1 to lease and operate neighboring and expansive Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Area, which is being purchased by the Tahoe Donner Land Trust.

All funds raised at an Oct. 14 Century Ride bike race at Cochran’s, the nonprofit ski area in Richmond, Vt., will go toward providing affordable skiing and riding for local kids.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort is offering a “Snow Guarantee” this season. They are guaranteeing delivery of the most open terrain in the Southeast Region – which includes 15 ski areas in W.Va., Va., Md., and N.C. – or your next day of skiing is free. 

Wachusett Mountain Marketing Director Tom Meyers was a recipient of a Larry D. Meehan Award for his contributions “to the expansion and vitality of the Massachusetts’ tourism industry.”

Southern Colorado’s Monarch Mountain continues to embrace resort partners, not only in the United States, but all over the world. In addition, the owners of the resort outside Salida, Colo., have ponied up $2.3 million to expand and renovate the base lodge.

The 2012 North American Wife Carrying Championship event is Sat., Oct. 6 at Sunday River, Maine. Fifty couples compete on the slopes of the resort for the title and prizes. 

Volunteers who re-opened Big Tupper Ski Area in the New York Adirondack Mountains in 2009 threw in the proverbial towel this week. The ski area will not open this winter.

The largest annual gathering of mountain travel professionals in North America– the Mountain Travel Symposium – has announced that Michael J. Pierson, Inc. has taken over sole ownership of MTS. 

The forecast was calling for a dusting ... just a minor tasting, right? But Mother Nature served up an early buffet of snow - 2-4 inches of it - at Utah's Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

The next day we rose slightly later, whew, leisurely conferenced over coffee and bagels from Einstein's and carpooled back to the 5-mile pullout. Today, we delved into macro photography. 

UPDATE 9/25: A press conference was held in Chamonix, France with officials explaining the search for survivors has ended. Among the missing are Rémy Lecluse and Greg Costa, Glen Plake’s teammates. Plake survived the avalanche.

“The rescue teams feel they did all they could to find further victims, but they have now given up all hope of finding any more survivors. The search has been called off for good,” they said. 

Five top Montana ski areas have season pass price increases coming over the next few weeks. Now is the time to act if you’re thinking of purchasing a season pass before prices increases start taking place.

Skiers and riders look to the fall ski shows to decide on their ski vacation and getaway plans, discover improvements ski areas have made over the off-season, get deals on swapped or new equipment, talk with manufacturers reps, and live entertainment.

Some say those early snowfalls are meaningless. Ha! They have a distinct purpose. They fire up our inner juices and begin to get us psyched for the new season.

“Stop it!” I want to shout inside my head. Everywhere I look is a photo opp. It’s one thing when everything I see is a potential story. But when thoughts become images there’s no room for anything else.

Visitors and locals to inland Pacific Northwest resorts will find improvements – big, small and in between -- when they buckle up for the new season.

That special time of year – fall – is beginning to pop its annual display of colors and a getaway to many of New England’s ski resorts will make family memories “picture perfect.”

 Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) has named Aaron Kellet as the new General Manager for Whiteface Ski Center in Wilmington, NY near Lake Placid. Kellet replaces Bruce McCulley who leaves to become pastor of his church.

The first feature-length snowboard movie – titled “Los Angeles” – to be produced by Mountain High Resort in Southern California will be shown Sept. 18 at the Downtown Independent Theater. Each moviegoer will receive a free Mountain High lift ticket.