Vermonters who are immediate family members of deployed or about to be deployed overseas military will once again be able to receive free season passes at Jay Peak. The northern Vermont resort has been continually offering the program in 2007.

A top international snowboarding and freeskiing field is set to compete this winter during the 17^th season of the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix. The dual FIS World Cup status events include halfpipe snowboarding, slopestyle skiing and snowboarding, and halfpipe skiing.

A joint effort “to promote a cooperative business model” has been announced by Mt. Abram, near Bethel, Maine, and the Mountain Rider’s Alliance (MRA). Goal for the model project is to boost regional visitation and increase sustainability awareness.

They say, “Free is good.” Maybe that’s why the new offer Southern California’s Mountain High is making on its Freedom Pass is eye-catching: Free skiing at Sierra-at-Tahoe and Stevens Pass plus all of Mountain High.

The New York Catskills resort of Windham Mountain becomes the latest ski resort to look to Major League Baseball as a marketing partner. Windham has announced a multi-year partnership with the New York Yankees.

SnoCountry Ski Areas Association and VacationRoost today announced an affiliate partnership to provide vacation planning and booking resources on Snocountry.com. 

The partnership will provide SnoCountry’s website visitors with one-stop vacation planning services, including the ability to book the widest selection of vacation rentals, hotels, lift tickets, equipment rentals, ground transfers, rental cars, airfare and various vacation activities. Guests will be able to book these services online or with the assistance of a local customer service expert available seven days per week.  

“We are very excited to extend the marketing reach of our member resorts who participate with VacationRoost to offer visitors at SnoCountry.com this valuable resource,” said Tom Cottrill, president of SnoCountry Ski Areas Association. “Our partnership with VacationRoost further positions SnoCountry.com as the Internet’s most complete and up-to-date source for resort snow conditions, news, weather, events and activities, and now vacation services.”

VacationRoost has a deep background in online booking of specialty lodging and vacations for over 80 popular beach and ski destinations. The services will be operated on its Partner Services platform. Complete website merchandising capabilities, online booking, and full call center capabilities will be provided under the SnoCountry Vacations brand. Visitors will be able to access SnoCountry Vacations through the leaderboard widget and various ads throughout all pages on SnoCountry.com.

“We look forward to providing SnoCountry the best available vacation services to share with their customers,” said Julian Castelli, CEO at VacationRoost. 

The Little Bear Fire surrounding Ruidoso, N.M., took out nearly 250 homes and structures in June. But, it certainly scared, if largely spared, Ski Apache . The ski area, extremely popular in the West Texas market, still plans its regular Thanksgiving opening and will debut three new lifts and $15 million in improvements.

Long-time Whistler local Michelle Leroux has returned to Whistler Blackcomb as Public Relations and Communications Manager after a three-year stint running Reine Communication, her own consulting firm.

The Heartland’s newest high-speed lifts are being installed at Wisconsin’s Granite Peak Ski Area and Terry Peak Ski Area in the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

Officials at Taos Ski Valley  will spend the next three months prioritizing improvements to the resort, following a U.S. Forest Service “record of decision.”

"Magic prides itself in keeping it simple,” says Magic Mountain Ski Area President Jim Sullivan. Newly announced lift ticket prices reflect that mantra, holding steady since 2009.

The cameras have barely switched off from the London summer Olympics, but the U.S. Ski Team and NBC have announced a partnership for first-ever live coverage of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup from Aspen and Beaver Creek, Colo.

Camelback, Pennsylvania’s Arthur Berry reports that Camelbeach, the resort’s summer waterpark attraction, is concluding a record-breaking season. 

Quick, quick, quick. You have until Sept. 4 to win a pair of tickets to Park City Mountain Resort this season. The annual Snowfall Contest is underway. 

Echo Mountain, off I-70 at Idaho Springs, Colo. has been sold at auction to Pykkonen Capital LLC. New owners plan to transform the ski area into the Front Range Ski Club and have plans to reopen for the new season.

Attendees at screenings of the new Teton Gravity Research (TGR) film, ‘The Dream Factory,” will receive a free early season lift ticket valid at either Sunday River or Sugarloaf.

Regional air flights into isolated Rocky Mountain valleys are the “lifeblood” of mountain resorts in the winter. So says Jack Sibbach, director of marketing at Sun Valley Resort, who is part of a campaign to approve a five-year, 1 percent tax to expand air service into the Wood River Valley.

Now may not seem like the time to worry about next season’s lift ticket deals, but if you like skiing and boarding at Ski Brule, the best prices of the coming season are now available.

Iran might not be high on your ski vacation bucket list, but it has the top spot on agendas of Olympic Gold Medalist Hannah Teter and Pro Rider Gabi Viteri in February 2013. Now, they need your support. Here’s why:

Parts of Chile have received some welcome snowfall since Aug. 24, particularly the southern resort of Nevados de Chillan.