Snowshoe Unauthorized

Winter Park’s ski train nixed

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

The Ski Train, in business for 69 years and almost part of the Snowshoe family (since it has served the Intrawest-run resort of Winter Park), has been put out of business for various reasons.

Posted in News | Tagged denver, ski train, train, winter park | Leave a comment

More on Natasha Richardson’s injury and death

Posted on March 20, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Natasha Richardson 1963 - 2009

The death of Tony Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson has sparked interesting articles by ABC News, by Fox News, and by the New York Times.

Posted in Snow Topics | Tagged death, helmets | Leave a comment

Will West’s woes boost the ‘Shoe?

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

The West isn't the deal it used to be.

The East appears to be having a good season while the West is not, according to Marketwatch, which pins the blame for rough times in the Rockies on the sour economy. Snowshoe’s current marketing efforts attest, “Your trunk is free,” took a bold swipe at the airlines– the gateway for the big Western resorts– who are charging $15-25 per piece for the privilege (formerly the right) to check one’s luggage. Not surprisingly, visits to Colorado’s Summit County are down a woeful six percent.

Speaking of woes, Snowshoe’s parent company, Intrawest dodged a bullet back in the fall. Facing an October 23 due date on its $1.75 billion loan, the company was able to get the loan refinanced by its creditors. Meanwhile, Intrawest’s own parent, Fortress Investment Group, has has been suffering the slings and arrows of Wall Street. So maybe Snowshoe, which, like the other Eastern Intrawest resorts, had a fine early season, will bail out Fortress?

We’re looking forward to the release of the skier numbers after the season has ended this Sunday.

Posted in News | Tagged business, resort | Leave a comment

Actress death sure to revive helmet debate

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Natasha Richardson 1963 - 2009

Even though her tumble resulted in no major visible injury, and even though it occurred on a bunny slope under the gaze of an instructor, the death today of Tony Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson will surely revive the debate over helmet use, which exploded a decade ago after a pair of on-slope celebrity deaths.

The push for ski helmets took off after Michael Kennedy died playing ski football in Aspen on New Year’s Eve 1997. Singer, Senator, and former Cher spouse Sonny Bono followed him to the grave less than a week later in Heavenly.

Since that double whammy, helmet use has soared. According to the National Ski Areas Association, 43 percent of U.S. skiers and boarders now wear helmets, a climb of three percentage points from a year earlier and a whopping 72 percent jump from the 2002/03 season when just 25 percent of snowsports enthusiasts sported lids.

Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged death, helmets, safety | 3 Comments

Snowshoe wins $159K in state ad money

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Snowshoe’s big summer ad campaign has won a boatload of money as part of West Virginia’s ongoing plan to match private marketing spending with state money. The latest cash salvo pairs about $163K in state cash with $163K in Snowshoe’s own ad dollars to spread the word about the fun of a “mountain summer.” Also raking in some money this time was the nearby excursion train service, the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, which won about $59K.

Recent Snowshoe influxes of state advertising funds:
• June 2008 – $363K for Snowshoe’s winter 2008-09 campaign which included nods to the NRAO
• September 2008 – $14K for Snowshoe Properties Management
• December 2008 – nothing for the ‘Shoe but $33K for the WV Ski Areas Association and $99K to help the Pocahontas County Convention & Visitors Bureau encourage the arrival of more motorcoach tours.

Posted in News | Tagged marketing | Leave a comment

Fortress has another losing quarter

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Snowshoe’s beleaguered parent company, the publicly held Fortress Investment Group, announced another rough quarter to Wall Street today, announcing a $258 million loss, as the company continues to feel the effects of the credit crunch and redemptions from its once-storied hedge funds.

Hey, Snowshoe and its season of 190″ of snowfall did their part to prop things up.

Posted in News | Tagged business | Leave a comment

Skiing to wrap on March 22nd

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Some condo owners received word today that Sunday, March 22 will be the last day for skiing and snowboarding at Snowshoe. If so, that moves the date up a week from the original planned closing date of March 29 and suggests a wet end to a snowy season that began with three feet of snow to create an earlier-than-planned opening on November 21.

With Silver Creek having closed yesterday, March 15, on a rainy weekend, Snowshoe wraps up what, until mid-March, had been one of the snowiest recent seasons. A press release puts the season’s length at 122 days; and, unless Mother Nature suddenly cools down, this year’s total snowfall was 190 inches, with the resort offering five feet of base throughout much of the season, reaching the magic milestone of getting 100% open for the first time in two years— and getting the Silver Creek half-pipe open for the first time in four seasons.

“By January, Snowshoe had already surpassed its snow total from last season, and the resort saw its snowiest October to January period since the 1995-1996 season.” Hooray for that. Let’s get even snowier next year!

Posted in News | Tagged business, snow, weather | 1 Comment

44″ superstorm was this weekend in ’93

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

This is how the superstorm looked in Asheville, NC

This past weekend at Snowshoe may have seemed a little wet and warm, but 16 years ago skiers were treated to a whopping 44 inches of powder, according to one source. This was the so-calles “superstorm” that smothered the eastern United States with heavy snowfall, high winds, and blizzard conditions. It was also, a bit to the east of Snowshoe in Lynchburg, Virginia, where it caused the stagehouse of the then-vacant Academy of Fine Arts theater to collapse.

Posted in News | Tagged history, snow | 1 Comment

House o’ Year yours for under $1.6 million

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Lovely pictures in Country Living magazine point to lovely living on Cheat Mountain, and now the #1 shelter mag’s “House of the Year” can be yours for $1.575 million, according to the listing for 19 Meadows Drive at Intrawest’s Playground Real Estate. Like all 110 houses slated for development in the 22-acre Sawmill Village, this 5BR, custom-outfitted, Craftsman-styled dwelling comes completely furnished and EnergyStar rated. The developer (Thomas Tretheway of Summit III LLC in Charleston South Carolina) was kind enough to contribute about $900,000 to develop the three new expert runs— Camp 99, Sawmill, and Sawmill Glades— that opened last season. Come this fall, according to his gated community’s website, a 10,000 square-foot clubhouse will open with pool, spa, and a business center. And the future’s even bigger. According to one media report, there could eventually be 650 homes, thanks to options on over 800 more acres.

Not interested in the house of the year? You can buy the biggest house in the Sawmilll: the 9BR house at 1 Highland Drive for $3.75 million. Cash tight? Don’t worry; the seller offers $20,000 cash at closing!

Posted in News | Tagged real estate | Leave a comment

2 of 3 Ontario snow deaths had helmets

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Hawes Spencer

Two out of three recent snowsports enthusiasts who died in tree collisions at snow resorts in Ontario, Canada— at least those mentioned by CTV Toronto— were wearing helmets.

Posted in Snow Topics | Tagged accident, death, helmets | 11 Comments

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