Heavenly to stay open into May!

There are pros and cons in having a large percent of your ski resort be in National Forest Land. Quite frankly, I haven’t found any of the pros as of yet, but I know there are many people out there who have a laundry list of them, so out of respect, I’ll agree that there are pros. I think one of the drawbacks for western resorts in the last few decades is that most have to close in mid-April when the mountain is 100% open, because of agreements with the forest service. Now I understand that there is a unique balance of nature, but as a skier, I doubt I’d make many friends with the environmentalist ‘cause I think people should ski till the snow is gone. Interestingly, Heavenly Mountain Resort is almost entirely on National Forest Land, but for some reason or another, someone gave them the go ahead to break from tradition as Heavenly recently announced that they will not close at the traditional time in April and have extended their season into May due to the large snowfall totals to date. While I think this is fabulous, I also think it should be noted that both the forest service and the mountain have worked well over the past few years and this might be the fruits of the relationship. Perhaps both can have their way!

Sugarloaf's getting back to basics!

Upon completion of the resorts former centerpiece – the PHB base to summit 4-person gondola – Sugarloaf ski resort wanted a way to make sure the skiing public knew they were out to be a major player in eastern skiing. With trails being cut to international racing standards, Sugarloaf added “/usa” to its’ name in 1966.
For many of us, the resort has always been known as Sugarloaf/usa, but times change. The gondola that once stood as symbol for the massive ski resort, is now gone (The last remnant – the decrepit mid-station was removed from the mountain this past summer.) and the resort finally has a financially viable operator in that of Boyne/USA. So while it was still a little under the radar, the mountain made the decision last summer to “get back to basics,” as I’ve been told. Apparently many folks felt that “usa” wasn’t the best representation of the resort that had been developed as just Sugarloaf for 15 years before the initial name change. There are many people that still don’t know the change has happened, but when you go around the resort or see those famous triangles on the bumpers of cars, or indeed on rival mountains’ lift towers; expect a different look. Just don’t expect a different mountain. Sugarloaf still makes the rest of eastern skiing and riding look small.

Will Legend of Ahhhs make it to the silver screen?

It's been almost 20 years since the debut of the ski film that changed the way we as skiers and riders truly viewed "ski porn." From the depths of almost absolute obscurity, Greg Stump has re-emerged and will put out his first film in 10 years, "The Legend of Ahhhs." Unfortunately there will be no new skiing or riding footage, but instead, this will be more of a documentary about the business of revolutionizing the ski movie industry. With the help of old friends, Glen Plake, Scot Schmidt, and Mike Hattrup, Stumpy has stepped up to the plate after several years of part-time work, so to speak.
And after watching "Siberia" a few weeks back, I know why he did this. No. Of course I don't know why, but I have a better idea of why he stopped making ski films. First, I think he thought he'd done all he wanted to do in the ski film industry with the completion of a "Fistful of Moguls," (Some of which was shot in the Blue World, FYI) the passing of Craig Kelley may have been one of the biggest factors. Anyone who has seen Siberia know that there really isn't a lot of ski or snowboard footage, which really hurt Stump financially, but again, if you've seen it, you know why. The mountains they went to ski were for the most part unskiable. Every slope was avalanche prone and Stump feared for the lives of Schmidt and Kelley. There is a one camcorder-shot scene where Schmidt skis out of the slough of an avalanche, barely making it to safety. A few years later, Craig Kelley was lost to an Avalanche in British Columbia.
Not that Stump does have his other share of demons, he surely does and it's evident by the drop off in his work and his "compound" in Idaho known as the Vortex, but there is no doubting the artistic brilliance of this man. It may have taken some of his friends to drag him out of a stupor to make this film, but it sells and is a success, Stump will come full circle and prove that he was a flash in the pan for that one solid decade.