Season-Pass Sales: The most popular multi-resort season passes started early-bird sales for the 2017-18 ski season. Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass costs $859, up from $809 last year. Children’s passes ages 5-12 cost $449. Good for unlimited access at all Vail Resorts-owned destinations plus Arapahoe Basin, the 2017-18 Epic Pass will include new company acquisitions Whistler Blackcomb and Stowe Mountain Resort. Recently purchased Stowe is not currently listed on the 2017-18 pass, but the company has promised to add it once the deal is officially finalized. 

The 2017-18 Mountain Collective pass offers two days at 16 resorts for $399, an increase from $379 last year. The group of independent ski areas has added Snowbasin in Utah and Sugarbush in Vermont to its ranks. Other prominent resorts on the pass include Jackson Hole, Aspen Mountain, Telluride, Mammoth, Alta, Snowbird, Squaw Valley and Lake Louise. When purchased with an adult pass, a pass for children 12 and under costs just $1. 

Mostly featuring Colorado resorts, the $529 Rocky Mountain Super Pass includes unlimited access to Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Eldora, plus six days at Steamboat, three days at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, and three days at Alyeska Resort in Alaska. A free pass for children 12 and under is available with the purchase of an adult pass.

Hesperus Reopens: Hesperus Ski Area, near Durango, Colorado, was able to resume operations after a hiatus of about two weeks. Maintenance issues with the small ski area’s only chairlift were the primary reasons for the closure. 

Photo: Scott DW Smith

Squaw World Cup: American Mikaela Shiffrin won the women’s giant slalom on Friday, March 10, as the World Cup returned to Squaw Valley, California, for the first time since 1969. The win was Shiffrin’s first World Cup victory on home snow. On the following day, Shiffrin won the slalom event. After wrapping up at Squaw Valley, the women’s World Cup circuit heads to Aspen Mountain for the World Cup Finals.

Photo: Hal Williams

New Lift at Eldora: The Colorado resort near Boulder announced that a new six-pack lift will be installed for next ski season. Eldora’s first high-speed lift will replace the Cannon and Challenge lifts. According to Brent Tregaskis, Eldora general manager, the new lift will take skiers and boarders to the top of the mountain in about four minutes and 30 seconds.

Bromley Telefest: Bromley Mountain in Vermont hosted the 32^nd Annual Kare Andersen Telemark Festival on the weekend of March 4-5. Named in memory of a Bromley telemark instructor, the event included two days of clinics and races for free-heelers. The festival drew 55 participants, plus a coaching staff of 15 including Bromley’s telemark coordinator Greg Paquin.

Photo: Bromley Mountain

Sugarbush Fat Ski-A-Thon: Sugarbush held its sixth-annual Fat Ski-A-Thon on Sunday, March 5. With 244 skiers and boarders participating, the event raised $200,000 for the High Fives Foundation. The charity focuses on safety awareness and support for mountain sport athletes who have suffered spinal cord or brain injuries. 

Photo: Jennifer Langille

Camelback 3D: Combining video projection and big air, the 3D Air and Apres Show entertained nighttime visitors to Camelback Resort in Pennsylvania, on Saturday, March 4. Olympic snowboarding bronze medalist Scotty Lago was among the athletes performing in the show. The light show was produced by the same company that created the visuals for the Calvin Harris and Rihanna “This is What You Came For” video.

Photo: Camelback