bBanff (AB), Canada -/b With its nine lift towers already in place, the replacement of the Strawberry chair is on schedule at Sunshine Village ski area near Banff.

bVail, CO -/b Vail Resorts announced on Wednesday that Bobby Murphy has been named director of the Vail Snowsports School in Colorado, replacing Pete Sonntag who was recently appointed vice president and general manager of Heavenly Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe.

bfrom the outdoor gearheads at First Tracks!! Online Mediabrbr Salt Lake City, UT -/b With the new ski and snowboard season closer than you think, it's time to load your smartphone with the latest snowsports apps to prepare for the season ahead.

bBozeman, MT -/b Montana's Bridger Bowl was selected earlier this year as winner of the National Ski Area Association's (NSAA) annual Heads Up National Ski Area Safety Award for quot;Best Avalanche Safety Program.quot;

BLas Leñas, Argentina -/b With a few inches of new snow and warmer temperatures, athletes were in great spirits and put on a fantastic show on Eduardo's, the massive, 2,500-vertical-foot venue at Las Leñas for the Argentinean Freeskiing Championships. Still, due to unseasonably low snowpack, this was definitely a different type of competition, not focusing so much on big airs, but technical lines and controlled fluidity.

bLake Wanaka, New Zealand -/b The 2010-11 U.S. Snowboarding Rookie crew wrapped up its nearly month long stay in New Zealand. During their time in the Southern Hemisphere, the rookies competed in two contests, the Burton New Zealand Open and the 2010 FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships, and managed to get some quality riding time in between the events at Cardrona Alpine Resort and Snow Park.

bQueenstown, New Zealand -/b Day two of New Zealand's National Ski Championships took place Wednesday at Coronet Peak near Queenstown under blue skies, with Tim Cafe and Sarah Jarvis being named National Slalom Champions for 2010.

bby Patrick Thorne with First Tracks!! Online Media staff reportsbrbr Kiltarlity, Scotland, UK -/b Huge snowfalls of more than two feet, or 60cm, have been reported at ski resorts in Australia at the end of last week and in the Austrian, German and Italian Alps in the past 48 hours.

bHighmount, NY -/b The 2010 Belleayre Music Festival wraps up in New Orleans style when Aaron Neville and his Quintet, featuring Charles Neville, hit the stage at the Catskill Mountains ski area this Saturday, Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. in Highmount.

bVail, CO -/b Vail, Colo.-based SlopeViews is creating 360° video GPS-referenced trail maps, the first company to have launched such a product for the ski resort industry.

bPark City, UT -/b U.S. nordic combined skier Bryan Fletcher, who hails from Steamboat Springs, Colo., but makes his training home in Park City, is partnering with Red Banjo Pizza on Park City's Main Street to host a public autograph party with his Olympic teammates to help fight cancer this Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Proceeds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

iUpdate 11:14 a.m. MDT Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010: Squaw Valley USA officials have just advised us that the organizers of the SATELite Festival that was slated to come to Squaw Valley next week have canceled their event for this year./ibrbr bOlympic Valley, CA -/b Squaw Valley USA is slated to host the first annual SATELite Festival at the Lake Tahoe-area ski and snowboard resort this month, from Sept. 10-12. This year's SATELite Festival will unite adventurers, artists and consumers for film premieres, photo exhibits, cycling events, wine and dining experiences and live music.

bby Patrick Thornebrbr Kiltarlity, Scotland, UK -/b When does one ski season end and another end? It's a question we are always wondering, because tracking snowfall all year round, we know that somewhere in the northern hemisphere there's always somewhere open for snow sports. With ski areas like Zermatt in Switzerland, Tux in Austria and Timberline in Oregon open all year round for skiing and boarding and other areas opening at certain times in late spring, summer or autumn it can be hard to decide!

bHuntsville, UT -/b Utah's Snowbasin Resort will hold a special evening atop its Needles Gondola on Friday, Sept. 24 complete with BBQ and stargazing beneath the light of a nearly full moon.

bBoulder, CO -/b Ski racers are a huge part of Spyder's brand DNA. This summer, the Boulder, Colo.-based skiwear manufacturer signed 26-year-old U.S. Ski Team alpine racer Julia Mancuso, who owns more Olympic medals than any other American female skier.

bJay, VT -/b After a decade of effort, Jay Peak Resort has arranged a three-way land swap with the state of Vermont that will give the ski area control of its Stateside base area and protect the Long Trail corridor.

bLake Wanaka, New Zealand -/b The inaugural FIS Snowboard and Freestyle Junior World Championships came to a close Tuesday after 11 days of successful competition. The event combined snowboard and freestyle skiing in the same world championships for the first time and marked a new era in competitive snow sports, paving the way for the potential introduction of new disciplines into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

bPark City, UT -/b With an unusually thin snow pack in Chile this year, the men's U.S. Alpine Ski Team is planning a return trip to New Zealand in September and early October for its second training camp this summer. Traditionally the men's program has migrated to Portillo, Chile for its second camp.

bQueenstown, New Zealand -/b Ben Griffin and Sarah Jarvis were crowned the men's and women's 2010 Champions, respectively, as top alpine ski racers went head-to-head Tuesday in their battle for the New Zealand national giant slalom (GS) honors. The race was held on a challenging course at Coronet Peak near Queenstown.

bWoodbury, CT -/b Woodbury's Zoning Commission last week approved an expansion of tubing at Woodbury Ski Area, to include an expansion of winter operations and conversion of one lane for summer tubing.