AMERICAN SKIING COMPANY REAL ESTATE PRE-SALES

Press Release: American Skiing Company

March 9, 1999
New real estate projects proposed by American Skiing Company (NYSE: SKI) at its Heavenly and Sugarloaf/USA resorts are off to a record start, according to company officials.

At Heavenly Ski Resort, which straddles the California/Nevada state line near Lake Tahoe, more than 100 families placed non-binding reservations deposits on the new Grand Summit Resort Hotel in the first week of the pre-sales process. The reservations represent potential sales of more than $11 million upon delivery.

"This is unquestionably the biggest launch we've ever seen for one of our quarter-ownership projects," said Scott Oldakowski, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Sales and Marketing for American Skiing Company. "Buyers who get in first get first pick of the units, and we're extremely encouraged by the early stages of the pre-sales process."

The hotel is part of the new Heavenly Village section of the Park Avenue Redevelopment Project in South Lake Tahoe, a fully-permitted revitalization project which combines the efforts of the City of South Lake Tahoe's Redevelopment Agency with the environmental community.

At Sugarloaf/USA in Maine, the first phase of the new ski-in/ski-out Timbers townhome condominium project, representing 28 units, was fully subscribed on the first day of availability, most within one hour of their offering. The Timbers is located adjacent to the resort's Superquad high speed express lift, and is within an easy walk of the resort's shops, restaurants and services.

Reservations are expected to be converted to contract in April. Assuming all reservations are converted to contract, the project will produce approximately $7 million in revenues. Pending completion of the permit process and arranging necessary financing, construction of The Timbers is slated to begin early this summer, with delivery expected to begin next winter.

On March 11, the Company will start accepting reservations for Pavilion A, the third and final phase of the highly successful Sundial Lodge at The Canyons in Utah. The first two phases of the Sundial Lodge sold out in 10 1/2 hours, generated a record-setting $42.6 million in pre-sales and are scheduled for delivery next winter.

Headquartered in Newry, Maine, the American Skiing Company is the largest operator of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts include Steamboat in Colorado; Killington, Mount Snow and Sugarbush in Vermont; Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine; Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire; The Canyons in Utah; and Heavenly in California/Nevada.