EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATION

         I, William J. Fair, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of American Skiing
         Company;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the periods
         covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows
         of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
         registrant and have:

          a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,  or caused such
               disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to be  designed  under our
               supervision,  to ensure that material information relating to the
               registrant,  including  its  consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made
               known to us by others within those entities,  particularly during
               the period in which this report is being prepared;

          b)   Evaluated  the  effectiveness  of  the  registrant's   disclosure
               controls  and   procedures  and  presented  in  this  report  our
               conclusions  about the  effectiveness of the disclosure  controls
               and  procedures,  as of the  end of the  period  covered  by this
               report based on such evaluation; and

          c)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's  internal
               control  over  financial   reporting  that  occurred  during  the
               registrant's first fiscal quarter that has materially  affected,
               or is reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting; and

5.       The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
         based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
         reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
         registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
         functions):

          a)   all  significant  deficiencies  and  material  weaknesses  in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial  reporting
               which are reasonably  likely to adversely affect the registrant's
               ability  to record,  process,  summarize,  and  report  financial
               information; and

          b)   any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant  role in the  registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting.

Date:  December 8, 2004

                                    By: /s/ William J. Fair
                                       ---------------------------
                                          William J. Fair
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer
                                          (Principal Executive Officer)