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This year’s 10 Under 30 know how to hustle. The staff accountant from A-Basin will crunch numbers, bus tables, shovel walkways and remit 1099s all in the same day. The tramway supervisor at Ober can not only shorten a haul rope and change a circuit card, she also makes snow and sells tickets. These men and women are happy to get their hands dirty, keep a sharp ear to the ground, and do their work with a smile.

True snowsports enthusiasts, this year’s group are ideal industry ambassadors. They implement new employee training and wellness initiatives, build tools to make their peers’ jobs easier, know the value of good customer service, and really enjoy what they do.

The 10 come from the south and the north, the Rockies and the Green Mountains. They work at big resorts and little hills and for major industry players and independent operators. Regardless of where they call home, these smart, dedicated professionals are always looking for ways to help the resorts and industry they love grow and thrive.

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CLICK ON A NOMINEE in the list ABOVE TO READ HIS OR HER FULL PROFILE, COMPLETE WITH FULL INTERVIEWS. WE THINK YOU'LL AGREE THAT IT'S AN IMPRESSIVE GROUP. NOW LET US KNOW WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO BE YOUR FUTURE BOSS...AND GET EVERYONE IN YOUR ORGANIZATION TO VOTE—THERE ARE BRAGGING RIGHTS AT STAKE! — THE EDITORS

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BENJAMIN BARTZ 
Mountain Manager, Giants Ridge, Minn.
Age: 23

When Benjamin Bartz was nine, he decided skiing looked like more fun than hockey. Once he found his way onto the hill, he was captivated by the behind-the-scenes action. “I was fascinated with all of the stuff the ski area was trying to prevent me from seeing, like grooming and snowmaking,” says Bartz. He set his sights on a career in the industry and went to Northern Michigan University to study ski area management. After an internship in Colorado, opportunity led Bartz back to the Midwest where he serves as mountain manager at Giants Ridge in Minnesota.

What was your most defining career moment?
I think landing this job definitely changed my entire plan. I didn’t really have plans to be in a position like this so early. Accepting this position was a huge jump for me.

How did your degree prepare you for your role as mountain manager?
I was able to do a lot of hands on training. You get to do a little bit of everything at a rapid-fire pace. People who don’t do a program like that, it might take them a little longer to get that exposure.

Tell me about a change you’ve implemented.
When I got here, the lift operator training program was not as strong as I would have liked it. So, I re-envisioned the whole thing and tried to place an increased focus on the guest service side of that job. From the mountain ops standpoint, most of what we do is not a guest-facing thing. The lift operators really are our only guest-facing employees. So I just think it is really important that we are putting our best foot forward and making it an enjoyable experience for each guest. That’s how you get customers to come back.

Are there any developments that have you stoked about the future of the snowsports industry?
What gets me most excited is just seeing that, at an industry-wide level, it seems that a lot of resorts are taking a stand on certain issues, like Aspen and their “Give a Flake” campaign. Even at a broader scale, having big names like Patagonia say they are going to run a more values-based business is really cool to see.

What role do you see the industry playing in combatting climate change?
I subscribe to the theory that it’s not just about changing our light bulbs and recycling. I think, because we are places people come to recreate and enjoy the outdoors, it gives us that platform to share a message about why climate change is important and educate people about where we are going and how we can alter that.

What is something interesting that you do outside the ski industry?
I really enjoy photography—taking pictures and just being outdoors and seeing as many cool places as I can.

What were you voted in your high school yearbook?
I think it was always smiling.

ELIZABETH BOIS
Assistant Ski Patrol Director, Pats Peak, N.H.
Age: 25

Elizabeth Bois didn’t really get into skiing until she was in college studying outdoor leadership, but an auspicious internship with the Pats Peak ski patrol led to a job offer and, well, Bois has been there every winter since. “The people definitely keep me around,” she says. And Bois loves to learn. During her five-years in the industry, she earned her NSP Alpine Senior certification and moved steadily up the patrollers’ ranks. Her skill, enthusiasm, and dedication have earned her the role of assistant ski patrol director.

What was your most defining career moment?
I think it was during my internship at Pats Peak. Learning so much in such a short period of time and knowing that the education part never stops made me excited about it. I was like, “I am going to turn this into my career if I can.”

What was your most memorable working moment on snow this season?
I had the opportunity to travel to Virginia one weekend to attend a She Jumps Wild Skills Day. Young girls came out to Wintergreen Resort to learn some of what it takes to be a patroller. We spent the day going over toboggan handling, skiing, and avalanche rescue. She Jumps is an incredible organization with the goal of encouraging young girls and women in outdoor activities.

You run the nighttime patrol shift—how do you keep staff motivated?
That can definitely be a challenge some nights because it is dark and colder and the weather isn’t always great. But I think having a positive attitude and being kind and respectful and remembering that everyone is at a different place in their life makes the difference. And I try to make projects and training fun.

What’s a hot button topic in your department?
I know retention of skiers and employees seems to be hard—just how difficult it is to find people who are committed to taking the emergency course and then move through the mountain protocols. The number of people who go through beginning to end has dwindled over the years. And then the people who do make it through often only stick around for a season or two, so we are always in the process of training new patrollers.

Tell me about pursuing your NSP Alpine Senior certification.
I wanted to do it because it was another challenge, and it was a step in the right direction to make patrolling a career. I actually didn’t pass the first time, but I went back last winter to give it another go and passed. It was really fun. It’s a great program.

What is something interesting that you do outside the ski industry?
I really like to travel. I just got back from a two-week solo road trip in California. It was really fun and eye opening. Everything you do because you decided to do it—there is nobody else to bounce decisions off of.

MEGAN COLLINS
Communications Coordinator, Snowbasin, Utah 
Age: 29

Megan Collins was studying to become a math teacher, but she realized early on that she’d rather be in the ski industry. So, Collins finished her mathematics degree at the University of Colorado but spent her free time cultivating snowsports industry connections. Collins grew up skiing Alta, where her father has worked for 32 years, but still, she says, “with a math degree it was challenging to convince the ski marketing and PR world that I had some knowledge.” She persuaded them, and an internship at Colorado Ski Country USA and a three-year stint at Crested Butte led Collins happily back home to Utah and her current role at Snowbasin.

What was your most defining career moment?
The day I went into the office of Connie Marshall, who is the director of PR and marketing at Alta, on winter break and asked her, “How do I get your job?” She invited me to shadow her on a press trip to see if that’s what I really wanted. Shadowing her really sold the deal for me, and I was determined to make it my career.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
We were actually able to open earlier than projected. It became the earliest opening ever at Snowbasin. I tried to sneak in a vacation right before we opened, and while on that quick vacation, I got a phone call saying, “Mountain ops says we are ready to go. Can you get that message out?” Luckily, I was in an area where I had internet.

You work a lot with social media. What role does it play in your marketing strategy?
My favorite part of the social media realm is the engagement aspect. It takes a lot of time, but to be able to engage with the audience really creates that brand loyalty. It really starts to build the guest’s feeling that they are part of the family.

Are there any developments that have you stoked about the future of the snowsports industry?
I am on a team at Snowbasin where we have a strong emphasis on that “newcomer.” We have this “Learn and Earn” program. It’s a three-year program that focuses on building people into our resort. We want to grow the sport and this program is doing that. With the success of that program, we won the Conversion Cup last year. We are in our fourth year, and our retention rate is about 80 to 90 percent.

What role do you see the industry playing in combatting climate change?
In the past couple years it’s been interesting to see the resort industry come together with one voice. In the years to come, I think that united voice is going to be very strong and resorts will also be working individually. At Snowbasin, our green team is out there bringing our guests into the sustainability efforts.

What should you have been voted in your high school yearbook?
The Energizer Bunny.

JENNY DARRIGO
Resort Rental Manager, Mount Snow, Vt.
Age: 29

One of six, Jenny Darrigo comes from a big family of snowsports enthusiasts. Her race coach dad taught her to ski as soon as she could walk. At fourteen, she took her first job in the industry as an instructor. And when it came time for college, Darrigo sought out Lyndon State; at the time, it offered the only four-year bachelor’s in ski resort management. Her final internship was at Mount Snow and, after joining the team full-time, she quickly worked her way up to manager. High-volume and high-pressure don’t faze her, and her enthusiasm for the work is clear—“it’s my lifelong thing at this point,” she says.

What was your most defining career moment?
My defining moment was probably when things were shifting in the rental department and I took on more than the scope of my job and proved myself. Now, I’m resort rental manager.

You manage five rental shops and an online rental database—what are your keys to keeping things running smoothly during peak periods?
The biggest thing for me is organization. I can’t be in five places at once. So I make sure we are all organized on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. I have different charts that I’ve made and am always trying to think of things that would make different staff members’ jobs easier. And training from day one is what keeps my staff from all the shops on the same page.

What was your most memorable working moment this season?
We had this mother come in after her kids were already out. Her skis didn’t fit. Her bindings didn’t fit. She and her kid had switched equipment. She was ready to quit. She hadn’t rented from us, but I got her new boots and different skis, got her some water and got her back on the snow. I come to find out later, she wrote a letter to the instructor saying it was the best experience and she was going to come back and would never rent anywhere else again.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
We have a rental shop that is a hub for group sales, and they had over four hundred rentals for this Saturday. The rental shop in that building doesn’t have that many skis. So, I spent most of that week coordinating and thinking of ideas for how we could make this not a crazy mess because all these buses arrive at the same time. So, I thought about pre-setting and sales reached out with forms to the group’s coordinator. Getting everything ready ahead of time worked out really well.

What is something interesting that you do outside the ski industry?
Golf. I started playing a year or two ago. Surprisingly, I have a lot more patience than I thought I was going to have for it.

SAM GERK
Operations Manager, Echo Mountain, Colo.
Age: 29
A lifelong skier and fisherman, Sam Gerk has always loved the outdoor industry. Initially, he was in outdoor product at Under Armor. But recently, Gerk found himself curious about the business side of ski areas. He made the leap into ski area operations last spring after a friend told him about a job opportunity at Echo Mountain. There, Gerk has his hands in a little bit of everything, from re-vegetating the hill to setting up a new POS system. “No two days are alike,” says Gerk.

What was your most defining career moment?
Over the holidays this season we doubled what we thought we were going to do in skier visits. On a lot of those days, we were understaffed. I spent a lot of time down in the rental shop helping folks get out on the mountain. And I think, for me, being a lifelong skier and seeing hundreds of new skiers—mostly adults—come through there and hearing their stories about skiing makes it all worth it.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
We had a day right at the beginning of our Christmas holiday when there was a disconnect between our payment processors and our new POS system. We could not take payment and sell products. We had people going down to rentals and out on the mountain on an honor system. We ended up working out the bugs. I think we were able to overcome it with patience and persistence. And it was relieving and rewarding to see that everyone we let out on the mountain without paying came back and paid their bill. It’s something you could pull off only at a small ski area.

What’s a hot button topic in your department?
One of things that a lot areas are focused on is “how do we get more dollars from that core skier?” One of the goals of Echo is to share our sport and get more people into the sport instead of focusing on that core skier. We have really tried to create an affordable product to get people into the sport. It’s really about selling a welcoming skier experience that is not elitist.

Are there any developments that have you stoked about the future of the snowsports industry?
Something that we’ve been working on is trying to create better beginner terrain from top to bottom. We’ve worked hard to create a smooth transition from the beginner area to the rest of the mountain. And that has me excited because I hope that every guest will be able to realize excitement and enthusiasm for the sport.

What is something interesting that you do outside the ski industry?
Fly-fishing. It’s not as thrilling as skiing down the mountain but it is a good way to slow everything down. It’s very therapeutic.

What were you voted in your high school yearbook?
Most likely to be a soccer dad.

KYLE GRIFFIN
Staff Accountant II, Arapahoe Basin, Colo.
Age: 26

Kyle Griffin grew up working the floor of his family’s ski shop. He’s also a former racer and a PSIA level III certified instructor. He’s worked in ski area marketing. He has an AAVI 2 certification and a finance degree. And now, you can find Griffin in accounts payable at Arapahoe Basin. But he’s just as likely to be shoveling walkways, bussing tables, and selling tickets as he is to be at his desk—at least during operating hours because he’s always happy to stay late to get the accounting done. That’s because Griffin loves sharing snowsports with others. “I really believe that skiing, snowboarding and snowplay are the most incredible experiences,” he says.

What was your most defining career moment?
Just after college I made some contacts and got a job with Mount Hotham Ski Company in Australia. That experience really opened my eyes to how much bigger the ski industry was. It was this multi-national perspective, and it just totally lit a fire in me.

You’ve worked in multiple departments—how do those experiences inform your current work?
We as accountants are a service department to operational departments. I think that’s where being more informed comes into play. I worked last fall with our ski school director to develop some excel tools, trying to give him some metrics to break down the raw data in his profit and loss statements. That was certainly a challenge, but it was a challenge that I felt prepared for having had a ski school background. I could ask relevant questions and therefore develop better tools.

What was your most memorable working moment this season?
We had just opened, and I was rearranging some chairs on the patio deck at the A-Frame. A gentleman came up to me and was explaining that he was just in awe of what he was seeing. He had never skied and never seen snow in his life. And here we had this lovely white strip down the mountain. He was so inspired that he wanted to come back. It was incredible. You can’t help but leave that interaction with a smile.

What role do you see the industry playing in combatting climate change?
The real opportunity that we have is as role models to guests, vendors, and even media outlets. We can lead by example by making more conscious impacts. And we can be advocates. We need to try to develop more favorable resolutions legislatively to protect the viability of our industry and the viability of our planet.

What is something interesting you’ve done outside the ski industry?
When I was a first grader, some people from the Cub Scouts came and talked to us. I still remember asking my dad if I could join. And that little question turned into a 12-year-long stint working with the Boy Scouts. It’s an organization that has developed me into the person that I am today.

BRIANNA LUCE
Partner Services Specialist, Mountain Collective, Liftopia, Calif.
Age: 28

Brianna Luce has an impressive six associate’s degrees. To finish her B.S. in business, though, she had to move far away from the mountains. Sierra-at-Tahoe, where Luce worked part-time in ticketing during college, was just too distracting. But she couldn’t stay away from the snow for long. After completing her degree, Luce snagged a job with Liftopia and set up in San Francisco on Lake Tahoe’s doorstep. She hasn’t looked back since. “I’m in it for the long haul,” Luce says.

What was your most defining career moment?
Last year, there was a Mountain Collective Summit in Taos. Being able to be around all the industry leaders and feeling comfortable talking to them made me feel like, “this is absolutely where I want to be. I want to fill their shoes someday.”

Is there a hot button topic in your department?
Liftopia is expanding into summer operations, so parks and attractions. Mother Nature doesn’t always play friendly in the winter. So, we’re focusing on year-round revenue generation just like resorts.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
There were so many days when the roads to Tahoe or to Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah closed. It made it interesting to try to streamline the process for when a resort closed. I was really excited because we were able to do that with Snowbird using Google Docs. It was an easy tool to make the process for compensating guests easier for the resort team and customers.

Are there any developments that have you stoked about the future of the snowsports industry?
I think making it easier for customers to purchase day tickets or season passes in a mobile environment is really exciting. I think that is personally exciting because I like taking friends to ski resorts. They get really excited after they’ve learned to ski or snowboard and are like, “What’s next? How do I do this again?” If customers are able to purchase their season pass on their phone or purchase lift tickets for next time while they are having that great experience, I think that is really exciting and will continue to drive customers to come back.

What role do you see the industry playing in combatting climate change?
I think about that almost every day. I keep a notebook of things that resorts do really well that I really like and things resorts do that really make me scratch my head. One thing I’ve noticed that a lot of resorts are switching to is using reusable cups for water and reusable plates and silverware in their eating establishments. I would be very sad if not every resort is doing at least that in twenty years.

What should you have been voted in your high school yearbook?
Most likely to move to the mountains. I grew up in a really tiny town in Ohio, and I always wanted something more.

ASHLEY RYLAND
Assistant Risk Manager, Taos Ski Valley, N.M.
Age: 28

Ashley Ryland is often affectionately known as “the snack lady” at Taos Ski Valley. Once a month, she facilitates the distribution of more than 500 snack bags to employees. It’s just one of the wellness initiatives she has been instrumental in running since she joined the team in 2015, fresh off her master’s degree in sports administration. She’s also launched Mental Health First Aid, free employee yoga and stretching, gym discounts, and a helmet policy, but Snack Day is still one of her favorites. “A lot of the programs are slower growing and take a little more time to establish,” she says, “but people are usually pretty happy to have a snack!”

What was your most defining career moment?
When I finished my sports administration degree, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. I applied to Taos. Dawn Boulware, the chief administrative officer, emailed me and asked if I was interested in the wellness coordinator position they had just created. It was kind of the perfect fit, and each year it has evolved a little bit more.

How do you create a successful risk management culture?
I think the more people are involved in your business and engaged with what is going on, the safer they are. So offering these programs to help staff better themselves and show that we care about their wellbeing is huge. An engaged employee is less likely to get hurt at work.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
The helmet policy is an ongoing challenge. We’d never had mandatory helmets before, and, like a lot of resorts, we are having those growing pains. I knew folks weren’t going to be happy with it and I was going to have to answer tough questions. It wasn’t easy, but I think it was fairly well received. People here at Taos really appreciate when you communicate news to them directly rather than hearing through their supervisor or through an email.

What’s a hot button topic in your department?
Workers’ comp. We never want to see people get injured, and workers’ comp is expensive. When you’re a department that doesn’t bring money in but is always asking to spend money to keep people safe, your savings aren’t always seen. So fighting for that money in the budget and improving that safety culture can be a challenge, but we are working on it everyday.

Are there any developments that have you stoked about the future of the snowsports industry?
Here at Taos we have a new large construction project pretty much every off-season. We are starting to become that four-season resort with mountain biking, a via ferrata, and a ropes course. It is exciting to see it evolve because in the risk world you have to think differently. I also think resorts have recognized that having a four season resort is important to help us to continue to grow our business and be sustainable.

MICKAYLA SMITH
Tramway Operations Supervisor, Ober Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Age: 22 

When MicKayla Smith moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee as a teenager, she wasn’t expecting to find a ski resort near her new home. But once Smith discovered Ober Gatlinburg, she knew she wanted to be involved with the operation. Smith started as a tram operator and was eager to learn everything. Her insatiable curiosity landed her an apprenticeship with the tramway superintendent and set her on the path back to school to study industrial electricity. Now, Smith does it all: “I can do everything from sell tickets, to make snow to change a circuit card on the tramway,” she says.

What was your most defining career moment?
When I first started to work with my mentor, Danny Dixon, one of our first big projects was shortening the haul rope. That involves several people walking out on the cable to set up rigging equipment. A little over a year later, my boss told me he wanted me to walk the cables. I was a nervous wreck. After overcoming that challenge, my mindset completely changed. I realized that the will to try and learn is all it takes to be successful.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
I think the biggest challenge that I overcome sometimes on a daily basis is being a female in a field where, at my resort, there are no other females and learning to accommodate for a lack of strength with brains.

Another challenge is trying not to drink too much coffee when you are making snow—you get the jitters.

You ran the tramway with record efficiency this year—what’s the key?
I think the biggest key is proper training. We have a “load and go” procedure that is super efficient. When I first started working behind the scenes for the tramway, I really structuralized the system that was in place. When you have properly trained tram operators, that’s when you get the best movement on the tram.

What was your most memorable working moment on snow this season?
As soon as our nighttime snowmaking crew left for the season, we had four days of really cold temperatures. I’m on the day snowmaking crew, but my boss told us we were going to be the night crew. That was my first time making snow at night, and there was just so much camaraderie. We absolutely killed it—we actually extended the season for two weeks.

Are there any developments that have you stoked about the future of the snowsports industry?
I think the new technology as far as lifts is very impressive. I am ready to see some cool installations like at Big Sky with Ramcharger—the way the bullwheel and gearbox are laid out on that thing is just so cool.

What role do you see the industry playing in combatting climate change?
The biggest challenge we face is getting away from fossil fuel driven auxiliary backups, groomers, snowmobiles, etc. I have faith my generation will make technological leaps.

AJ STACK
Senior Marketing Manager, Camelback Resort, Pa.
Age: 29

“There’s no better feeling than being on the mountain,” says AJ Stack. He caught the bug when he joined his college ski club, and the launching point for his career in the industry was his quest for a free season pass. He joined Seven Springs as the marketing photographer, and his bosses quickly put Stack’s creativity to use as the events manager. In 2017, Stack moved to Camelback to serve as the events and promotions manager and was named senior marketing manager last summer. In that role, Stack helmed two campaigns that were 2019 NSAA Marketing Awards finalists.

What was your most defining career moment?
When I got my new position. I’ve always wanted to run a marketing department. So, when this opportunity came up and I got to lead my own team and really show what I could do with my ideas and creativity—that was definitely the biggest moment for me.

What was your most memorable working moment on snow this season?
In the middle of the year we actually decided to open up a new trail, Basilisk, where our old alpine slide used to be. That was one of those things where we had our whole campaign behind it and got to be involved in the naming of it. That trail is part of Camelback now, and it was awesome seeing it grow from an idea to it actually happening, and now we have a trail that will be there forever.

Describe a challenge you encountered this winter and how you overcame it.
In Pennsylvania, we are really at the mercy of the weather. We opened early, but leading into Christmas week we had 60 degrees and rain for two weeks straight. So we had to do everything we could to positively promote still coming out during the holiday season. We got out there and we filmed videos and did Facebook live to show people the conditions we actually had. So even though none of the surrounding areas had any snow and were having very warm temperatures, we got out ahead of it.

What makes for a killer social media post?
We’ve found real success with videos. So we have a killer video team and they come up with some great creative ideas. They did an awesome job creating these very cinematic, big, almost movie style trailers to convey the image of skiing. We are marketing in New York City, so it has to be big, loud, and extravagant.

What is something interesting that you do outside the ski industry?
I am a DJ and a musician. I got into DJing because of the ski industry. It started at ski bars but has taken me to New York and New Jersey. And I’m in a metal band, Cyr/s. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 10.

10 Under 30: Where Are They Now?

We have highlighted more than 100 up-and-coming employees through our "10 Under 30” feature during the past 12 years. How have past profilees fared since their appearance in these pages? We checked in with four to find out. Their experiences have varied, but we found they have two things in common: team support and mentors have had a big impact on their careers and growth. (See Summit Series, page 52.)

MOLLY ROSS, CLASS OF 2017
Then: Business Manager, Blue Hills Boston, Mass.
Now: General Manager, Blue Hills Boston, Mass.

What has been the biggest influence in your growth?
The people who are in my corner. I have an extremely supportive group of family and friends that always have my back and have been through this whole journey with me. I would also attribute Vero Piacentini, former GM at Blue Hills and now the vice president of operations at ORDA (Olympic Regional Development Authority), for being an amazing mentor and teacher during his time at Blue Hills. He helped me see that this could be a career and is someone I still call when things get tough or I need advice.

GREG GAVRILETS, CLASS OF 2015
Then: Terrain Parks Manager, Ober Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Now: Vice President and General Manager, Hidden Valley Ski Area, Mo.

What has been the biggest influence in your growth?
I’ve been lucky to have a strong group of mentors in the industry who have supported my growth. From the senior leadership at Ober Gatlinburg who let me set a vision and didn’t shoot down every idea I had, to the executive team at Peak Resorts who believed in me and gave me an opportunity to succeed. I am grateful to have worked with some great people. I have always appreciated leaders who stay humble and hungry and I’ve tried to model my own work style in this way.

JAY SCAMBIO, CLASS OF 2009
Then: Director of Terrain Park Development, Boyne Resorts
Now: President and General Manager, Loon Mountain, N.H.

What has been the biggest influence in your growth?
There were probably three major pieces: being lucky to work for some amazing mentors who gave me a really long leash, using the diversity of our resort network as on-the-job education to learn as much as I could about the good, the bad, and the ugly, and getting out to industry gatherings to learn/network.


ANYA WHITICAR, CLASS OF 2017
Then: Guest Services Manager, Ski Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
Now: Guest Services and Summer Ops Duty Manager, Ski Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned along the way?
That there is always a learning curve, and it’s okay not to know everything right away! There is a direct correlation between your level of interest and passion and your ability to learn and grow. So as long as you’re still learning, you’re on the right track!