In SAM’s Snow People, we highlight recent personnel moves that have been made in the mountain resort industry. From resort hires, promotions, and retirements to supplier news, awards and obits. We celebrate the people that make this industry thrive.

People

GREG GAVRILETS, MT. ROSE SKI TAHOE, NV

Greg Gavrilets will take over as general manager of Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, Nev., April 18. Gavrilets resigned Jan. 17 from his role as GM of Attitash, N.H. He previously served as the general manager of Paoli Peaks, Ind.,and then Hidden Valley, Mo. Gavrilets will start transitioning into his role at Mt. Rose March 1, working with retiring general manager Paul Senft.

JOSH FABER, WINTERPLACE, WV

Josh Faber joined Winterplace Ski Resort, W.Va., as general manager in November. In more than 15 years in the industry, Faber has led operations at ski areas around the country, including Tyrol Basin, Wis., and Mad River Mountain, Ohio, and previously oversaw operations for all Peak Resorts properties in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Prior to joining Winterplace, Faber most recently served as the mountain manager of Ski Santa Fe, N.M.  

BLAIR MCNAMARA, STEAMBOAT, CO

Steamboat Ski Resort appointed Blair McNamara as vice president of lodging, effective Dec. 22, 2021. McNamara started his 30-year career at Vail Resorts with roles in sales, strategic alliance, and program development. He has been a part of the Steamboat Springs lodging community since 2005, serving as the vice president of sales and marketing for The Resort Company LLC, and then as VP of marketing – North America for Wyndham Vacation Rentals before establishing his own company, the Resort Lodging Company, in 2015. 

BRUNDAGE MOUNTAIN, IDAHO

Brundage Mountain, Idaho, is building out its team. Jerrod Warner joined the mountain as director of projects. He will focus on managing projects related to Brundage Mountain’s 10-year expansion plan, including the new day lodge, Brundage Mountain Village, and employee housing initiatives. 

Kyle Looper was appointed as director of real estate sales and marketing. His background is in B2B sales, with a focus on client interaction and facility planning and design.

Molly Hawken is the resort’s new director of marketing and sales. Hawken will oversee marketing, events, and guest services. 

April Whitney has stepped into a new role focused on public relations and brand strategy. Whitney has worked in various communications and marketing positions at Brundage Mountain over the past 17 years. 

Jerrod Warner Kyle Looper  Molly Hawken  April Whitney

KILLINGTON RESORT, VT

Kayla Sarajian has been promoted to become the first female lift operations manager at Killington Resort. She most recently served as lift operations supervisor, which included operational oversight of approximately 140 lift operators and ticket checkers. She began her career at the resort in 2014 as a team leader in the snowsports department. 

Kayla Sarajian

Kristel Killary has been hired as the new PR/communications and social media manager. 

Eric Kelley joined Killington and Pico as the new training manager.

GLENN HARMON, Cranmore, NH

Longtime Cranmore employee Glenn Harmon was promoted to vice president of operations for Cranmore Mountain Resort. Growing up in Conway, N.H., Harmon began his career at Cranmore in 2004 as food and beverage director. He moved over to base area operations director in 2006 before being promoted to director of operations in 2010.

WILLY GRAVES, GUNSTOCK, NH 

Gunstock Mountain Resort hired former U.S. Nordic Ski Team member Willy Graves as its new outdoor center manager. Hailing from Putney, Vt., Graves spent his early years cross country skiing out of the Grafton Nordic Center, which his parents managed. He began ski jumping at five-years-old and became involved in Nordic Combined. He attended high school at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid where he landed a place on the U.S. Ski Team. From 2011 to 2014, Graves was on the board of directors for USSA. He is a graduate of Westminster College in Salt Lake City with a degree in finance.

PATS PEAK, NH

Pats Peak promoted Jacob Bashaw to assistant director of mountain operations and Josh Siegel to year-round status as the lift operations manager. 

Bashaw has 15 years of service at Pats Peak and has been involved with snowmaking and lift maintenance. He is also one of the public water system operators for the mountain. In his new position as assistant director of mountain operations, he will be responsible for training, overseeing the mountain operations maintenance program, payroll, and many other duties. 

Josh Siegel was hired in the lift department at Pats Peak in 2008 as a lift attendant. He was promoted to a lift supervisor in 2019 and now has been promoted to the year-round position of lift operations manager. He is now responsible for all hiring, training, scheduling, and supervision of the lift operations team. 

KATE SULLIVAN, WINDHAM MOUNTAIN, NY

Windham Mountain hired Kate Sullivan as its marketing and communications manager, leading all of Windham’s marketing, branding, communications, social channels, and content. Her background is in strategic communications and marketing. Sullivan graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in both English and Psychology, and from Columbia University with an MFA in Writing and served for six years as an officer in the Marine Corps.

JOEY CAREY, SUGARBUSH, VT

Sugarbush Resort hired former SAM Summit Series mentee Joey Carey as its ski and ride director. 

DEER VALLEY RESORT, UTAH

Deer Valley hired Jacob Musyt as vice president of food and beverage, and Sammie Doyle has been promoted to director of food and beverage. 

Sammie DoyleAs the vice president of food AND beverage, Musyt will oversee more than a dozen restaurant outlets, resort culinary teams, and Deer Valley’s banquet and catering experiences. Musyt was formerly the director of food and beverage at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. He studied at Johnson & Wales University in Denver with a focus on hospitality and restaurant management. 

Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Doyle has been with Deer Valley since 2012. She was most recently the resort restaurant operations manager, and before her time at the resort she worked as a detox case manager for people experiencing homelessness through Volunteers of America. 

CHRISTOPHER PARK, SNOW KING, WY

Christopher Park joined Snow King as its executive chef. Park is responsible for overseeing a staff of 40, the daily operations of the resort’s signature restaurant Hayden’s Post, banquet kitchen and room service, as well as food revenues and product purchasing. Park was most recently executive chef for Grand Targhee Mountain Resort in Wyoming, and prior to that was executive chef for Powder Mountain in Utah. He has held similar positions in Crested Butte, Colo., and Mount Rainier National Park, Wash.

TAMARACK RESORT, IDAHO

Tamarack Resort named Kara Finley as director of finance and accounting. Finley is responsible for accounting function management and oversight in accordance with GAAP. She also leads Tamarack’s accounting team and supports the operating budgets for all resort operations, real estate, and construction. 

Kelly Crocket is the new director of strategic operations. Crockett reports directly to the president and leads a portfolio of cross-functional projects that enhance performance across all of Tamarack’s departments, including critical initiatives like the resort’s inclusion efforts, new homeowner transition services, and resort-wide project management.

Tara Colegrove was hired as the director of spa and wellness. Colegrove combines her background in business development and spa management with her experience in hands-on massage and facial treatments to develop elevated wellness offerings suited to the active lifestyles of Tamarack guests.

Finley, Crockett, and Colegrove

ABI NILSSON, SKI NH

Abi Nilsson joined Ski NH as its new assistant director. Her career in the ski industry began in November 2009 when she moved to Colorado to work as a ski instructor at Breckenridge Ski Resort. After three years in Colorado, she moved back to New England to work in hospitality and tourism and finished her bachelor's degree in communications and journalism at Rhode Island College. Since then, she has worked at Wildcat, N.H., as an advanced ski patroller and WEMT and PSIA-certified ski instructor. At Ski NH, Abi will manage marketing, workforce development, safety, and more.

BEN CLARK, CHILL FOUNDATION

Ben Clark was named the new global CEO of the Chill Foundation. 

RILEY ELLIOTT, USA NORDIC

USA Nordic hired Riley Elliott as its new communications manager, a newly created role for the organization, and Casey Mills as its new partnership marketing director, also a newly developed position. 

PIERRE-ALEXANDRE LEGAULT, TREMBLANT RESORT ASSOCIATION

Pierre-Alexandre Legault was promoted to manager, member services, PR, and communications of the Tremblant Resort Association in Quebec.

DAVID CURELL, RED MOUNTAIN, B.C.

David Curell was named the new general manager of the Josie Hotel, a boutique ski-in, ski-out hotel at the base of Red Mountain Resort. Curell’s 12 years of hospitality experience includes managing prestigious hotels such as The Opus Hotel Vancouver, Hotel Vitale San Francisco, the Clift San Francisco, Viceroy Santa Monica, and Fogo Island Inn Newfoundland. He was most recently the general manager of Versante Hotel, B.C.

Suppliers

SMI SNOW MAKERS

Dave Reed was promoted to SMI Northeast USA sales and service manager. Reed has been in the ski industry for 15 years, moving up the snowmaking ranks at various resorts on both coasts. “Solving problems and helping people with snowmaking has always been my number one interest and now it has become a reality,” said Reed. 

TECNICA

Tecnica Group North America has hired Matthew Miller to the newly created position of social and environmental impact guide. Miller will oversee Tecnica Group’s North American social and environmental impact strategies, with a focus on shaping industry partnerships. For the past 10 years, Miller was the director of development and mobilization for Love146, an international human rights organization. Prior to Love146, Miller had a long career in sales and marketing within the outdoor winter sports industry, working with brands including Lowa Boots, SWIX Sport USA, and Sierra Designs.

RECCO AB 

RECCO AB hired Alexandra Löfvander as a new area sales manager in Stockholm. Her hiring is part of Recco’s ongoing expansion of its avalanche recovery technology into a year-round search and rescue system for the outdoors. 

PRINOTH 

PRINOTH has appointed Greg Clowers as the new Far West regional manager, based out of Reno, Nev. Clowers has been with the company for a number of years as the Intermountain regional manager and is transitioning to this new territory.

Awards

NSAA USFS DISTINGUISHED PARTNER AWARD 

NSAA and the United States Forest Service recognized David Corbin, the former vice president of planning at Aspen Skiing Co., with the Distinguished Partner Award during a Jan. 18 webinar with USFS Deputy Chief Chris French. “We were grateful for the chance to celebrate David, his contributions to the NSAA Public Lands Committee, and his long-term support of the USFS-ski industry partnership,” said NSAA.

Obituaries

MARK WEST 

Mark West, owner of MRW Project Services LTD, died Dec. 31, 2021. West, a structural engineer, was involved in snowmaking construction and installation work at ski areas across North America, often working closely with industry suppliers, including Torrent Engineering and SMI. Based in B.C., West was a well-known figure in the Canadian ski industry, although his contributions to snowmaking reached across the whole continent. 

JIM WISEMAN

Jim “JW” Wiseman, owner and founder of Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area, died on Dec. 30, 2021. In 1968, Jim and former wife, Sandra Wiseman, purchased the small ski area in rural southwest Michigan and he devoted the rest of his life and many years of hard work to build and grow a thriving snowsports business. 

BARRY HOLISTER

Joseph Barrett “Barry” Holister of Pittsfield, Mass., died Nov. 26, 2021. Holister started a career in the ski industry in ‘60s as an instructor at Bousquet, Mass., Tremblant, Quebec, and Palisades Tahoe and Heavenly in California. Most notably, he founded Ski America, which included the publication Ski America magazine, and a nationwide ski brochure distribution business.

RON LEMASTER

Beloved ski coach and educator Ron LeMaster was killed in an on-hill collision at Eldora, Colo. He was 72. LeMaster was a coach for more than 30 years, working with the U.S. Ski Team, among others. His books “The Skier’s Edge” and “Ultimate Skiing” remain key contributions to the technical understanding of skiing. He held degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering, wrote frequently for PSIA-AASI publications, and was also a well-respected ski photographer. 

LARRY YOUNG

Larry Young, professor emeritus of astronautics and a renowned expert in bioastronautics, died at 85. In addition to his scientific work, Young was an avid skier. He was a director of the International Society for Skiing Safety and chaired the Ski Injury Statistics Subcommittee of the American Society for Testing and Materials Committee on Snow Skiing. For his work, Young received the United States Ski Association Award of Merit and the Best Research Paper Award from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He was also a well-remembered guest speaker at SAM Cutter’s Camp.

HARRY KAISER

Harry Kaiser, former publisher of Skiing magazine, died Oct. 23 at his home in Captiva Island, Fla. From 1969 through 1996, an eternity in the media world, he guided Skiing and the sport of skiing. As president of the Times Mirror Corporation from 1985 to 1996, Kaiser was publisher of SKI, Skiing, Transworld Snowboarding, and various trade publications. An avid fundraiser for the U.S. Ski Team and chairman of the New York Committee for the U.S. Ski Team, he was honored extensively for his commitment to the ski industry. He was inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2015.