Murphy, the current vice president of guest services and ski and snowboard school at Vail Mountain, is a 30-year veteran of the ski industry. Throughout the past 14 years, he has been involved in guest services and ski area operations within Vail Resorts. Prior to his role with Vail, Murphy held positions at Keystone, Telluride, and Crested Butte. He was also an eight-year member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) National Alpine Team.

“I’m very pleased to see Bobby in this role and confident he will contribute incredible leadership to Stowe,” said Vail Resorts mountain division president, Pat Campbell.

“Stowe has a reputation for creating exceptional guest experiences and I look forward to leading and collaborating with the team to build on that reputation,” Murphy said.

The VR acquisition will usher out two longtime Stowe executives—Pius and marketing VP Michael Colbourn. “At acquisition closing, Murphy will be replacing Barry Pius, current president of Stowe Mountain Resort,” Campbell said. “Barry has been an incredible partner through this integration and has been an integral part of Stowe for 22 years. We very much appreciate everything Barry has done for the resort and local community.”

Colbourn is also among the nine employees who are not making the transition to VR ownership. “Both Barry and Mike have each contributed significantly to the success of Stowe over the past 20+ years and I appreciate their commitment to the resort, the local community and the industry as a whole,” said VR mountain advisor Blaise Carrig,

All nine impacted employees “will remain in their current roles until the acquisition closes,” Carrig added.

All remaining active Stowe Mountain employees will be hired by Vail Resorts on the day the acquisition closes, including full-time and seasonal employees at the time of closing. Future summer seasonal staff members will be hired on their applicable future start date to support the upcoming summer season.