Remember Bill Rock? He joined Vail Resorts after being in charge at Snowshoe a while back. Went from Northstar for a few years and then Park City. Now being promoted to handle all the VR resorts in Colorado (Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breck, Crested Butte) and Utah (Park City)
Doug Pierini has been COO at Okemo since that aquisition. Also was VP for the Northeast (Stowe, Okemo, Sunapee) last season. He gets to oversee the northeast and midwest for 2019-20, including all 17 Peak Resorts locations once that's final.
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/vail-resorts-announces-leadership-changes-affecting-summit-county-ski-areas/
" . . .
Among other leadership changes, Keystone Resort general manager Geoff Buchheister will become the chief operating officer of Whistler Blackcomb.
. . ."
The official VR press release starts with the fact that Chris Jarnot is stepping down after 34 years with VR. There is a brief history given for all the execs moving around. The open positions yet to be filled are for Sunapee and Keystone. The Sunapee COO is moving to Okemo. The Keystone COO is moving to Heavenly.
http://news.vailresorts.com/corporate/vailresorts/vail-resorts-announces-mountain-division-leadership-changes.htm
". . .
Jarnot was appointed executive vice president of the Company’s mountain division in December 2016 with oversight of its five Colorado resorts and Perisher in Australia. He first joined the company in 1985 and has held numerous leadership positions at Vail, Beaver Creek and within corporate, including serving as the Company’s chief marketing officer and Vail Mountain’s chief operating officer. Jarnot will remain in his current role through the end of 2019 to help ensure a seamless transition.
. . ."
Bill Rock's move to VR headquarters has happened. The new Park City COO, Mike Goar, has lots of experience in Utah. Goar was GM of Canyons from 2007 to 2015. He stayed with VR when Rock was pulled over from Northstar. Goar moved around to run other VR resorts out west in recent years.
https://www.kpcw.org/post/park-city-mountain-coo-bill-rock-accepts-regional-leadership-role-vail-resorts#stream/0
I realized that Bill Rock's experience running Snowshoe for 5-6 years should make him a valuable resource in Bloomfield as the details are worked out for how to integrate the former Snowtime resorts into Epic. I didn't know that he was also overseeing an indoor snow center in Spain when he was VP/COO at Snowshoe under Intrawest.
Rock moved to Northstar in 2010 and then Park City in 2014. Every move was a clear promotion. Before Snowshoe he'd worked at Durango and Stratton. Getting his first job in the ski industry at Bristol after leaving the Army took the most effort.
https://www.wvexecutive.com/bill-rock/
" . . .
Rock did not start his career in the resort business but as a Lieutenant and U.S. Army Ranger. While serving in the Army, Rock led two elite platoons in the 82nd Airborne Division and completed his Ranger training.
. . .
Once he completed his service with the Army, Rock got his first job in the resort business in 1996 as the director of marketing and sales at Bristol Mountain Resort in Canandaigua, NY. “I begged Dan Fuller, the owner of Bristol Mountain Resort for a job,” says Rock. “I had no resort sales and marketing experience and he rightly rejected me, but I was persistent. He gave me the courtesy of an interview and I successfully convinced him that I could succeed and help his business flourish.”
. . ."
Didn't know Bill Rock was from New York State. Wonder if the fact that he went to Clemson was one reason he ended up at Snowshoe for a while. Not too many ski industry execs have worked in so many regions at a senior management level. At least not before VR started moving around senior managers between regions since expanding outside Colorado.
https://parkcitycf.org/board-spotlight-bill-rock/
"Q: Tell us about yourself and how you discovered Park City?
A: I grew up in a small town in western New York called Naples. It is situated near the Finger Lakes and about an hour south of Lake Ontario. I received a Bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in 1987, and since then I have spent 23 years in the ski industry. Prior to becoming COO of PCMR, I served as COO of Northstar Resort in Lake Tahoe, including oversight of Heavenly and Kirkwood. I have also held positions at Stratton, Vermont; Snowshoe, West Virginia; and Durango, Colorado, among others. After living in Lake Tahoe for three years, Vail asked me to take over as COO of Park City Mountain Resort in 2014, so I moved here with my wife Jennifer and our kids Tyler and Paige."
