Vail Resorts’ musical chairs

I just recently read a major leadership turnaround at Vail Resorts (VR) and was wondering why the changes made at the top levels of the company are that productive, especially when it concerns ski resorts general managers that need to be anchored within a community to effectively understand its idiosyncrasies and interact seamlessly with the local population.

A case in point is Park City Mountain’s COO Bill Rock, that will relocate to corporate headquarters in Broomfield, to oversee all of VR’s resorts in Colorado and Utah. On board for barely four years Bill didn’t have the time to blend in and understand Park City, as I have found out as a ski resort user.

He will be replaced (thank God) by Mike Goar, who used to be the GM at Canyons in 2014 before going to Keystone and then to Heavenly in 2017. Talk about about coming full circle! Of course, that’s not all, Geoff Buchheister, currently general manager of Keystone Resort, will move to Whistler Blackcomb.

Tom Fortune, now general manager of Kirkwood will go to Heavenly, and, pending closing of the Peak Resorts transaction, Bruce Schmidt, general manager of Mt. Sunapee, will return to his former role as general manager of Okemo; another full circle!

All of the above doesn’t make much sense to me and if anything, don’t bode well for a harmonious functioning between VR and its resorts’ locals. Is so much disruption in the life of a ski resort manager, his family, and a local operation so valuable to VR? One might wonder and I certainly do.