On July 6, four members of Friends of Olympic Valley met with Ron Cohen, interim President and Chief Operating officer of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows.  The main goals were to introduce ourselves to each other.  Also, we hoped to find common ground where we might collaborate to advance community and resort goals.

Ron is a graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara and Northwestern University School of Law.  He first practiced in a large LA Law Firm but after a number of years took a pay cut to follow his heart to the mountains and worked for a small law firm in Mammoth Mountain.

In 2002 he and other investors purchased a back country ski and summer resort at Tioga Pass.  He ran this resort for eight years.

In 2010 Ron began working for Mammoth Mountain in the area of governmental affairs and environmental issues.  He soon became General Counsel.  He last held the title of Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel.

Rusty Gregory (at the time, CEO of Mammoth Mountain) brought Ron onto Mammoth’s executive management team in 2011.  These were hard times for ski areas due to the drought, and this difficult time helped forge the management team’s approach to natural and economic volatility.  Ultimately this led to expansion as Mammoth bought Big Bear Mountain Resort (Bear Mountain and Snow Summit) in 2015 and began operating as a bigger platform. Mammoth’s acquisition of BBMR was an early step in the latest round of ski area consolidation. In 2017, the next big round resulted in the creation of Alterra Mountain Company, which now owns Mammoth and June Mountains, BBMR, Squaw and Alpine, the former Intrawest resorts, Deer Valley, and Solitude is currently under contract.

Alterra is an American hospitality company established in 2018 with headquarters in Denver, Colorado.  It is privately owned by KSL Capital and Henry Crown and Company (owners of Aspen resorts).  Rusty Gregory is now the CEO. Ron currently reports to David Perry, Alterra’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

Ron noted that Vail has very good management and has had extraordinarily good financial results.  However, the ski industry’s view is that Vail takes the same, homogenized plan to each ski resort.  Alterra plans to bring out the unique qualities of each resort it owns and manages, probably a more ambitious task.  Alterra seeks the economic benefits of scale while maintaining the culture of the area.  Ron notes that this is a work in progress.

To illustrate Alterra philosophy he noted how Mammoth approached its greater community.  Rusty Gregory’s executive team used a collaborative approach whereby plans and projects were discussed with the town, often working with ad hoc committees, taking feedback and suggestions and then ultimately using this information in their decisions.  Not every suggestion was used but the process tried to turn conflict into better decision making for the resort.  In the end, the company wanted a product that people wanted and were excited about.

Ron is using the training and experience from his role on Mammoth’s executive team in his job as interim COO.  He appreciates the extraordinary alpine beauty of Squaw/Alpine and is busy learning the history of the area and the functions of the team. Ron expressed his confidence in the very strong Squaw Alpine team, and is excited by the opportunities and challenges ahead for the resort and the community.

Ron is interested in the greater community.  He believes that the projects ahead for the community can be used to galvanize the community into a collective effort that plays on its strengths and builds community ties.

The Friends of Olympic Valley has advanced the idea of a Squaw community development plan.  Ron is not in a position to decide on this proposal right now, but we agreed to meet again for further discussions.