Utah Todd Bennett named President and COO of Deer Valley Resort

[Tricia]

ALTERRA MOUNTAIN COMPANY NAMES NEW PRESIDENT & COO OF DEER VALLEY RESORT IN UTAH​

Denver, Colorado, July 13, 2022 – Alterra Mountain Company announced today that Todd Bennett has been selected as President & Chief Operating Officer of Deer Valley Resort in Utah, effective August 1, 2022. A hospitality and ski industry veteran, Todd’s career has focused on elevating the guest experience through his extensive and unique experience at The Walt Disney Company, Vail Mountain, and through the creation of the outdoor publishing company, Open Road Ski Company.

Todd spent nearly two decades at The Walt Disney Company, most recently serving as Executive Director of Product. In that role, Todd led a team of executives and planners charged with growing and optimizing the merchandise, food and beverage, space planning and the digital guest experience at the Disneyland Resort in California. His previous positions with the company included stints as General Manager, Disney California Adventure Park; General Manager of Downtown Disney, Parking and On-Site Sales; Director of Experience Design and Senior Manager of Membership Development/Season Pass. In these roles, he was responsible for developing the vision, strategy and execution for multi-hundred-million-dollar businesses serving millions of guests each year.

Todd began his career in the ski industry in 1999 in Colorado, spending several years at Vail Mountain overseeing resort operations, staffing and guest relations, with a focus on raising customer service scores. Todd’s passion for ski and the outdoors led him to cofound an artist-focused outdoor media company, Open Road Ski Company, a direct-to-consumer publishing business that works closely with legendary ski map artist James Niehues, which led to one of the best-selling ski books of all time.

“Deer Valley Resort is a beloved and revered Utah resort with a legacy of service to its employees and guests. Todd is the natural leader to be at the helm of bringing Deer Valley into its next era, while honoring the legacy of this special place,” said Mark Brownlie, Chief Operating Officer, Alterra Mountain Company. “Todd has an impressive background in developing and leading guest-centric teams by focusing on the overall employee experience and culture. His vision to blend legendary experiences only found at Deer Valley with new and innovative offerings ahead, plus his love of the mountains, is an ideal match for a resort that is committed to setting the bar for excellence in guest experiences.”

As President and COO, Todd will oversee Deer Valley Resort’s daily operations and place a priority on enhancing the guest experience to reinvigorate the “Deer Valley Difference.” Todd will immediately focus on the Snow Park base area redevelopment, the reimagining of 15 acres of surface parking lots at Snow Park into a modern and convenient premier base area, as well as bolster the ski-only resort’s long standing brand reputation for impeccable mountain conditions, renowned food and beverage, and exceptional guest service provided by a dedicated staff.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to bring my experience in destination operations and service to Deer Valley Resort and contribute to the ‘Deer Valley Difference’ that makes this place so special,” said Todd Bennett, Deer Valley Resort’s new President and COO. “I have long loved the mountains and the history of the ski industry and am honored to join this community and be a part of its future.”

 

[Tricia]

FWIW, Todd Bennett is someone I've worked with on auction items and communication regarding the Man Behind the Maps.

I wish him the best of luck in this new endeavor.

 

[James]

I didn’t realize Alterra owned Deer Valley outright.

 

[fatbob]

" the reimagining of 15 acres of surface parking lots at Snow Park into a modern and convenient premier base area"

Got to love PR - translation "less parking/less free parking"?

 

[Tricia]

As President and COO, Todd will oversee Deer Valley Resort’s daily operations and place a priority on enhancing the guest experience to reinvigorate the “Deer Valley Difference.” Todd will immediately focus on the Snow Park base area redevelopment, the reimagining of 15 acres of surface parking lots at Snow Park into a modern and convenient premier base area, as well as bolster the ski-only resort’s long standing brand reputation for impeccable mountain conditions, renowned food and beverage, and exceptional guest service provided by a dedicated staff.

@fatbob We've been hearing about the "reimagined" Snowpark area for several years. I can imagine someone like Todd will be in the thick of it, though not his brainchild, he'll be the person who answers to it.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Got to love PR - translation "less parking/less free parking"?

My reaction to that kind of move is "yes" and "hell yes"!

Seriously: get rid of the parking. Make people rethink how they get to and from the mountain. Emphasize transit in Summit County and make said transit frequent and reliable (which it already is but could be much more). Reduce the sea of pavement at the Snow Park base.

DV's overall stewardship of their place in the environment has been quite good over the years - as good as a developed ski resort can be, at the very least. Let's see if they continue this.

 

[DeerValleyPhil]

Got to love PR - translation "less parking/less free parking"?

My reaction to that kind of move is "yes" and "hell yes"!

Seriously: get rid of the parking. Make people rethink how they get to and from the mountain. Emphasize transit in Summit County and make said transit frequent and reliable (which it already is but could be much more). Reduce the sea of pavement at the Snow Park base.

The Park City government has instructed, er, encouraged both Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) to reduce the amount of parking at the resorts. The Park City government's objective is to reduce the volume of cars driving into Park City on state roads 224 & 248 (the two ways in to PC) and to ensure that of the cars that continue to come in, they are carpooled vehicles. The Park City government wants skiers to park elsewhere and take public transit to the resorts. This is part of Park City's overall go-green initiative.

In typical government fashion, the plan is half-assed. The Park City government is ignoring the inconvenient truth that there is no place else to park, and there is no fleet of shuttle buses to transport skiers to resorts.

A typical current scenario is a skier drives up to Park City from Salt Lake City using Interstate 80, exiting at State Route 224 (Kimball Junction) and inches along SR-224 in bumper-to-bumper traffic, ultimately arriving at either PCMR or Deer Valley. Ideally, there would be a park-and-ride-the-bus parking lot right at the SR-224 exit off I-80, with many dozen buses waiting to fill up with skiers and then depart.

But there is no such parking facility (gee, park in the Walmart parking lot & hope your vehicle isn't towed). And there is no fleet of shuttle buses to transport skiers, nor is there a small army of bus drivers, nor a place to park the 100+ shuttle buses needed to transport thousands of skiers, nor is there a maintenance yard for repair & maintenance of the shuttles, and of course nowhere for bus drivers & mechanics to live where they could afford to live within commute distance.

A back-of-the-envelope model:

Objective: remove 1000 cars from SR-224 (coming from Salt Lake City) and SR-248 (coming from Wasatch County: Heber City, Midway, Promontory, Red Ledges, etc).
Needed: A place to park 1000 cars.
Needed: shuttle buses to transport, say, 3000 skiers (at an average of 3 per car).
Assume: All 1000 cars arrive within a 90 minute period in the morning.
Assume: 20 skiers plus gear per shuttle bus.
Assume: 45-minute round trip for a shuttle bus from remote parking (which doesn't exist) to the resorts and back (1 hour is more realistic)
Assume: if a car arrives at the remote parking lot and there isn't a shuttle bus waiting for them but instead there is a long line of skiers waiting for a bus, the car will leave and drive in to town.

Needed: a fleet of 150 shuttle buses (this includes extras as backup)
Needed: a shuttle driver corps of 150 drivers, plus another 20 supervisors & managers (includes extras needed to cover for vacation/sick leave/PTO)
Needed: A team of 15 mechanics to perform maintenance & repair, plus another 3 supervisors & manager
Needed: a place maintenance yard large enough for 150 shuttle buses plus a large maintenance facility
Needed: workforce housing for ~175 to 200-ish employees (bus drivers/maintenance techs/administrators/supervisors/managers/HR support/accounting support/etc)

Park City government would like to see such a thing - but Park City city limits are far away from where SR-224 & SR-248 leave their respective highways (I-80 from Salt Lake, I-40 from Wasatch County).

So, those parking & maintenance facilities would not be in Park City proper - but in Summit County and Wasatch County. The county governments say this is a Park City problem, not a County problem.

And, of course, Park City government is also overlooking who might pay for such a thing ("Not Us" shouts everyone in unison.)

It appears, but is unsaid, that the only way to make a major change would be if Salt Lake City were to secure a future Winter Olympics bid, and that somehow federal money would be made available to create a robust high speed people transit system for the Olympics. But that ignores yet another inconvenient truth: both PCMR and Deer Valley (site of the 2002 Moguls competition, Alpine Slalom competition, and Aerials competition) has said they will not participate in a hypothetical Winter Olympics.

But other than that, its a great plan.

Some of us have joined the Deer Crest Club just because it offers valet parking at Deer Valley.

DV's overall stewardship of their place in the environment has been quite good over the years - as good as a developed ski resort can be, at the very least. Let's see if they continue this.

The Stern family that owned Deer Valley since 1981 had been a good environmental steward - and ran a good business. Then they sold to Alterra in 2017.

The Stern family and other wealthy families are behind the just-now-being developed Wasatch Peaks private resort. I took a tour this past winter, and it is very impressive. There is a $5 Million buy-in, I believe. https://wasatchpeaksranch.com/ Longtime Deer Valley general manager Bob Wheaton is Wasatch Peaks Ranch president and CEO (or was - he may have retired).

 

[fatbob]

In typical government fashion, the plan is half-assed. The Park City government is ignoring the inconvenient truth that there is no place else to park, and there is no fleet of shuttle buses to transport skiers to resorts.

Not really a surprise. Again an example of where politics is indivisible from skiing. Effective green/public transport systems don't happen just by unilateral actions and punitive decisions but through an alignment of stakeholders. Let DV and PCMR develop the hell out of their bases conditional on them buying and converting parking land off I80, which you've agreed to be zoned for the purpose, then collaborate on the eco bus fleet serving park and ride and local neighbourhoods. Then ban parking at base for all but disabled and emergency, allowing limited drop off only because otherwise y'know people are selfish.

The Jackson Stinson lot and the carpool (Ranch?) lot seems to work really well for both locals, workers and visitors so it is doable with enough will. As does Aspen barring the nightmare morning traffic to even get to Buttermilk base to park if you want Highlands.

 

[DocGKR]

So--for a day of race training, how is someone supposed to lug 4-6 pairs of skis, poles, and race gear on a public shuttle bus?

 

[DeerValleyPhil]

So--for a day of race training, how is someone supposed to lug 4-6 pairs of skis, poles, and race gear on a public shuttle bus?

The objective does not seem to be to eliminate all parking. The City is requiring, er, encouraging the resorts to eliminate free parking and to reduce the total available parking. Figure $20 or $25 for a day parking pass at the resort base to start. It would probably need to be adjusted based on traffic patterns - if driving & parking behaviour does not change, they will probably increase the parking fee until it has a material effect on driving/parking patterns. The "where do I park to take a shuttle" issue is met with "yeah, that's an issue" replies but no one is working on a plan.

DV has talked about some ideas (nothing final) such as resort parking would be $20 but would be free if (and only if) you depart from the parking garage after 6pm - the idea being to get you to hang around in the yet-to-be-built pedestrian mall at Snowpark and have drinks & cocoa & appetizers or dinner or just shop at the retail stores. DV's objective is for the yet-to-be built pedestrian mall to be a retail destination. Their plan - submitted to the Planning Commission - is to turn Deer Valley Drive into a one-way street and for the City to transfer enough of the frontage walkway around Deer Valley Drive to the resort so the resort could build a bus lane.

PCMR has mentioned (nothing final) that there would be a parking reservation system, and that people who arrive for afternoon skiing would have free parking.

 

[fatbob]

So--for a day of race training, how is someone supposed to lug 4-6 pairs of skis, poles, and race gear on a public shuttle bus?

Uber? Or be a bit more concise with requirements as it's training and you could probably survive on 2 pairs?

 

[Wasatchman]

The Park City government has instructed, er, encouraged both Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) to reduce the amount of parking at the resorts.

Where are you getting this information? This seems contrary to what I've heard.