PR: Five North American Ski Industry Leaders Get SAMMY Awards
Edited by John Stouffer
(5-28-98)

(Press Release, May 28)—Five prominent ski area industry figures have been selected to receive the inaugural SAMMY Future Leadership Awards. This award will be given annually by Ski Area Management (SAM) to individuals whose strong, innovative leadership demonstrated at mid-career shows exciting promise for even more accomplishments and leadership in the future.

Being recognized with SAMMY Awards this year are Tim Boyd, president of Peak Resorts, Inc., Eureka, Moissouri; Guy Desrosiers, general manager of Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec; Stacy Gardner, director of communications, National Ski Areas Association (NSAA); Karl Kapuscinski, vice president and general manager, Mountain High Resort California; and Ed Pitoniak, senior vice president, resort enterprises, Intrawest Resort Operations Group.

Said David Rowan, founder and co-publisher of SAM: "Much of the recognition that people get comes at the end of long and productive careers. That's fine, but we wanted to put the spotlight on people who are making exciting things happen when they are still in mid-career." Rowan went on to explain that while the career paths and accomplishments of this year's honorees are distinct and different from each other, "they each have that characteristic of enormous potential for the future."

The SAMMY Awards were given on May 26 in Marco Island, Florida, at the NSAA's Annual Convention and Trade Show. Bios of the five 1998 SAMMY Award Winners follow:

Tim Boyd, president, Peak Resorts, Inc., Eureka, Missouri.

Tim Boyd has put together three successful ski-area operations serving major metropolitan markets in Indiana (Paoli Peaks) and Missouri (Snow Creek and Hidden Valley). Featuring strong programs for introducing kids to snow sports, Boyd's areas have succeeded through technical innovation in snowmaking and creative marketing excellence. As current chairman of the Midwest Ski Areas Association, Boyd has contributed energy and drive in support of the industry.

Guy Desrosiers, general manager, Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada.

Guy Desrosiers demonstrated his aptitude at area management at the age of 24 as general manager of a small area in the Bas Saint-Laurent region of Quebec province, Mont-Comi. A professional right from the start, he was picked as a board member of the Quebec Ski Areas Association and today serves as its president. He also serves as current president of the Canadian Ski Council, a national umbrella organization for all aspects of the Canadian ski and snowboarding world. As general manager of Mont Sainte-Anne, one of Canada's signature ski resorts, Desrosiers has shown innovative and strong industry leadership.

Stacy Gardner, director of communications, National Ski Areas Association (NSAA).

Gardner's skills as an industry communications specialist were highlighted in the 1998/99 season by the media handling of the tragic skiing deaths of two celebrities, Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono. The ski industry got high praise for the way in which a wealth of consistent, factual background information was made available to the media and the industry. This was no accident, since Gardner had set up the procedures and anticipated the needs for such crisis management more than a year earlier.

Karl Kapuscinski, vice president, general manager, Mountain High Resort, California.

Kapuscinski has worked for ski areas since the age of thirteen, when he worked while attending school at Ascutney, Vermont. After college he has taken on ever-increasing challenges at areas in New York, Minnesota, and California, demonstrating marketing flair and managerial prowess. An innovator with a profound respect for the bottom line, Kapuscinski is clearly a leader on the move.

Ed Pitoniak, senior vice president, resort enterprises, Intrawest Resort Operations Group.

Pitoniak is first and foremost a communicator. That was his job as editor- in-chief of Ski Magazine; that is the primary talent he exercises today in developing consistent excellence in customer service at the Intrawest resorts across North America. Creator of innovative strategies, he must also persuade the various managements to develop and optimize these strategies for each resort.

Ski Area Management, now in its 37th year of serving the ski area industry and the oldest trade publication in the ski industry, is an all-paid circulation published bimonthly. It is edited for the key decision-makers and decision- influencers of the North American ski and snowboarding industry. You can access SAM on line at www.saminfo.com.

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