New boss at Heavenly Mountain Resort
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 2:57pm
Yep, there’s a new guy sitting in the corner office of Heavenly admin building on Kingsbury Grade — Pete Sonntag, one-time ski bum turned management of the giant resort at Lake Tahoe.
So maybe the era of ski bums isn’t over. They may not wear suits but they often are the people doing the suits’ job.
It comes naturally to Sonntag, who’s official title is vice president and general manager, Heavenly Mountain Resort. That includes both California and Nevada sides, incidentally. Vail Management Co. is the owner of Heavenly as well as Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and is associated with that grand old ski Mecca, Arapahoe Basin on the Continental Divide. And Sonntag has been around Vail since 1984 when he was a techie at the Vail Rental shop then as an instructor at Beaver Creek. He took out to get a degree in New York before returning the Beaver Creek as an instructor and member of the demo team.
Obviously, he’s a skier — and a border. “I board about 40 percent of the time,” he says lounging in his sunny office in open shirt and short sleeve.
No suit he.
Last season he was director of the Vail Snow sports School, keeping track of some 1,200 employees. At Heavenly he replaces Blaise Carrig, who has moved up the ranks at Vail. So now Sonntag has his own ski and snowboard resort, so to speak, to manage and make better than ever. The success of the new last-year sled rides at the top of the Gondola is something he can build on.
He’s stepping in just as Heavenly is building its new lodge at the top of the Gondola. It won’t be ready by opening day (Nov. 19, snow gods willing) but targets Feb.1; it will boast 750 seats, great views with an updated menu. And he’ll be up there when it opens to make sure the beers are cold and the hamburgers hot. He’ll also be on the slopes, learning the complexity of trails that is Heavenly.
“I’ve skied here once,” he said, but is planning to learn the slopes as soon as there’s snow cover.
No big changes in store at Heavenly, he says, other than the constant upgrading of everything (well, maybe not the trailers that have served Boulder Base instructors for a long time). As a ski school veteran on e can be sure he’ll be looking over that operation.
Asked about the dearth of major ski races around Tahoe and at Heavenly, he noted that such races are very expensive to a resort “so I don’t see any in the near future.”
Like most skiers and boarders, Sonntag has had his bumps. He has undergone surgery for a spinal disk and has suffered the bumps common to ski instructors. But he shows no signs of problems as he chats in his office.
Asked about the effects on a town like South Lake Tahoe by a recreation facility like Heavenly, he said the resort works closely with city officials. The city is reportedly more than 60 percent second homes for out-of-towners who have little effect on city affairs. Heavenly is the second largest employer in South Tahoe and employs up to 1,200 in ski season and thus has a major effect on the town’s economy.
“South Lake Tahoe is changing its image to focus on the diversity of experience here, with a heavy emphasis on outdoor recreation. My job at Heavenly is to continue providing that healthy balance, both in winter and summer.”
Sonntag has moved into South Lake Tahoe, leasing a place on Pioneer Trail for himself, his wife and their three children, aged 10, 8 and 6 who are already enrolled in South Tahoe’s youth hockey league. They are also skiers, he said.
If you plan on going for your Professional Ski Instructors of America certification, you might just run into Sonntag at the exam. He is an Alpine Examiner.
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