Stevens Pass Gets New Interim General Manager After Early 2021-22 Operational Struggles
A foggy day on Stevens Pass’s Southern Cross chair in February 2021. The resort still hasn’t opened this lift for the season as it faces considerable staffing stages.
Background
Earlier this week, Washington’s Stevens Pass revealed a key leadership change for the resort. Effective immediately, Tom Pettigrew has been let go as Stevens’ general manager and replaced with Tom Fortune, the general manager of Heavenly, on an interim basis. Fortune will be retaining his position at Heavenly; he previously worked at Kirkwood from 2010-2019, including a stint as general manager starting in 2014. Fortune also worked at Stevens previously for 20 years in a variety of operations roles, leaving as the director of operations.
This development comes amidst serious staffing shortages at Stevens, with the resort lagging considerably behind its competitors in open lifts and terrain. Key lifts such as Tye Mill, Double Diamond/Southern Crossing, and Jupiter are either still shuttered or were until recently. The situation has become so grim that tens of thousands of concerned patrons have signed a petition against Vail Resorts, Stevens Pass’s owner.
Fortune’s full announcement, including more details on his background, can be found here.
Our Take
Stevens Pass has had an extremely rough start to the season, failing to open more than half of its terrain during an above-average season—even as key competitors have gotten 100% open. Vail Resorts, Stevens’ owner, has gotten really bad press for this circumstance—and rightfully so. But it looks like Vail Resorts has had enough with the current Stevens manager, and we hope that this change will bring about some movement with terrain openings. Jupiter and Tye Mill spun today, so it looks like the resort is off to a good start.
While Fortune looks to be relocating to Stevens for the time-being, he will be managing two mountains at the same time, retaining his full-time Heavenly general manager position while taking the reins temporarily at Stevens. He will need to get ready to grind over the next several weeks to get Stevens back up to speed in terms of staffing and operations, and that will not be an easy feat. However, Fortune’s 20 years of experience working at Stevens Pass from his pre-Tahoe days means that even while juggling Heavenly, he could be just the person to pull it off. We look forward to tracking Fortune’s performance over the coming weeks.
Considering a trip to Stevens Pass this season? Check out our comprehensive mountain review. Additionally, check out our Washington state rankings.
