Vail Resorts names Rock COO of Park City, Howard GM of Northstar

Vail Resorts, Inc. Thursday announced the appointment of Bill Rock, the current chief operating officer of Northstar California Resort, as the new chief operating officer of Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort, effective Nov. 1.

Rock joined Vail Resorts in 2010 as the chief operating officer at Northstar California Resort and, at that time, was also given oversight of Heavenly and Kirkwood mountains. Rock came to Vail Resorts from Intrawest’s Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia, where he was president and chief operating officer since 2005. He also served as chief operating officer at Durango Mountain Resort in southwestern Colorado and, prior to that, held several ski industry leadership positions since 1996. Rock was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1987-1990 and he received his bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in 1987.

“Bill brings nearly 20 years of experience in the mountain resort industry, including mountain operations, lodging, real estate development, association management, municipal services and commercial real estate that will be invaluable to our operations at Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts. “Bill was instrumental in our integration of Northstar in 2010, including overseeing a $30 million capital program and building cultural and community engagement and alignment. He has an outstanding leadership track record and a deep understanding of how to elevate the guest experience in close collaboration with our employees that will benefit all of our stakeholders in the Park City community.”

Rock will report to Blaise Carrig, president of Vail Resorts’ mountain division, who will step down as interim leader of Park City Mountain Resort. Mike Goar, the current general manager of Canyons Resort and a 30-plus year industry veteran, will continue his oversight of the resort and report directly to Rock.

Simultaneous to Rock’s move to Park City, Vail Resorts announced that it has promoted Beth Howard, vice president of mountain dining and clubs, to be general manager of Northstar California Resort, also effective November 1, 2014.

Howard began her career with Vail Resorts in 1985 as a college intern at Beaver Creek, which led to a 30-year career with the company. In 2010, Beth was promoted to vice president of mountain dining and clubs where she has had operational oversight of mountain dining across all of the company’s resorts, including more than 100 restaurants and eight private mountain and golf clubs.

“Beth established herself as one of our most critical leaders, helping to design and deliver the outstanding guest experience at Beaver Creek for over 22 years. She built on that expertise by taking over leadership of mountain dining and clubs for both Vail and Beaver Creek and then ultimately for our whole company,” said Katz. “Beth will be able to leverage these successes and her strong leadership as she works with our entire Northstar team to continue to elevate the guest experience at the resort.”