Storm News 9/28/2026: Alterra Appoints Kelly Vohs CEO + Mountain Creek GM Evan Kovach

WhatMain stage today belongs to Kovach, who agreed to come on the podcast like 90 years ago and waited patiently for his turn. But just as I wrapped this pod, breaking news slammed my inbox: Alterra has selected their next CEO after dismissing Jared Smith in March. From the press release:Alterra Mountain Company … today announced that experienced hospitality and operations leader Kelly Vohs has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective October 19, 2026.Vohs brings nearly 30 years of experience leading customer-facing, operationally complex businesses across hospitality, real estate, and technology. Previously, Vohs spent more than a decade leading companies within Blackstone’s portfolio, including recently as CEO of LivCor. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of SafetyCulture, a global frontline operations platform used by more than 85,000 organizations and supporting more than 2.5 million frontline workers.Earlier in his career, Vohs led operations for BR Guest Hospitality, a New York restaurant group with more than 20 restaurants, and held leadership roles at several iconic hotels, including as General Manager of the Boca Raton Resort & Club and the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, and as opening General Manager of the Conrad Chicago. He also served eight years as a Green Beret with the U.S. Army’s 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, completing four combat deployments.First - I am not sure whether Vohs is any relation to the Wisconsin Vohs, who have done such an excellent job building Cascade Mountain. I’m not sure if he skis or really knows anything about skiing other than that it requires snow and idiots to strap six-foot-long planks to their feet so they can slide down it. But I won’t dismiss him as a viable next leader for Alterra simply because his resume is not some jumble of Whistler-Intrawest-ASC-Sunday-River-Big-Bear. Plenty of individuals without ski industry backgrounds have successfully run U.S. ski areas - Win Smith at Sugarbush is one of the best examples. But I’m not sure if anyone with zero ski industry background has ever run such a large ski company. I give a bit more perspective in the pod, and I’ve already bothered Alterra for an interview. Stand by.WhoEvan Kovach, General Manager of Mountain Creek, New JerseyDate RecordedOctober 5, 2026About Mountain CreekOwned by: Snow PartnersYear founded: 1965Pass affiliations:* Snow Pass – 2 days, no blackouts* Snow Triple Play – up to 2 days, no blackouts Pay attention, because these passes have overlapping, but different, rosters:Base elevation: 448 feet (bottom of South Peak and Bear Peak quads)* Vernon Peak: 452 feet* Granite Peak: 605 feet* South/Bear Peaks: 448 feetSummit elevation: 1,458 feet (top of Sojourn double)* Vernon Peak: 1,403 feet* Granite Peak: 1,453 feet* South Peak: 1,444 feet* Bear Peak: 1,126 feetVertical drop: 1,010 feet – top of Sojourn lift/Granite Peak to South/Bear base* Vernon Peak: 951 feet* Granite Peak: 853 feet* South Peak: 996 feet* Bear Peak: 678 feetSkiable acres: 167Average annual snowfall: 65 inchesLift count: 9 (1 cabriolet, 2 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 1 double, 2 carpets)Why I interviewed himI mean:I’m a bit obsessed with Mountain Creek, and it’s been a secondary subject on many past podcasts:For referenceIn 1998, Intrawest pulled off one of the most audacious single-season ski area transformations in American history, demolishing 15 double chairs and three surface lifts and replacing them with five modern machines. Check the before and after:Pretty amazing. It’s too bad Intrawest sold the place off in 2010. It stagnated for nearly a decade before onetime parking-lot attendant Joe Hession bought it in 2019. It’s been all rocketships since. I still, however, pine over this old early-Intrawest masterplan, showing additional trailpods and lifts between South and Granite peaks:TranscriptsThere are two transcripts. Both are generated by robots. Both are helpful and defective in their