Alterra Mountain Company says it laid off an undisclosed number of staff in Denver, where it is headquartered, according to multiple Denver news stations. The personnel cuts were first reported by the Denver Business Journal.
Denver Business Journal obtained an internal memo from Jack Resnick, the CEO of KSL Capital Partners, a private equity firm with a large ownership stake in Alterra. Resnick indicated the layoffs were a symptom of slow growth across the ski industry, not a product of the warm winter.
Alterra spokesperson Kristin Rust told The Denver Gazette the company made changes across multiple departments, “mostly in corporate services, that impacted some full-time, year-round team members.”
Rust had not responded to KPCW’s request for comment in time for this report.
News of the layoffs comes months after Alterra’s chief executive Jared Smith stepped down after four years at the helm. Members of the board of directors have been running the company while they search for his replacement.
In Utah, Alterra owns Deer Valley Resort and Solitude Mountain Resort. Its Ikon Pass provides access to numerous other ski areas in the state and across the West.
The resort operator’s main competitor, Park City Mountain’s parent company Vail Resorts, has also cut corporate headcount in the past couple of years.
Vail recently announced new, “white-glove” services at some of its resorts to promote long-term growth.
The publicly traded company has seen a dip in its stock price since 2021. The stock was previously on an upward trend as Vail acquired and added more resorts to its Epic Pass.
Alterra, on the other hand, is not a public company. Its owners include KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown & Company, which runs the four ski resorts in Aspen.
Deer Valley Resort and Vail Resorts’ EpicPromise Employee Foundation are a financial supporters of KPCW.
