Alterra President Jared Smith promoted to CEO

Current Alterra President Jared Smith will be the company's next CEO. Photo: Alterra Mountain Company

DENVER, Colo. — Alterra Mountain Company, which owns Deer Valley and Solitude Mountain in Utah, announced Wednesday that Jared Smith, the company’s president, will be promoted to CEO on August 1.

Rusty Gregory, the company’s current CEO, will step back from day-to-day operations to become vice chairman of the board.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to lead Alterra Mountain Company and continue to build on the impressive foundation that has been established by Rusty Gregory, our ownership group, and the thousands of employees who operate our business at a high level every day,” Smith said in a statement. “Over the last year, I’ve watched our exceptional team thrive and I am incredibly excited to continue that momentum as we look to our future.”

Smith joined Alterra in June 2021 after more than 15 years at Live Nation Entertainment, where he served as president and global chairman of Ticketmaster. Over the past year, he has focused on identifying opportunities for growth and efficiency of the operations as well as developing plans to better utilize data and technology to improve the guest experience, according to the company. He will continue to be based in Denver.

“Jared has contributed a great deal to the success of the Resort Division in his time as President. He has refined our strategies, successfully motivated his people and, along with his teams, produced extraordinary results in his first year with the company,” Gregory said in a statement. “He is a natural leader, an experienced executive with the drive required to turn our ambitious vision for the future into action.”

Gregory’s career in the ski industry began in lift operations at California’s Mammoth Mountain, where he would rise to become an owner of the company and its chairman and CEO.

As one of the original investors in Alterra Mountain Company when it was formed in 2017, he was appointed to the board that same year and named CEO in 2018.

“He has been instrumental in establishing the company’s culture, the acquisition of additional mountain resorts, developing the operating strategies of all 15 Alterra Mountain Company resorts across North America and introducing the Ikon Pass,” an Alterra press release states. “As Vice Chairman, Rusty will act as Senior Strategic Advisor and continue to be a Director and shareholder of Alterra Mountain Company.”

“I’m very proud of the team we’ve built and the work we’ve done together over the past five years to establish and grow Alterra Mountain Company into a successful enterprise that is having a positive impact on the ski industry I’ve loved being part of for over 40 years,” Gregory continued. “One of my most important responsibilities as CEO has been to recruit and prepare a successor to run the company once I step down. I am confident that Jared is the right person at exactly the right time to lead the company and our teams in the pursuit of innovation and growth opportunities that lay ahead.”