{"id":36193,"date":"2023-01-06T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/what-does-independence-offer-wolf-creek-ski-area\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:29:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:29:54","slug":"what-does-independence-offer-wolf-creek-ski-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/what-does-independence-offer-wolf-creek-ski-area\/","title":{"rendered":"What does independence offer Wolf Creek Ski Area?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Keith
Keith Pitcher, assistant lift supervisor at Wolf Creek Ski Area, and his wife, Breanna, ski and ride Wednesday with their dogs Glacier and Couloir. Keith is the son of Davy Pitcher, the CEO of Wolf Creek, and is taking over more of the daily operations of the ski area. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

WOLF CREEK SKI AREA \u2013 As he prepares to recline into the fast-approaching chair, Davey Pitcher cranes his neck attempting to read the numbers inscribed in the concrete foundation of the Treasure Stoke chairlift\u2019s loading terminal. On the slopes, he drops into gentle telemark turns with agility, but the twisting motion on the chairlift is more difficult for the 60-year-old after a paragliding crash in the spring that resulted in a broken back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t remember if we built this lift in 2012 or 2013,\u201d Pitcher says as the chair scoops him up and carries him away from the legions of skiers who have come to visit Wolf Creek Ski Area one December day.<\/p>\n

Pitcher has officially held the title of CEO at Wolf Creek Ski Area since 2002, but had helped his older brother, Todd, manage the area for several years before that. The brothers\u2019 father, Kingsbury \u201cPitch\u201d Pitcher, invested in the resort in 1976 and eventually became the sole owner.<\/p>\n

As resorts around the country fall under the enterprising authority of multi-corporate alliances and buyouts, Wolf Creek Ski Area has not only resisted, but thrived.<\/p>\n

One pass to rule them all \u2013 or not<\/div>\n

\"Although
Although no multi-resort passes will let you ride the lifts at Wolf Creek Ski Area, skiers and snowboarders from all over come to ski the area, which receives more snowfall annually than any other ski area in Colorado. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In 2008, Vail Resorts debuted the $579 Epic Pass \u2013 a single pass to ski resorts that offered owners unfettered access to the five resorts that the company owned<\/a> at the time. In the decade and a half since, the company has extended its grasp. It now owns (or operates, in several cases) 38 resorts worldwide. <\/a>The 2022-23 full Epic Pass, which grants passholders access to a total of 85 resorts,<\/a> cost skiers $949.<\/p>\n

Seeing Vail\u2019s success, the company that owns Aspen Skiing Co., Henry Crown Co., formed a partnership with a private equity firm <\/a>to found Alterra Mountain Co. In 2018, Alterra released the Ikon pass, which both affirmed the imposing success of the Vail model and offered a competitor to Vail\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n

The product of these unions has been less than harmonious.<\/p>\n

\"Rosanne
Rosanne and Davey Pitcher, owners of Wolf Creek Ski Area, wait in a lift line with their dog in 2014 to get in a run or two. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Vail came under intense criticism last season for mismanagement of Stevens Pass, the Washington resort the company acquired in 2018, for providing inadequate parking given the influx of skiers. It is not the first time Vail faced such criticism. Parking shortages and lengthy lift lines have proved to be the relentless proverbial thorns in Vail\u2019s stalking paws. The company also endured a torrential storm of criticism after ski patrollers at Park City Mountain \u2013 the nation\u2019s largest ski resort \u2013 nearly forced its closure by threatening a strike over low wages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A
A view of the base area at Wolf Creek Ski Area in Southwest Colorado. Wolf Creek Ski Area often receives more snow than any other ski area in the state. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In 2019, Arapahoe Basin left its partnership<\/a> with Vail after the influx of Epic Pass users caused insurmountable parking problems for the resort. A year later, the resort joined the Ikon Pass under a partnership that limited the number of days pass-holders could ski there.<\/p>\n

In response to the conglomeration of major ski resorts, the Indy Pass emerged. Its motto?<\/p>\n

\u201cAvoid the mega crowds. Go Indy!\u201d<\/p>\n

The pass offers users a limited number of days at over 120 independent ski resorts.<\/p>\n

As independent ski resorts around the country have flocked to reap the benefits of multi-resort passes, Wolf Creek\u2019s owner has resisted.<\/p>\n

Pitcher does not harbor a festering grudge against multi-corporate ski resorts. And he is too savvy a businessman to say he\u2019d never sell. But with a bright economic outlook and an heir apparent who shares Pitcher\u2019s penchant for hands-on management, the third Pitcher to hold the position of CEO sees no reason to sacrifice any part of Wolf Creek\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

Independence: It\u2019s what runs in the family<\/div>\n

\"The
The ski area has been in the Pitcher family since 1976 and is slated to be passed down to another generation as Davey Pitcher\u2019s son, Keith, seated here on the Treasure Stoke lift with his wife, Breanna, takes on an increasingly large day-to-day role in operations. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Wolf Creek\u2019s operations are as much a family affair today as ever. Pitcher\u2019s son, Keith, is the assistant lift supervisor; Davey\u2019s wife, Rosanne, is the vice president of marketing and sales and he has a network of nieces and nephews who have all pitched in over the years.<\/p>\n

And while the ski area\u2019s independence imbues the skier experience with certain qualities \u2013 almost no lift lines, and a $10 homemade burger among them \u2013 those aren\u2019t the first virtues that Pitcher points to when discussing why he is inclined to keep the business in the family and out of the hands of would-be investors.<\/p>\n

\"Wolf
Wolf Creek Ski Area owner Davey Pitcher checks out the site of a new chairlift under construction at the resort on July 2, 2018. Pitcher has worked on installing all 10 of the area\u2019s chairlifts himself. (Jason Blevins\/Colorado Sun file)<\/span>Jason Blevins\/Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWhen I get up in the morning, I don\u2019t go, \u2018I\u2019m going to make contacts and see if I can sell the ski area,\u2019\u201d Pitcher said. \u201cI get up in the morning, I think about if we can open new terrain, or if we need to deal with a snow removal issue or something else. I find it quite satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

He describes his work like that of a passionate hobbyist. Pitcher\u2019s face gently morphs into an amused smile when describing the inventive methods his staff devise to move snow onto barren runs during early season operations.<\/p>\n

Of the 10 chairlifts that operate at the resort, Pitcher has helped build every single one. Most resorts purchase turnkey lifts \u2013 not Wolf Creek. Pitcher has taught some of his staff to build lifts, which creates year-round jobs, saves on costs and sometimes hastens installation times that might otherwise be hindered by a lack of labor.<\/p>\n

Pitcher\u2019s time on the slopes is punctuated, generally by choice, by radio calls to lift operators and maintenance workers to check on the status of various pieces of the area\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father, my two older brothers \u2026 we all gravitate toward the motor room,\u201d Pitcher said.<\/p>\n

\"Keith
Keith Pitcher gets ready for a day of snowboarding on Wednesday in his office where his grandfather, Kingsbury \u201cPitch\u201d Pitcher, used to oversee the ski area. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Keith Pitcher, 32, seems to share this passion with his father. The dirt that the duo get on their hands every day is not so much a necessity of the job as it is a desire. And as long as that desire remains, the elder Pitcher says there is no reason to sell the resort. His son is content with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here until they decide to sell it, if they decide to sell it,\u201d Keith said.<\/p>\n

A sale seems unlikely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine, for me being born and raised in the business, doing anything else,\u201d Pitcher said with more than a hint of nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Resistant, ambitious and independent<\/div>\n

\"Wolf
Wolf Creek Ski Area is busy on Wednesday with skiers and snowboarders hitting the slopes after a fresh 16 inches of snow fell overnight. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Despite Pitcher\u2019s resistance, it is not to say that Wolf Creek \u2013 which receives more snowfall annually<\/a> than any other ski area in the state \u2013 has gone ignored.<\/p>\n

Pitcher hesitated to name any of the specific entities that have approached him about buying the area. He did say that the Vails and Alterras of the world tend to approach distressed ski areas or owners who are weary of the business, two qualifiers that do not apply to Wolf Creek.<\/p>\n

Still, \u201can organization\u201d approaches Pitcher each fall to ask if this is the year he might sell. Pitcher said he generally does not respond.<\/p>\n

Only once, during the abysmal 2017-18 ski season<\/a>, has he found himself in a serious discussion of a potential sale. It took place in a meeting that he attended only out of social obligation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was predatory by nature, to be honest,\u201d Pitcher recalled. \u201cIt was a year where we didn\u2019t have a lot of snow, the ski business wasn\u2019t exactly booming in Colorado in general. \u2026 The nature of the conversation was, \u2018Are you tired of it? This could be the year when you end up with your back against the wall financially.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When Pitcher dismissed the idea that the area would succumb to the financial hardship brought about by a poor snowpack, the meeting effectively ended.<\/p>\n

Even to join the Indy Pass or the Mountain Collective, each of which allow for only limited days at each ski area, would be too much of a compromise on the independence that the Pitchers enjoy. But Pitcher does not see these passes as the scourge of the industry as some do. He says their relative affordability allows skiers to have a little pocket change to ski a day or two at Wolf Creek.<\/p>\n

Wolf Creek tried a reciprocity agreement close to a decade ago with Taos Ski Valley; the result, Pitcher\u2019s wife Rosanne said, was \u201ca mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the only reciprocity deal they have is with Discovery Ski Area in western Montana, which Pitcher\u2019s brother Peter owns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese great big ski areas and the ski areas that are involved in these shared passes \u2013 Mountain Collective, Ikon, Epic \u2013 from a management standpoint, it seems extremely complicated to me and it causes stress on communities,\u201d Pitcher said. \u201c\u2026 It\u2019s easier to keep our formula simple. When you buy a ticket at Wolf Creek, you know what you\u2019re buying.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what you receive with a ticket at Wolf Creek, or any independent ski area, is not necessarily the same product as the one sold by larger conglomerates.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonarch and Granby Ranch, Sunlight and Powderhorn are these fabulous, amazing resorts that really serve to get a lot of families on the slopes, making (skiing) accessible for a lot of people,\u201d said Sarah Beatty, a spokeswoman for the trade association Colorado Ski Country USA. \u201cBut they\u2019re interesting places to spend time as well. \u2026 You are going to a town that has been there longer than the resort has. So I think that the independent ownership nature of many of our resorts leads to that experience that you\u2019re not just going to X resort somewhere, you\u2019re going to a town that has character, that has history. Independent ownership assists with that and helps bring that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The independence has also allowed the Pitchers to tiptoe around many of the thorns that now pester Vail. With no investors to whom they must answer, the Pitcher family said they raised the starting wage for all hourly employees to $18\/hour, bringing the average hourly wage to $23.75, excluding management and salaried employees. They did so without raising the price of a lift ticket.<\/p>\n

By comparison, the result of collective bargaining by Park City ski patrollers in 2021 brought the average wage to $19\/hour. (Vail has since decided to invest $175 million in its workforce and increased the starting patroller wage to $21\/hour across the board.)<\/p>\n

Pitcher has modest goals for expansion \u2013 and costly ones at that. Although Wolf Creek\u2019s popularity has grown in recent years, helped in part by a pandemic that turned outdoor recreation into a refuge from airborne viruses, he said increased visitation is not the goal.<\/p>\n

The terrain in question, a stunning series of cliffs and aprons to the west of the resort\u2019s current boundary known as the Matchless Pod, would appeal primarily to expert skiers and in some cases would require even technical climbing gear to descend certain lines. Pitcher has explored the area under the power of just his two legs for many years and is now seeking Forest Service approval to install a lift.<\/p>\n

\"Wolf
Wolf Creek has remained independent mostly because Pitcher says it is simpler for him than selling the area, which has been in the family for nearly a half century. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The expansion would be unlikely to increase traffic to the resort in any major way given its appeal exclusively to the upper echelons of snowsport enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the short run, if you looked at these numbers from a banker\u2019s standpoint, it doesn\u2019t pencil all that well,\u201d Pitcher said. \u201c\u2026 Generationally, I think, this terrain would provide the community some excitement and a sense of purpose for multiple generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the next generation of skiers top of mind for Pitcher, it is the next generation of Pitchers who may be tasked with managing, if not actually building, the lift if the expansion is approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get it built, for me that\u2019s the toughest part,\u201d Keith Pitcher said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to comprehend building it right now. But I know that if my dad\u2019s wanting to do it, we\u2019re going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story misspelled Sarah Beatty\u2019s first name. It has also been edited to clarify that Davey Pitcher\u2019s wife, Rosanne, is the vice president of marketing and sales.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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