FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. Names Knapp to New Position of CMO
Founder of ‘Mountain Collective’ brings experience from Aspen and Vail to young ski company
PARK CITY, UTAH – Park City based Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) has named Christian Knapp vice-president and chief marketing officer, a newly created position for the company. Knapp will oversee marketing, advertising, communications, events, and group sales for the five resorts in PGRI’s portfolio – Mt. Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Powderhorn Mountain Resort in western Colorado, Wintergreen Resort in Virginia, Wisp Resort in western Maryland, and Ragged Mountain in New Hampshire.
Knapp comes to PGRI after nine years as the vice-president and chief marketing officer of Aspen Skiing Company. During his tenure, he also served as the chairperson of the board of Colorado Tourism and served on the boards of Snowmass Tourism and SnoCountry.org.
One of Knapp’s notable industry accomplishments has been founding and being the managing partner of the ‘Mountain Collective’ which is an international alliance of premier destination resorts providing shared access to 23 partner resorts including Aspen in Colorado, Alta and Snowbird in Utah, Jackson Hole in Wyoming, and Squaw Valley in California plus resorts in France, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Prior to his vice-president position at Aspen, Knapp served in several senior marketing positions within the Vail Resorts organization at Keystone, Beaver Creek, Vail, and Breckenridge. His career in the ski industry began at Powdr Corp’s Mt. Bachelor after he graduated from the University of Vermont with a major in small business management and environmental studies.
“Because of our growth, we had begun contemplating the addition of a chief marketing officer about eighteen months ago and had started interviewing candidates, but when the pandemic hit that process was put on hold,” noted PGRI’s president and CEO, Vern Greco. “More recently we felt the time was right to fill the CMO position. Christian has a proven track record of developing marketing programs that drive revenue, and his philosophies align with ours, from understanding the value of industry involvement to the promotion of sustainable business practices, so we believe this is a nice fit for our organization.”
Mark Fischer, PGRI’s executive vice-president and CFO who has been overseeing marketing at the company’s five resorts explained, “Christian is a great talent. We’ve been fortunate to have grown over the past five years with our Mission: Affordable season pass products, our free learn to ski programs, and the expansion of our summer offerings. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring Christian onboard so he can build upon those and our other marketing initiatives and can create new ones to help take our firm to the next tier of resort companies.”
ABOUT PACIFIC GROUP RESORTS
Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. is a geographically diversified international resort operating company based in Park City, Utah whose portfolio includes Wintergreen Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Wisp Resort in the Appalachian Mountains of western Maryland, Ragged Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Mt. Washington Alpine Resort in the Beaufort Mountain Range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and Powderhorn Mountain Resort on the Grand Mesa of western Colorado. Among the resorts, there are over 3,500 acres of ski terrain, 81 holes of golf, lift served mountain biking, ZipTours, canopy tours, aerial challenge courses, five pools, water sports on two lakes, lodging accommodations for more than 3,000 people, more than 30 food outlets, and a full-service spa. For more information on PGRI, please visit www.pgri.us. Christian Knapp, VP and Chief Marketing Officer, can be reached at [email protected] or at 970.331.3413.
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