Waterville Valley’s general manager, Tim Smith, was born into a skiing family.
His grandfather cut trees to clear the trails on Mount Holiday in Michigan. His parents met there when his dad was on ski patrol, later becoming the patrol director. At age 13, Tim became a junior patroller and joined the regular ski patrol when he was 15. And it has been all up from there, culminating in his appointment as general manager of Waterville in 2015.
Smith is passionate about snowsports and passionate about his role at Waterville. It was a pleasure to sit down with him recently and learn about the trail he took, leading him to his current role as one of the youngest general managers at a major resort.
New England Ski Journal: It sounds like your family history at Mount Holiday started you out at a young age on a fast track to a career in the ski industry. Did you always want to make this a career?
Smith: I developed a passion for skiing at a young age when I joined the ski patrol as a regular patroller at 15 in 1995. During my junior and senior years in high school I was on a work/study program, working at Mount Holiday. When I was a senior I decided my next step after graduation was to enroll in Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, Michigan, in their ski area management program. I then went to Beaver Creek, Colorado, as an intern, working as a snowmaker and groomer. After doing this for a while, I realized I needed more education to get to the next level and went back to the Midwest and enrolled in Northern Michigan University in their ski area business management program. I worked at Marquette Mountain making snow and grooming and transitioned into park management. I’m proud to say I laid the groundwork for the best terrain park in the Midwest.