In what has the looks of a sudden move, Alterra Mountain Company CEO Jared Smith is stepping down.
The move is effective at the end of this ski season, the Denver-based ski operator announced. But Smith's day-to-day tenure has apparently already come to an end. The company said that an executive committee of its board of directors will lead operations through the end of the season and until a new CEO is chosen.
The committee is comprised of former Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory as well as representatives of Alterra's two primary owners, KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown & Company.
Smith took over as CEO in August 2022 and led Alterra as it acquired Arapaho Basin in Colorado, Schweitzer in Idaho and Snow Valley in California. During Smith's tenure, Alterra also undertook a $400 million, 3,700-acre expansion of Deer Valley in Utah. In addition, the company added 37 partners to its Ikon Pass, according to a count by The Storm Skiing Journal newsletter.
The announcement of Smith's departure came just three days before Ikon Pass sales for the 2026-27 season begin on March 12. Next season, Ikon will add three Midwest resorts: Granite Peak in Wisconsin, Lutsen Mountains in Minnesota and Snowriver Mountain Resort on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The pass will also add Idaho's Tamarac and Wisconsin's Devil Head Resort to its bonus mountains program, which offers two days of skiing per season.