Two Additions To Executive Ranks At Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington announced the resort has two new additions to their senior executive team. Long-time Mt. Washington employee Daniel Caley will take on the role of Director of Maintenance & Facilities, and Layne Marett has been hired as the new Director of Mountain Operations. Both positions are replacing retiring Director of Operations, George Trousdell, who has been a stalwart at Mt. Washington for the past 37 years.

Dan Caley has been with the resort for over 26 years, most recently as the Manager of Maintenance. In 1993, Caley started his career as an entry-level lift operator and progressed through the mountain’s apprenticeship program, obtaining his Red Seal Millwright certification from BCIT in 2001.

Dean Prentice, General Manager of Mt. Washington, identified Caley’s experience with the resort’s recent capital investments as well as at the resort over the past couple decades as a key factor that made for an easy decision to promote him from within. “Dan was a natural choice as we install snowmaking infrastructure from the base area to the top of the Whisky Jack chairlift since he has been intimately involved with the snowmaking equipment testing we’ve been doing for the past couple seasons. He’s also been involved in the installation of the new ZipTour, and his leadership on that project makes this a great next step for Dan and for us.”

Caley credited Trousdell’s tutelage for preparing him for the expanded role at the mountain, “Our career paths have a lot of parallels,” stated Caley. “George and I both started as lift operators and worked our way up. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years, which gives me the confidence to take on this expanded role and contribute to the resort’s evolution.”

While Prentice indicated he was happy to elevate a long time staffer like Caley, he expressed equal satisfaction at being able to strengthen the resort’s executive ranks with fresh ideas and strong experience from outside the company. Marett’s career began at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver where he headed up the terrain park and events programs. He expanded his knowledge base by attending Selkirk College’s Lifts program in 2008, and he obtained his Red Seal Millwright certification through BCIT in 2011.  From Cypress, Marett gained further experience at Mt. Seymour as both their Maintenance Manager and Operations Manager.  Prentice noted Marett’s operational experience in the North Shore Mountains and his educational background will be helpful as Mt. Washington expands its summer operations and builds out its snowmaking infrastructure in the coming years.

Marett was equally pleased to be at Mt. Washington, “With the ZipTour opening this summer and the snowmaking being installed, this will be an exciting and challenging endeavor. It’s a bonus that my family is delighted to spend more time on this mountain.”

Prentice concluded, “Guys like Dan and Layne don’t interact with guests every day, but it is really easy to understand the importance of their work when you see perfectly groomed slopes and well-running lifts. Adding Dan and Layne to the resort’s senior executive team positions us well to lead Mt. Washington into its next chapter as a unique year-round destination. 

 

Mount Washington Alpine Resort is located just 30 minutes from the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and hosts over 300,000 visits per year.  In the winter, guests enjoy five chairlifts and five carpet lifts accessing over 1,700 acres and 1,657 vertical feet of alpine terrain.  The resort also has 55 kilometers of designated cross-country skiing and 25km of snowshoeing trails along with a dedicated Nordic lodge.

Summer adventures at Mount Washington are headlined by a new peak-to-peak-to-base dual line ZipTour which will be the largest on Vancouver Island and one of the largest in Canada when it opens in July of 2019.  Other summer activities include lift-accessed mountain biking, a quad bungie trampoline, scenic chairlift rides, disc golf, miniature golf, boardwalk chess and checkers, shopping and dining.  The resort also plays host to over 40 weddings per year plus numerous group and corporate events.