Ski Industry Legend & Wachusett Co-owner Dave Crowley Passes Away

For many in the Northeast, Wachusett Mountain was the beginning of a lifelong love of sliding down snow on a hill. David Crowley, ski industry legend and past President of the SnoCountry Board of Directors, is one of the innovators and creative minds behind transforming Wachusett Mountain from a local ski hill to a widely renowned industry leader.

As an early pioneer, understanding the role of Wachusett Mountain in the development of generations of snow lovers, David's work and passion touched more lives than can ever be known. His leadership, and his love, will be deeply missed. 

David Crowley’s career in the ski industry spanned nearly 50 years. He and the Crowley family helped put Wachusett Mountain on the map not only locally but regionally and nationally. His creativity and innovations were legendary in turning the mountain from a small local ski hill to one of the best known and most respected mid-sized ski resorts in the United States. He loved “pushing the envelope” — always trying new marketing strategies, coming up with exciting new events and introducing “out-of-the-box” promotions. He was a constant reminder to the Wachusett staff of what draws so many people to the ski business in the first place – selling fun and having fun doing it!

David was always the voice of reason in setting the right course for the mountain and always trusted his intuition about what was best for the business and the customers – from bringing unique events to the mountain to creating economically-priced season passes long before value passes like Ikon or Epic were even part of the ski industry landscape. Along the way, David took leadership roles in SnoCountry (formerly the New England Ski Areas Council); the National Ski Areas Association; the Worcester and North Central Mass Chamber of Commerce and numerous other local and charitable organizations.

He also had a keen understanding of Wachusett’s role in introducing skiing and snowboarding to new customers. As the mountain grew in stature and popularity, David recognized the important responsibility it had to fulfill.

As far back as the early to mid-90’s, he helped start to build the Wachusett brand with creative radio and television advertising and using the now famous “Wa-Wa-chusett” jingle. As marketing strategies started to change in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, he was also an early adopter of using newer tools like the Internet, Email, Digital ads, and Social Media to help carry the “mountain skiing, minutes away” message. Under his guidance, Wachusett won numerous national marketing awards from the National Ski Areas Association – including the Best Sales & Promotion Campaign Using the Internet in 1999; the Best Program to Convert New Participants to Core Participants in 2001; the Best Program to Increase Frequency of Core Participants in 2003; the Best Learn to Ski & Snowboard Month campaign in 2014; and the coveted NSAA Conversion Cup in 2016.

David was also instrumental in establishing the unique “Mountain Suites” when the base lodge was expanded back near the turn of the century. He played a key role in helping make the mountain’s Food & Beverage Department one of the best in the country, frequently winning accolades as one of the best on-mountain food services in the country from Ski Magazine readers. He also was a driving force toward building up Wachusett’s annual fall festivals to helping develop a stronger off-season program for the mountain.

While David’s long list of transformative ideas over the years are too many to mention, here are some highlights from his legacy. Legendary mountain events like the 24-hour Ski Days; WAAF / Hillman Homemade Luge Competition; the East Coast Invitational Rail Jam; and the World’s Largest Ski Lesson were among the many memorable ones. Some of his advertising promotions and partnerships included bringing back the MBTA Ski Train from Boston; creating Same Day Instant TV Commercials and 5-Second TV Ads; hosting his “Live From the Mountaintop” Weekly Radio Show; and supporting the production of Daily Video Snow Reports on social media. David’s concepts for economical passes and packages included the creation of the Greatest Possible Savings (GPS) Club; Century Pass; Bring a Friend Package; Learn to Turn Package and Three-Peat Pass – all providing more value programs for the customers.

David was widely recognized locally, statewide and nationally for his commitment to both family businesses — Wachusett and Polar Beverages. The ski industry is known for many memorable individuals who made an impact on the sport they loved but David’s contribution was truly unique. The blend of his outgoing personality, humor, intelligence, kindness and keen business sense made him one-of-a kind and reinforced the major impact he had on his time and place in the industry. On a personal note, David always recognized how “skiing and family” were so closely connected. His wife Julie, and children David Jr., Lisbet, Trudy and Nate all played a key part of his insight of how two of the most important things in his life were related. Like his late parents Ralph Sr and Frannie and his surviving four siblings – Ralph, Chris, Jeff and Carolyn — he leaves a legacy at Wachusett which will last forever.

In Lieu of flowers, The Crowley Family has recommended donating to Mass General Hospital for PSP Research: https://because.massgeneral.org/campaign/ski-with-david-for-psp/c454769