Bill Rock Leaves Snowshoe For New Job At California Resort

Snowshoe, WV – Bill Rock, President and Chief Operating Officer of Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County is moving on. Rock tendered his resignation Wednesday morning, and that was his last day according to a press release from the resort. The announcement was a surprise to many of the resort employees.

Rock has accepted a position as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Northstar-at-Tahoe, a Vail Resorts Property in Lake Tahoe, California. A source at Snowshoe says Rock tried to give a 30 day notice, but was asked by Intrawest to resign immediately since he is leaving to work for a competitor. Rock has been President and COO of Snowshoe since 2005. He’s also been President of Intrawest Spain since 2009, overseeing the Madrid Snowzone. Snowshoe is one of several resorts around the world owned by Intrawest.

A former US Army Lieutenant, Rock began his career in the ski industry at Bristol Mountain Resort in New York. He also worked at Durango Mountain Resort in Colorado and Snowshoes sister resort, Stratton Mountain in Vermont. Northstar-at-Tahoe is a much larger resort whose base elevation at 6330 feet is about 1500 feet higher than the top of Snowshoe Mtn. Top elevation at Northstar is just over 8600 feet.

Rock is credited with helping to make Snowshoe the number resort in the mid Atlantic and Southeast region, according to the press release from Snowshoe. He’s also been a key figure of late in the controversy surrounding the proposed regional sewer plant at Linwood. He’s been a strong proponent of that proposal, designed by Thrasher Engineering. However, many homeowners on the mountain are vehemently opposed to that design. In October, the Pocahontas County Public Service District board voted to drop that project and end their contract with Thrasher.

This controversy will also most likely impact whoever Intrawest chooses to replace Rock, as the resort is one of several plaintiffs in a case currently before the West Virginia Public Service Commission. The plaintiffs are asking the PSC to force the PSD to proceed with the Thrasher Engineering designed plant. The PSC has scheduled a status hearing on the case for November 22nd.

For now, the resort says operations will continue as normal, and snowmaking is already underway. The resort’s senior leadership team is scheduled to meet with Intrawest Chief Executive Officer Bill Jensen soon to map out the next step for the resort. A successor to Rock has not been named.