Last November, Vail Resorts was honored at the Women’s Forum of New York’s Breakfast of Corporate Champions for its commitment to gender diversity. It is one of only 78 companies in the S&P 500 and Fortune 1000 to have 50% or greater female board representation. Half of its board directors are women, and nearly half of its executive committee members are women.
Here in Park City, Deirdra Walsh became the vice president and COO of Park City Mountain in 2022. Women also run Vail Resorts’ Whistler Blackcomb, Vail, Crested Butte, Stevens Pass, NorthStar, Stowe, Crotched and Hotham.
Walsh is the kind of success story leaders like Pat Campbell aim to support. Campbell, Vail Resorts’ strategic adviser, was responsible for operations throughout the company’s 37 resorts as president of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division from 2015 to 2021.
Walsh moved to Park City in 2003 from St. Louis, Missouri, sight unseen. She didn’t grow up skiing or snowboarding, and she didn’t take her first snowboard lesson until she moved here. Coming from an events background, she became the banquet sales manager at Park City Mountain in 2007. After climbing the ranks in Park City Mountain’s food and beverage department, she was promoted to vice president and general manager at NorthStar California in Lake Tahoe in 2019.
“I think that often, potential applicants — especially women — think they need to be an expert in order to apply for a job or enter an industry,” Walsh said. “Vail Resorts breaks down the belief that you need to be a lifelong skier or snowboarder or an expert in snowsports to work for us. That’s not the case here because our company is guided by our values, including investing in leadership where great leaders can thrive. That’s especially important for women entering the traditionally male-dominated ski and snowboard industry.”
When Walsh joined the Park City Mountain team, she reported directly to Jenni Smith, who ran the resort at the time.
“By seeing her lead, I knew what was possible. She remains a mentor of mine to this day,” Walsh said.
Though the commitment to inclusivity began in the early 2000s with Rob Katz, former COO of Vail Resorts, Campbell has been instrumental in Vail Resorts’ gender and inclusion journey. In 2015, she helped create a program called Women in Leadership. It invested in the development of high-performing senior leaders and provided a forum for women to discuss the role of leadership with their peers.
When Vail Resorts acquired Whistler Blackcomb in 2016, it already had a group called Women of Whistler Blackcomb, which included employees at all levels. This evolved into POWDER, launched in March 2018. The acronym stood for: Providing Opportunity for Women through Diversity and aimed to “attract and retain a broad range of exceptional talent and promote diverse leadership growth opportunities.”
“For us, it’s been having the intention to identify opportunities to support women and put women-specific development programs in place. The reality is that unless you put sustainable systems deep into the organization, you won’t be building the benchmark that will result in more women (in leadership),” Campbell said, adding that an organization must be thoughtful in its recruitment, hiring process and talent development to attract women, as well as other minorities. “Nothing like this happens overnight. Cultural change all takes time.”
Continual efforts
In 2021, Kirsten Lynch made history by becoming Vail Resorts’ first female CEO — the highest-ranking woman in the ski industry nationwide. She remains the only female CEO among travel and leisure companies listed on the Fortune 1000 list.
“Working under the leadership of Kirsten Lynch is truly incredible,” Walsh said, adding that because Lynch is the only female CEO in travel and leisure companies, there’s “so much more work to be done, and we are leading the way. We have a powerhouse team of women at Vail Resorts and at Park City Mountain, a cohort I am honored to be part of.”
Now, the Women & Allies Employee Resource Group works to influence change in policies, practices and culture to cultivate an inclusive environment. The employee-led group, spearheaded by women leaders, supports community connection and advocates for equitable practices for all employees to build a strong company overall. It brought “Advice for Girls: An All-Women Ski Film” to its employees. The film, which also screened Friday as part of Park City’s Women’s Weekend, showcases three generations of women skiers inspiring other females.
“Each generation reminds women and girls of all ages that they are worthy of success, allowed and encouraged to take up space and extremely valuable to the ski industry,” Walsh said. “I know that when we share our lived experiences, we build empathy, curiosity and action, which is essential to shaping the world we live and work in.”
Currently, only 37% of skiers and riders are female.
“That number has reached a 10-year low. Yet women make up at least half of our country’s population. It’s clear that participation and opportunities in our industry need to change, and I believe that having a diverse perspective of leaders is critical to changing the face of the industry to better serve it into the future,” Walsh said. “Women who work in this industry bring a unique perspective to all parts of the guest and employee experience that is important to understand if we want our sport to thrive well into the future. At Park City, we are driven by creating a welcoming environment for all. That is why we say: This is YOUR Mountain. When a person comes to the resort and looks around, I want them to see themselves — or perhaps even be surprised when they don’t only see themselves but they see people from all backgrounds, abilities and experiences as a part of the snowsports industry. I want people to see this as a place of possibilities. We can only achieve this if we intentionally create opportunities to build that aspirational reflection.”
Her goal: To create a diverse landscape of leaders, including women in mountain operations, where they’ve been historically underrepresented.
“I hope to continue a culture where women join the resort confident that they will have every opportunity to grow, make an impact and be sought out for their perspective across all aspects of our operations,” she said. “I am so proud of the talented women who are part of Park City Mountain and Vail Resorts. When I look around the resort and see a team of dedicated employees from all kinds of backgrounds, I know we have a team that can solve anything. As a company, we have leadership development programs for all levels of employees to really hone in, aligning who they are with what they do and to show up as effective and genuine leaders.”