In a line of succession that dates from its founding in 1962, Gary McCoy, of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., is slated to become the 15th elected head of National Ski Areas Association, succeeding Chris Diamond, of Mt. Snow, Vt. McCoy has served for the past three years as NSAA’s first vice chairman, and had special responsibilities in 1992/93 as head of the crucial Bylaws Review Task Force.
Gary McCoy has literally grown up on skis and in the ski industry. He started skiing at the age of two and throughout his youth worked along side his father, Dave McCoy, founder of Mammoth. He worked in almost every department at the mountain, including running heavy equipment, lift operations and administration. In doing so, he has helped develop Mammoth from a rope tow operation in the 40’s to one of the country’s largest resorts.
McCoy had a very successful career as a junior racer, winning the title of Junior National Champion in alpine combined in 1959. He left racing to attend college at the University of Nevada, where he specialized in hotel and restaurant management, with a minor in accounting.
He rejoined Mammoth in 1973 where he took over the management of Sierra Pacific Airlines, a commuter airline then owned and operated by the resort. After selling the airline, McCoy chose to devote his energy to the resort operation itself.
Today, as CEO, he works closely with his father in the family business, which today means an operation that includes 1,800 employees, 30 lifts, three day lodges, three hotel properties and the June Mountain Ski Area.
McCoy has many other involvements with the ski industry, and not just at NSAA. For instance, he serves on the National Avalanche Foundation, is the current chairman of the California Ski Industry Association (CSIA) and serves on the Governor’s Task Force for Tourism Financing.
Bob Roberts, who as executive head of CSIA works closely with Gary McCoy, gives this summary of the man:
“He is the Gary Cooper of the ski industry, strong, quiet, rugged and talented. He listens well, thinks deeply and acts conservatively. Gary is equally at home in the saddle moving cattle on his brother’s ranch in Montana, piloting his turbo twin at 15,000 feet, checking his regulator 65 feet down below the surface of the Coral Sea, or hosting Lloyds’ underwriters for breakfast at the Dukes Hotel in London. Gary is an instinctive traveler on the higher road.”
McCoy’s wife, Barbi, who is a champion equestrian rider, is also an accomplished diver and among the couple’s annual fixtures is a live-aboard dive week with Ski Time’s Irv Naylor. The McCoys have four children and two grandchildren.
How does McCoy view NSAA’s priorities over the next two years?
“I think if we can get all ski areas, large and small, working together on some of our challenges—important issues like the environment and land use—we can make NSAA into the leader of the whole industry,” said McCoy. “It’s going to be my goal to do whatever I can to help bring the association into this leadership position.”
He will find a willing accomplice in NSAA’s president, Michael Berry, who says, “Gary’s understanding of the industry issues is superb and his knowledge and experience will be an important asset for the NSAA staff. His expertise is critical to allowing the association to pursue its renewed vision. The staff and I look forward to Gary’s coming on board.”
