Thanks for the mentoring

I wanted to take a moment to thank SAM, MountainGuard, and High Peaks Group for pairing me with Brundage Mountain  (Idaho) GM Ken Rider as my mentor in the Summit Series program!

Ken and I had two amazing Zoom calls. Our topics ranged from career paths and book clubs to managing through challenging times and numerous other topics.

In lieu of a third Zoom meeting, Ken agreed to a day of on-mountain job shadowing. This was a great experience. Working my way through various departments at Jackson Hole (Wyo.) for the past 16 years has been a fun journey, but seeing how dynamic Ken’s average day is at Brundage was eye-opening.

Ken allowed me to sit in on all meetings for the day. Brundage is in the process of expanding its lodging options, which has resulted in Brundage creating its own fire department, and Ken sits on the board. Seeing the amount of collaboration between local and county resources was mind-blowing.

The highlight of the day was skiing with the Forest Service. I had participated in ski-arounds with Forest Service employees before, but this day set the high-water mark for me. 

In our group, we had the Forest Service district manager, a fuels reduction specialist, a forest health specialist, the permitting administrator, and a forest entomology expert. Brundage is experiencing a sizable die-off of alpine fir trees caused by a small, naturally-occurring bug. It was unreal to see firsthand how much interagency discussion within the Forest Service took place and how this would impact Brundage’s skiable terrain and infrastructure safety.  

I always knew that resort general managers wore a multitude of hats, but Ken’s roles in running a mid-sized resort greatly exceeded my expectations. 

I understand that due to travel constraints and distances, a job shadow day might not be possible for everyone in the SAM Summit Series mentor program, but I feel future participants would greatly benefit from an opportunity like I experienced.

Thanks again for the great program! 

Brian Schmidt

General Manager,

Teton Village Sports

SAM Summit Series Mentee