Colorado Ski Country USA

Past presidents of CSCUSA, totaling more than 30 years of Ski Country leadership, will participate in a moderated panel discussion about ups, downs, thrills and spills that have contributed to the constant evolution of the 46 year old organization.
The panel will be moderated by ski industry veteran Jerry Blann, currently president of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Garrett Mitchell - President of CSCUSA 1976-1980

Garry Mitchell is the editor and publisher of The Mitchell Report, a political and public policy newsletter, which reaches an international audience of opinion leaders.

Mitchell has been president and CEO of four organizations in the private and nonprofit sectors -- -- Yosemite National Institutes, a nonprofit education corporation; Burson-Marsteller/West, the global public relations and public affairs agency; Tracy-Locke/BBDO-Colorado, a consumer advertising agency unit of The Omnicom Group; and Colorado Ski Country USA, a major industry trade association. He served in the cabinet of Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm, heading the Department of Administration and the Governor's "Reinventing Government" program. And he headed the "Future of Skiing" project during the late 1970's, which was the first collaborative venture of all ski industry associations focused on the development of a legislative and public policy presence for the industry in national politics.

Mitchell began his business career with BBDO Worldwide and J. Walter Thompson in New York, and was Vice President of Marketing and a member of the founding management group of Colorado's Copper Mountain Resort.

He has been active on many civic, charitable and corporate boards, including: Fund for Arts and Culture, Hard Corps, Inc., The Keystone Center, Robert Redford's Institute for Resource Management, Tracy-Locke, Inc., University of Colorado Graduate School of Public Affairs, Webb-Waring Institute for Biomedical Research, Winter Park Resort, and Yosemite National Institutes.
Mitchell has been Executive-in-Residence at the University of Colorado School of Business Administration and St. Lawrence College; a Land Ethic Scholar for The Wilderness Society's Land Ethic Program; and is a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs. He is an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Relations, where he teaches an advanced writing course to graduate students; and is an occasional panelist at the University of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs.

He is an alumnus of Haverford College and the University of Colorado with a degree in American Studies. He is the father of Stacey H. Mitchell, a cum laude graduate of Colby College and Tulane Law School, who is the Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section at the Department of Justice, and the first woman to hold that career position. Mitchell and his partner Patricia Helmetag and their two dogs -- Piper and Rooney -- live in Annapolis. MD.

Bob Knous - President of CSCUSA 1980-1986

Bob Knous is a 4th generation Coloradoan; graduated from CU and DU (law), and considers himself lucky to have held five of the best positions related to Colorado and the ski/tourism industry during his career.
- Senior aide to Governor Dick Lamm--his #2 guy (John Lay was #1 at the time!)
- President of Colorado Ski Country USA--during the 'golden years' of the industry (High speed detachable lifts introduced, precision snow making perfected, strong economy, 32 members at the time)
- President of the Vail Valley Foundation--bringing world class culture, sports and education to the Vail Valley and the State of Colorado. Projects included completion of the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, creation of the International Evening of Dance featuring the Bolshoi Academy, supporting President Ford in hosting the World Forum, and the 1989 World Alpine Ski Championships.
- President of the 1989 World Alpine Ski Championships--a $14m two week event comprised of 600 athletes from 43 nations, competing for 12 individual titles, carried on ABC and ESPN --viewed by 300m people worldwide. Tamara McKinney won the women's combined for the United States!
- Partner with East West Partners from 1990 to 2004 - Developing top quality base villages and new communities in Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Deer Valley, Northstar at Tahoe, and Denver (Riverfront Park).

Bob currently volunteers & teaching a bit in the Denver Public Schools, mentors high risk High School students, enjoys 20+ days a season on the slopes, an equal number of fly fishing streams, and golf courses around the State. Best of all for Bob is that he is a first time grandpa--enjoying and sharing the world of one of the newest entrants in to the ski sport, 8 month old Fin Dolan--the pride and joy of his daughter Kim and her husband, Jeff Dolan.

John Lay - President of CSCUSA 1986-1993

John Lay served as President of Colorado Ski Country USA from 1985-1992. Since his time with CSCUSA he has worked in the Private Sector with Samsonite, TCI/Liberty Media, as well as several Venture Capital start-ups. He was the President of the Denver Metro Chamber from 1993-2000 and is currently the President of the Southeast Business Partnership (representing generally the DTC area). John also served with Colorado State Government from 1974-1982 (Chief of Staff to Governor Dick Lamm for six years following several Cabinet positions).

He is happily married to Carol Buchanan Lay and they have two terrific sons: Jonathan (30) and Andrew (20)-both of whom ski somewhat better than John does thanks largely to those wonderful Gold Passes as well as numerous & very generous Colorado ski area executives.

Doug Cogswell - President of CSCUSA 1993-1995

Doug Cogswell has a long history of involvement with the tourism and lodging industries in Colorado. He began his leadership in the lodging industry as general manager for The Antlers Hotel in Vail, Colorado. In that capacity, he was appointed to the Governors Tourism Council by Governor Richard Lamm in the late '70s. He then went on to oversee operations at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs and then at The Westin Hotel and The Westin Resort.

Mr. Cogswell served as president and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA in the early 1990s, where he oversaw 32 member resorts. During his tenure, he was involved with reorganizing much of the operating structure of the trade association, including restructuring the marketing department and member services. During his time as CSCUSA's president, he also served on the first Colorado Tourism Board as an appointee of Governor Roy Romer.

He acted as vice president of resort services at Vail Resorts, Inc. in the mid-1990s before becoming president and CEO of Colorado Cady Holdings, LLC Hospitality and Restaurant. At that company, he developed a $1.2 million restaurant on the Eagle River, among other accomplishments. He then went on to become president and chief operating officer of Magnolia Hotels in Denver.

Mr. Cogswell now resides in Edwards, Colorado, where is a real estate broker with Slifer, Smith and Frampton Real Estate.

John Frew - President of CSCUSA 1995-2000

John Frew's background as an attorney and businessman covers a broad range of experience, including high-profile dispute resolution, real estate development, business work-outs and forging opportunities leading to public-private partnerships.

As owner and operator of Frew Management Group, Inc., Mr. Frew has been involved with a broad variety of real estate development projects, including overall deal structuring, financing, land use, planning and zoning, intergovernmental relations and oversight of design and construction. Examples of Mr. Frew's development clients include: Cedar Park Event Center, Broomfield Event Center, Denver International Airport, City Lights Amphitheatre, and Coors Field.

Mr. Frew also specializes in project management. His company served as general manager at the Grand Prix of Denver for its client, Professional Motorsports, and has managed projects with Venue Operations and with several Colorado minor league professional sports teams.

In the legal world, John specializes in public/private transactions, land use and regulatory law. He has represented a broad variety of clients, including the Denver Nuggets, Kroenke Sports, the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District, Vail Resorts, Park City Resort, the Colorado Community College System, Booth Creek Management, Dover Motorsports and Bombardier-Learjet. A former partner at Denver's Fairfield & Woods, P.C. and Of Counsel with Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C. Mr. Frew currently provides legal services through a separate professional corporation - John Frew, P.C.

During Mr. Frew's time as president of CSCUSA, the industry saw large-scale expansion of on and off-mountain development, industry consolidation and public ownership. As president of CSCUSA, Mr. Frew is noted for creating Colorado's 5th Grade Passport program, which has helped grow the sport of skiing by eliminating barriers to entry, allowing all 5th grade students free access to Colorado's resorts.

Rob Perlman - President of CSCUSA 2002-2008

With nearly two decades of experience in the industry, Rob Perlman currently serves as Winter Park Resort's vice president of sales & marketing, responsible for development and management of Winter Park's sales and marketing efforts including oversight of strategic plans, brand management, advertising, promotions, direct/database marketing, international and domestic sales, web/online marketing, strategic partnerships, and public relations.

Prior to moving to Winter Park, Perlman served as vice president of sales & marketing for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, where he was responsible for the growth of the Steamboat brand as the nation's premier family-friendly resort with its world-famous Champagne Powder™ snow and authentic western hospitality. In addition to Perlman's duties at Winter Park, he also is the ski industry representative on the Colorado Tourism Office Board and currently serves as Chairman. He also serves as a Trustee of the Colorado Conservation Trust and was an active board member of Visit Denver as well as held a position on Denver International Airport's Vision Design Team.

Perlman served as the Chief Executive Officer for Colorado Ski Country USA, the state trade association for the $2.5 billion Colorado ski industry, for six years before moving to Steamboat. Along with his various positions in the Colorado tourism arena, Perlman's tenure in the ski industry has included leadership roles Vail Associates and Mammoth Mountain in California, where he developed and implemented progressive and comprehensive marketing and sales programs.

An alumnus of the University of Arizona, Perlman grew up in Evergreen, Colorado. He and his wife, Erin, along with their two daughters, Amanda, 9 and Morgan, 7, will soon be relocating to Winter Park, Colorado.

Panel Moderator: Jerry Blann - President of Jackson Hole Mounatin Resort

With nearly 40 years of experience in the ski resort business, Jerry Blann is one of the most well known and respected ski industry leaders. Since 1995, Mr. Blann has been the President of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort where he has guided the resort through several years of intense development, most recently focused on the replacement of the iconic aerial tram, North America's longest vertical at a ski resort. In December of 2008 after over three years of planning and construction the new Tram was successfully opened to the public, bringing with it national and international acclaim.

Mr. Blann serves as the Chairman of the Jackson Hole Airport Board and is a member of JH AIR, a community committee, which annually negotiates with major airlines for non-stop flights into Jackson currently including Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. JH AIR has seen a continual increase in air capacity into Jackson since its inception; this accomplishment has been seen as a significant advancement for the community and the resort.

Previously, Mr. Blann led development at Lake Catamount Joint Ventures in Steamboat Springs and was President of Bear Mountain in California, as well as Aspen Ski Company, where he had worked for 17 years.

He currently serves on the National Ski Area Association (NSAA) Board and is Chairman of the Environmental Committee.

Mr. Blann grew up in the ski world. His father was manager of Mt. Bachelor in Bend, OR for 25 years. In 1968, he won a scholarship to the University of Denver and was on the ski team for four years. During that time the team won the NCAA championship three times. In 1969, Blann was named All-American and honored as America's outstanding collegiate athlete. Mr. Blann has four daughters.