Our community treasure at Eaglecrest

(Official Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)

By Deb Craig

During the Eaglecrest Board of Directors (EBD) Aug. 7 meeting, four former Eaglecrest Board members expressed their collective concern and lack of confidence in Eaglecrest’s management team and Board of Directors (EBD) for failing to adequately represent ski area users with sound policy and operational direction to the new general manager. The Juneau ski community has spoken, as well, by purchasing far fewer Eaglecrest Season Passes than usual. 

Last year the EBD, in concert with the CBJ’s Human Resources (HR) Department, forced the resignation of a productive general manager (GM) and then attempted recruitment from the limited pool of experienced small ski area managers. Applicants were mostly unqualified and only two candidates were selected for interview. One opposed the gondola (a done deal) and the EBD hired literally the last remaining applicant before the start of ski season.

The new GM was immediately overwhelmed by operational issues. Older chairlifts in any ski area always need ongoing mechanical work. The GM admitted a lack of “capacity” to fix our Black Bear lift, despite offers of assistance from knowledgeable local mechanics, then made the unpopular decision to dismantle the lift. Our low elevation also means snowmaking is critical for the lower mountain to ensure access to lifts/runs and earlier opening/closing dates. Again, local expertise was offered to assist, but rejected. 

During June 12’s EBD meeting, the GM stated: “My motivation was to, like, make this a great place to work and retention and suddenly it’s like mechanical-mechanical-mechanical-mechanical…it’s like a crazy job. This is not fun, it consumes way too much time at work, way too much stress. I just want everyone to know now…nothing about this was fun, easy or...it wasn’t my intention, taking this job.”

In fairness, the EBD and CBJ HR rewrote the GM’s job description de-emphasizing operations. This and subsequent interviews may have led applicants to believe the GM was mostly an administrative job with employees seeking work/life balance. The reality is a successful ski area GM’s job will always be mechanical, mechanical, mechanical. And like all seasonal employment – fishing, tourism, legislature – work/life balance is challenging during Eaglecrest’s four-month, weather dependent window to generate annual revenue.

A strong Eaglecrest board would have provided clear direction and guidance to an overwhelmed new manager who failed to engender public confidence by dismantling the Black Bear, freezing and breaking snowmaking equipment, failing to provide timely and accurate financial and operational reports, and the inability to manage one operational calamity after another. 

Thankfully, the chair of the Eaglecrest Board of Directors convincingly testified to the CBJ Assembly for additional FY26 funding in recognition of Eaglecrest’s incredible recreational value and a gondola project manager has been hired.  The CBJ Assembly also re-appointed two former Eaglecrest board members who may be less reflexively defensive about past poor decisions and more willing to collaborate with the ski community but, realistically, the EBD needs to step up. Hands-off oversight makes sense when an organization is succeeding, but Eaglecrest is not. 

Recently, the CBJ also offered to manage Eaglecrest HR although already stretched thin with vacancies across CBJ departments.  Government does many things right, but lacks the capacity for nimble responses needed in a short ski season while adding substantial, cumbersome bureaucratic constraints.

Ski areas are not managed from a desk and a successful GM must be experienced, hands-on, articulate, hard-hardworking and receptive to the ski community they serve. And the Eaglecrest board needs leadership with fresh ideas to provide clear operational direction to regain public confidence.

After a low snow year, pass sales are typically low, but pass sales this year reflects that the ski community remains skeptical and upset about the Black Bear. The EBD and the GM might want to listen and respond to the people expected to support Eaglecrest – the skiers.

I encourage Eaglecrest to invite skiers to their Oct. 2 EBD meeting to rebuild public trust by sharing operational and financial plans emphasizing how they plan to implement critical operations: lift maintenance and snowmaking, while recognizing the value of community support with transparent communication.

 I also encourage Eaglecrest to extend Tier I Pass pricing through October. For those holding out on buy a pass, highlighting a viable plan for upcoming ski season operations could prompt a wave of ski pass sales without a price penalty. This also resolves complaints – particularly for families on tight budgets – about ending Tier I pricing before PFD distribution.

Eaglecrest is a beloved community treasure that was literally built by the people of Juneau – some of whom testified at the Aug. 7 meeting. Eaglecrest was founded and has been managed successfully with a skier-based board committed to skiers. The Eaglecrest mountain community (alpine/nordic/backcountry skiers, bikers, hikers, backpackers and berry pickers) supports a healthy, thriving Eaglecrest to ensure our 50th anniversary is a celebration of continuation.

• Deb Craig began attending Eaglecrest meetings a year ago and is a longtime, avid skier who believes Eaglecrest is a valuable community recreational asset and recruitment tool for local businesses with a bright future.