Powdr Corp announced Tuesday that Herwig Demschar will join the ski resort operator effective May 15 as chief operating officer. The former coach of the U.S. women's alpine team is currently the vice president of venue management for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
POWDR CORP officials announced Tuesday that Herwig Demschar will join the ski resort operator effective May 15 as chief operating officer. The former coach of the U.S. women's alpine team is currently the vice president of venue management for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
    Park City-based Powdr Corp owns several ski resorts including Park City Mountain Resort in Utah; Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon; Nevada's Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort; Alpine Meadows at Lake Tahoe; and Boreal Mountain Resort and Soda Springs at Donner Summit in California. The company recently announced its intention to purchase Killington Resort and Pico Mountain in Vermont.
    “We have talked with Herwig before about coming to work at Powdr, but the Olympics are a formidable lure. We’re fortunate that the situation and timing was right for him and his family to come back to Utah," said John Cumming, the president of Powdr. "As we continue to grow, we’re very pleased that we have an opportunity to utilize his extraordinary background in this industry.”
    Demschar has considerable Olympic experience on both the administrative and athletic levels. He was previously the Director of Sports for the Torino Olympic Games and Director of Alpine Sports for the Salt Lake Winter Olympics.
    On the mountain, Demschar coached the Austrian National Ski Team for nine years and was the head coach of the U. S. women’s alpine team for four years. All together, he coached athletes to 13 World Championships medals, one World Cup overall title and five Olympic medals, perhaps the most famous of which is Picabo Street’s Olympic gold in Nagano.
    “Between his coaching and Olympic venue management, Herwig has been to almost every top level ski resort in the world. He understands what makes a first-class resort, and he has an excellent track record of putting together teams of people to deliver that experience on a very big stage," Cumming said.
    When asked about his move back to Park City, Demschar responded, “In German, there is a saying that I will be leaving ‘with one crying eye and one laughing eye.’ I am sad to leave the great group of people at the Vancouver Olympic Committee, but I am thrilled with the great opportunity presented to me by Powdr Corp. In addition to the exciting professional perspective, my family is very much looking forward to coming back to Park City where we lived for almost nine years and which we still consider to be home.”