Vail Resorts, Inc. announced that Patricia Campbell, president of the company’s mountain division, has decided to step down from her position and assume a new role as senior advisor to its mountain division.
As senior advisor, Campbell will focus on strategic projects, mentoring and developing the next generation of leaders for the brand.
As a part of planned leadership succession, the company also announced that James O’Donnell, executive vice president of Vail Resorts’ hospitality, retail and real estate businesses, would become president of the mountain division, leading operations for the company’s 37 resorts and its real estate business.
Greg Sullivan, COO, Vail Resorts Retail, will succeed O’Donnell as senior vice president overseeing retail and hospitality for the company.
Bill Rock, senior vice president, mountain division, has been promoted to executive vice president, mountain operations. Rock will retain his direct leadership accountability for the Rocky Mountain region and have expanded responsibilities for mountain operations across the division.
Leadership changes are effective June 7, 2021, and the company plans to backfill Sullivan’s role and any role that opens as a part of these changes with internally.
Campbell was appointed president of Vail Resorts’ mountain division in 2015 and has since overseen the integration and acquisition of 26 resorts. She joined the company in 1999 as director of its ski school at Breckenridge Ski Resort. Between 2006 and 2015, Campbell was COO first at Keystone Resort and then at Breckenridge. Before joining Vail Resorts, she held leadership positions at Grand Targhee Resort and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, where she started her career in 1985 as a ski instructor.
“Pat has had a profound impact on the success of our company during a period of massive growth, driving our efforts to create an integrated network of world-class resorts and an unrivaled guest and employee experience across all of our mountains,” said Rob Katz, chairman and CEO, Vail Resorts. “Perhaps even more transformative than her track record of operational excellence has been Pat’s work to build an incredible pipeline of talent within the mountain division. During her time in the role, the company appointed nearly 50 new GMs and COOs at our resorts, with all of those appointments coming from internal promotions, an achievement unrivaled in the industry. Pat also made tremendous strides to advance women in a male-dominated ski industry through her mentorship and spearheading groundbreaking development programs for female leaders. Today we have nine women running resorts in our company, up from zero before Pat was appointed COO of Keystone in 2006. Pat is a trailblazer in the truest form, and while I will miss her contributions as president of the mountain division, I look forward to the impact she will continue to have in building a diverse leadership pipeline for our company’s future.”
O’Donnell was appointed executive vice president of hospitality, retail and real estate in 2016. He joined the company in 2002 and has held numerous leadership positions, including COO, Vail Resorts Hospitality and CFO, hospitality division. Before joining Vail Resorts, O’Donnell specialized in the hospitality industry for Arthur Andersen.
Photo courtesy Patricia Campbell, 32 Degrees magazine
