End of an Era: Beth Howard to Retire After 41 Years With Vail Resorts

Beth Howard, vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain, announced her retirement Monday, closing a remarkable 41-year chapter that saw her rise from college intern to the first woman to lead Vail Resorts' flagship property.

Howard's leadership brought forward innovations such as Vail's Legacy Hut, Camp Hale at Vail, and the Avanti Performance Center and Skills Zone, as well as Beaver Creek's Red Buffalo Park, Hay Meadow Park, Cookie Cabin, and Ice Cream Parlor, fundamentally shaping the guest experience across the company's anchor Colorado resorts.

The announcement marks the conclusion of one of the ski industry's most influential operational careers, spanning from the mid-1980s through an era of explosive growth and consolidation that transformed Vail Resorts from a regional operator into a global mountain resort empire.

Howard began her career in 1985 as a college intern in food & beverage at Beaver Creek Resort, sparking a lifelong connection to the mountains and to the guest experience . A University of Northern Iowa graduate with a degree in food and nutrition and business, she arrived in Colorado with limited skiing experience but considerable drive.

What followed was a steady climb through Vail Resorts' ranks that would eventually make history. Over the next four decades, she built one of the industry's most influential operational careers, marked by innovation, leadership development, and a passion for creating meaningful guest moments.

She rose through Vail Resorts to lead companywide food & beverage initiatives, overseeing operations at more than 100 restaurants and eight private clubs across all Vail Resorts mountains. The scope alone was staggering—coordinating dining operations across properties spanning from Vermont to California to British Columbia.

In 2014, she took her first general manager role at Northstar California Resort, where her leadership earned industry recognition. She went on to serve as general manager of Northstar, California, where she was recognized with the prestigious 2015 Ski Area Management SAMMY Leadership Award for her bold ideas.

She returned to Colorado in 2016 as COO of Beaver Creek before being promoted in 2019 to lead Vail Mountain—becoming the first woman to hold that position in the resort's history.

Howard's tenure at Vail Mountain was marked by significant capital projects and operational evolution. Howard played a key role in securing USFS approvals for McCoy Park at Beaver Creek Resort, leading the 2019 Vail Mountain snowmaking expansion, and advancing major lift upgrades including Beaver Creek lift 5 and Vail Mountain lifts 7 and 17.

The snowmaking expansion she championed fundamentally altered Vail's early-season operations, replacing the infamous "white ribbon of death" opening with robust terrain availability from day one. The project brought automated snowmaking systems directly to popular runs, ensuring consistent early-season conditions regardless of natural snowfall.

Beyond infrastructure, Howard focused on creating signature experiences that differentiated Vail and Beaver Creek in an increasingly competitive destination resort market. Initiatives like the Cookie Cabin and Ice Cream Parlor at Beaver Creek extended the family-oriented culture that became a hallmark of the resort's brand positioning.

Throughout her career, Howard championed inclusivity and belonging, often noting her personal mission to help "champion women leading ski resorts". In an industry where senior operational roles have been overwhelmingly male-dominated, her ascent to leading Vail Mountain represented a significant milestone.

Her visibility in the role and willingness to mentor other women in the industry created pathways that didn't exist when she started as an intern nearly four decades ago. The SAMMY Award she received in 2015 recognized not just operational excellence but leadership that would shape the industry's future.

"It's impossible to overstate Beth's impact on our company, our people, and the guest experience," said Jody Churich, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Vail Resorts. "So many of the special moments our guests look forward to today exist because Beth imagined them first ."

The tribute speaks to Howard's influence beyond operational metrics. While her oversight covered everything from lift operations to food service to snowmaking systems, colleagues point to her focus on creating memorable moments as her defining characteristic. In an era when ski resorts compete as much on experience as on vertical feet and snowfall, that customer-centric approach proved prescient.

Beth Howard will continue to lead Vail Mountain through the ski season and she will remain engaged with the organization during a transition period when a new leader is named. Following that transition, Howard will serve in an advisory capacity until her retirement in mid-October

The extended timeline ensures continuity through the crucial winter season and allows for knowledge transfer to her successor. Vail Resorts has not announced who will replace Howard or whether the search will focus on internal or external candidates.

Her departure comes as Vail Resorts navigates a complex operating environment. The company faces growing scrutiny over pass pricing, employee housing challenges in resort communities, and mounting expectations around sustainability and environmental stewardship. Whoever succeeds Howard inherits both a world-class operation and a set of structural challenges facing the entire ski industry.

For Howard, the journey from college intern to industry leader came full circle. She spent her twenties working on Vail Mountain in the 1980s and 1990s, left to broaden her experience, and returned "much older, and hopefully wiser," as she once described it, to lead the resort where her career began.

That arc—from entry-level intern to leading one of North America's most iconic ski resorts—represents not just personal achievement but the possibilities that still exist within the ski industry for those willing to commit to operational excellence and continuous learning.

As Howard prepares for retirement, her legacy extends beyond the lifts installed, terrain parks built, or dining concepts launched. It's embedded in the organizational culture she helped shape and the proof that operational leadership in the ski industry can look different than it has historically—and that the industry is better for it.