Stone tapped to lead ski resort into future

 “There’s a lot of good energy”

The former Telluride executive hired by Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) last year to take the reins of the company’s marketing strategy has been appointed to the top management position.

On Friday, August 29 CBMR announced that Ken Stone would be promoted to chief operating officer of the company. Stone officially began his new position on September 2, after serving as the resort’s vice president and chief marketing officer for almost exactly one year. Prior to his initial hiring, Stone was vice president of Telluride Ski and Golf.
“He has been an important part of our executive team as vice president of marketing and has contributed significantly as we moved through a transition period this year,” said CBMR owner Tim Mueller in a press release. “We are fortunate to have someone as qualified as Ken to lead the company.”
Over the last few months CBMR has been going through a corporate re-structuring. New employees were picked to lead several areas of the resort’s operations, including a new mountain manager, ski school director, food and beverage director, and communications director.
New communications director Todd Walton says the restructuring was, “a rejuvenation of the company, the brand, the mountain, and all the players involved.”
During the re-structuring, Tim and Diane Mueller became more involved in the day-to-day operations at the resort, the release states.
“As Ken steps into this position it will allow Diane and me to move back into our role in the oversight of Triple Peaks,” Mueller said.
The Muellers also own and oversee operations at Mt. Sunapee resort in New Hampshire and Okemo resort in Vermont, as part of Triple Peaks LLC.
 “They should be looking at things from an overall perspective. Ken is going to be doing a lot more of the day-to-day management,” Walton says. “The overall feeling here at CBMR is that Ken has been doing a great job and it’s a great step for him and the organization… There’s a lot of good energy.”
“When I came here I didn’t expect it to happen,” Stone says. “It was a long-term goal of mine to work towards. Certainly I’m taking this on with a lot of optimism.”
Stone has been in conversations with the Muellers for several weeks, discussing the possibility of taking on the lead role at the company. Tim Mueller has technically served as chief operating officer at CBMR since the couple purchased the resort in 2004.
Stone says the new position means he won’t be spending as much time in the marketing side of the resort. “It’s more of a global scope of responsibility—facilitating the directors of the company and the leadership team so they can do the best job possible. I’ll be guiding our direction based on short- and long-term business plans, and certainly reporting directly to Tim and Diane, but freeing them up to have more of an overall scope of Triple Peaks Resorts,” he says. “I think Crested Butte and Crested Butte Mountain Resort are poised for a great future.”
Stone says the company may be ready to announce the new chief marketing officer as early as next week.