The ski industry in America was created by a combination of entrepreneurs and skiing enthusiasts willing to back a viable recreational idea. Hans Geier has been a lifetime contributor to the industry – as a ski school instructor and director, as a developer and manager of ski areas, and as an executive of the largest manufacturer/installer of ski lifts in the world.

As with many Austrians who emigrated, Geier started his ski career as a ski instructor. Then went on as ski school director in 1964 he was hired as the general manager at Ski Roundtop in Pennsylvania. He established a financial solid organization at Ski Roundtop and left in 1971 to assume the general manager position at Incline Village, Nevada.

In 1973, he was co-founder of the Ski Yellowstone project on Hebgen Mountain, but after working to secure permits from the U.S. Forest Service the project was abandoned due to wildlife habitat issues that arose.

In 1977, Geier was brought in as general manager at Heavenly Valley, Nevada. The next year he returned to Pennsylvania as the general manager at Ski Liberty, where he was involved in doubling the ski acreage, snowmaking and lift capacity.

In 1981, he was hired as president and CEO of Steamboat Ski Area in Colorado. Over the next nine years the corporation increased skier visits from 360,000 to over 1 million and changed a negative cash flow to a strong positive financial standing after substantial reinvestments in all facets of the operation.

In 1991, he was named president of the Stratton Corporation in Vermont. And by 1994 was recruited by Doppelmayr USA to be president of North America operations. His extensive background in language and lift engineering aided the successful growth of the North American market for Doppelmayr. In 1998, Geier retired to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where he still enjoys skiing.

Career Highlights:

-1966-’71: member & president of Board of Directors of the PA Ski Areas Association
-1964-’81: general manager or operations manager at several major ski area across the country
-1981-’90: president and CEO of the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporations
-1981-’90: served on the board of the National Ski Areas Association and Board of Directors Colorado Ski Country, USA
-1990-’94: president of the Stratton Corporation, Vermont
-1994-’97: president of Doppelmayr USA, Inc.
-1998: NSAA Lifetime Achievement Award