Valley resident to purchase central Sierra ski resort

A small investment group headed by ski resort executive and Carson Valley resident Tim Cohee is expected to sign a purchase agreement to acquire Sierra Summit Mountain Resort at Huntington Lake, Calif.

The acquisition is scheduled to close on April 30, at which time Cohee will return the resort to its former name of China Peak.

Cohee, for the past 17 years a senior executive with Kirkwood Mountain Resort, 13 of those years as president, general manager and chief operating officer, will assume control as owner/operator upon the close of the transaction.

"This has been an ambition of mine for well over a decade," said Cohee, whose ski resort management career began in 1979 with Snow Summit Ski Corporation, the current owners of Sierra Summit. "I'm anxious to bring my passion and experience of the past three decades to skiers and riders of the central valley and coast."

Cohee began his ski management career in 1979, working for Dick Kun, chairman and chief executive officer of Snow Summit, whose family built the resort in the early 1950s. After several years with Snow Summit, during which time they acquired China Peak and he played an active role in the marketing of Sierra Summit, Cohee became vice president of Heavenly in Lake Tahoe. Three years later he returned to Southern California to join a management team that took over operations of then Goldmine, soon renamed Bear Mountain. Over a three year period the group was able to increase skier visits from under 100,000 to nearly 400,000, one of the fastest growth stories in the ski industry.

Cohee was then recruited by Sunday River in Maine, where he spent the early 1990s before being named president, CEO/COO and general manager of Kirkwood Resort in 1993.

"The Central Sierra has landed a star," said Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association, based in San Francisco. "Tim Cohee is one of the industry's most respected, experienced and passionate leaders. Skiers and riders are in for a treat - the man knows steak and sizzle."

"Tim will bring energy and enthusiasm to this project. His experience will reinvigorate the resort," said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association.

Since being purchased by Snow Summit Ski Corporation as China Peak in 1981, Sierra Summit has seen millions of dollars in improvements.

"Sierra Summit is fully capable of providing a quality ski and snowboard experience for a capacity day in virtually every sense," said Cohee, who until recently had remained tied to the resort as a member of the Snow Summit Ski Corporation Board of Directors, visiting the resort each January for their annual winter board meeting. "While it may lack some of the higher end facilities found at the larger Tahoe and destination resorts, the mountain would compete very favorably with almost any mid-sized resort in the nation. I've skied all over the world the past 30 years, at most every major resort in the nation, and Sierra Summit has the terrain, trail and lift system and natural beauty skiers and boarders anywhere would find enjoyable. It is a true gem in the middle of the Sierra."

Cohee said Sierra Summit, and soon to be China Peak customers, shouldn't read more into his acquisition than just a long time resort executive who finally has his chance to fulfill a dream.

"I always wanted to have my own resort, and do things exactly as I have felt was in the best interest of the customer, so they have a good time every time they visit," Cohee said. "I am very lucky the timing worked out, and I can't think of a place I'd rather be next winter than helping our staff run a quality resort, meeting and skiing with our passionate customers in Fresno, the surrounding communities, and the coastal area around San Luis Obispo."

Cohee and his wife Anita will be sharing time in the coming year between their home in Carson Valley and Huntington Lake, spending a great deal of time in the local communities. They eventually plan a full time move to the Fresno and Huntington Lake area.

"The most important thing I can communicate to our customers is we are first and foremost avid skiers, who have been in the business for over 35 years, and have dedicated our entire family and business life to providing people with the very best mountain experience we can," said Cohee, who has five sons, three of which ski competitively. "We will have a lot of fun, and I sincerely hope our passion for Sierra Summit, soon to be China Peak, comes across to everyone we meet."

For information about the resort, visit www.skichinapeak.com.