team, which became the USC ski and snowboard team under his leadership (“I don’t want to make too much of it, but I ran that team a little like I continue to try to run things in terms of moving the group forward, adding more people, bringing people together, and trying to have fun,” he said.). It also drew him to law school at UC Davis (“closer to the mountains”) and then away from an offer for a position with a “would have been totally boring” law firm in Palo Alto to one with Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft, where he learned the craft of ski area representation under the tutelage of John Fagan. In 2015, when the long-tenured Bob Roberts decided to retire as the head of Ski California, Reitzell said “a light bulb kind of went off above my head.” With- out any operations experience, he knew he couldn’t check every box in the job description, but he also knew he had plenty to bring to the table. The Ski Cali- fornia board agreed. Nearly 10 years later, the opportunity
to serve the industry more broadly as the president and CEO of NSAA was anoth- er lightbulb moment: “There was really only one job that would have drawn me away from running Ski California, and that was NSAA,” he said. SAM publisher Olivia Rowan and senior editor Katie Brinton talked with Reitzell in late November to learn more about the skills and experiences he brings to his new role, the ski industry issues that matter most to him, and his forecast for the future of snowsports. Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Katie: What does your background as a lawyer and as someone who has run a regional ski industry association allow you to bring to the role? Mike: I do think my skill set over the years has become really well rounded. Amy Ohran gave a little speech at our board meeting a few weeks ago, and she
talked about everybody’s superpower, which was super cool. She said mine, in so many words, is bringing people together, that I had a unique ability. I hadn’t really thought of it that way, but I think that’s a really important thing. When you’re talking about an orga- nization that is a nonprofit, it’s not really judged on dollars and cents. Obviously, you have to keep the lights on, but it really is judged more on what you’re able to accomplish with the people that are your members, your stakehold- ers, and then everybody else associated with the organization. I’m technically the only employee at Ski California. So, other than some contractors, my job is convincing people that have day jobs to get stuff done. And the way you do that is you convince them that what they’re doing is a good thing, it’s a beneficial thing for everybody. And I think I’ll be able to do that at NSAA, too. The job’s a little different, for sure— leading a team versus being closer to a one-man show—but bringing everyone together for common goals and pushing forward to great results, I think that’s still the job. Olivia: You’re also bringing a slightly different approach to work/life bal- ance. You have two kids, and you and your family are going to stay in Cal- ifornia. How will you split your time? Mike: I made a note for everyone right at the beginning of the application and interview process, I didn’t put it out there as a discussion, I said, “If I’m going to do this, just know that I have to do it from where I am.” My wife is a senior execu- tive at the ninth largest wine company in the world. Sonoma County is kind of an important place to be for wine, and her job is as or more important than mine. So, balancing that first need was extremely important. My kids are about to be 6 and 8 years old, and you know, grandma’s here 10 minutes away from us. I know it’s a cli- ché to say it takes a village, but when you’re balancing two careers with kids and you want to do a lot of things, having that support system is really important. I obviously value my family a lot, so I knew what needed to happen with this role. »
Reitzell is experienced at lobbying on behalf of the industry.
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