General Manager & Vice President, Snowshoe Mountain, Inc.
by Kensie Hamilton
You could say Bill Rock is on top of the world or at least West Virginia anyway. Rock is the general manager and vice president of Snowshoe Mountain, Inc., an Intrawest company. From his office, located 4,848 feet on the top of one of West Virginia’s highest mountains, Rock is responsible for 1,300 employees at peak season and nearly 400 year-round employees along with the 11,000 acres of vast mountain country and the 300 acres the resort operates on.
With some of the best skiing on the East Coast, Snowshoe, founded in 1973, has become a leading tourist attraction. “It is good for the state and great for the county,” says Rock. “A world-class destination right here in West Virginia. This is something all West Virginians can be proud of.”
Snowshoe is the resort destination for over 750,000 visitors each year, who collectively spend over $112 million in the state.
Rock did not start his career in the resort business but as a Lieutenant and U.S. Army Ranger. While serving in the Army, Rock led two elite platoons in the 82nd Airborne Division and completed his Ranger training.
He has had many mentors that have helped shape him into a leader. Sergeant Major E. C. Hubbard and Infantry Captain Tommy T. Wall were his first mentors. “They were at Clemson as part of the ROTC program,”he says. “They helped me understand what true leadership is all about.”
Once he completed his service with the Army, Rock got his first job in the resort business in 1996 as the director of marketing and sales at Bristol Mountain Resort in Canandaigua, NY. “I begged Dan Fuller, the owner of Bristol Mountain Resort for a job,” says Rock. “I had no resort sales and marketing experience and he rightly rejected me, but I was persistent. He gave me the courtesy of an interview and I successfully convinced him that I could succeed and help his business flourish.”
Rock is forever grateful to Fuller and wants to have the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. “I want people to see me the way I have seen others,” says Rock. “I want to be able to give people an opportunity and for them to look back and see a great leader and mentor.”
After moving up the ranks and holding a number of different positions at Stratton Mountain Resort in Stratton Mountain, Vt., Rock accepted the position of director of lodging and golf.
In 2003, Rock made the move to Durango, Colo., as the COO and general manager of Durango Mountain Resort. After a successful term at Durango Mountain, Rock was offered the job at Snowshoe.
“This move would not have been possible without my wife Jennifer,” says Rock. “She moved here never having seen the area and now she loves it.”
Snowshoe has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years. “I am always looking to see how we can grow the business and get better at what we do,” says Rock.
“There is no substitute for plain old hard work, that is the first thing you need,” says Rock. “Second is a true passion and love for what you do, and lastly, to continue to seek knowledge. These three things combined will make anyone successful.”
Managing this mountaintop resort has been a dream come true for this lifetime skier. “We are so lucky that we get to live and work in a mountain resort,” says Rock.
Besides spending time with his wife and 18-month old twins, Rock sits on the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Workforce Investment Council as well as volunteering to be the President of the Snowshoe Foundation.
Photography by Rick Lee
