Savannah, GA (Wednesday, May 19, 2004) - The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced today that David Crowley, general manager of Wachusett Mountain, Mass., has been elected chair of the association's board of directors. The election was held during NSAA's annual National Convention and Trade Show in Savannah, Georgia. Crowley previously served as vice chair and replaces Rob Kautz, CEO of California's Sugar Bowl Resort. Concurrently, the NSAA named seven new members to its board of directors.

Crowley's family purchased Wachusett in 1969 and eventually grew the area from 20,000 annual skier visits to over 400,000. As an 11-year-old, Crowley's first job at the resort was stapling tickets. He was "fired" the next season when the resort started using adhesive-backed tickets. He now runs the area alongside his brother Jeff and sister Carolyn.

"When I was president of the New England Ski Areas Council, I learned a lot about what ski areas have in common, what they don't, and how to find a common ground that works for everybody," Crowley told NSAA. "The great thing about being in an association is that we can share ideas with ski areas that we don't compete with. The ski industry is still one of those select few industries that people get together in a collegial atmosphere and discuss how to grow the sport. It's one of the main reasons we all got into this sport and continue to like doing business."

In other business action, the NSAA elected seven new members to its board of directors.

Dennis Eshbaugh, president and general manager of Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville, N.Y., will represent the Mid Atlantic. For over 25 years Eshbaugh has held various positions at Holiday Valley including ski instructor, ski school director and project director.

Chip Perfect, vice president and general manager of Perfect North Slopes, Ind., has been elected to represent the Midwest region. Perfect is past-president of the Midwest Ski Areas Association (MSAA) and was a 2001 Ski Area Management SAMMY award recipient.

Representing New England, Rick Kelley, general manager of Loon Mountain Recreation Group, N.H. Hired in 1977 as a snowmaker, Kelley lends more than two decades of industry-specific experience to his leadership. Kelley has served as manager of operations, director of mountain operations, director of skiing operations, and lift maintenance manager.

The Pacific Northwest will add David Riley to its representation. Riley has 18 years of experience working with mountain resorts and is currently the vice president and general manager for Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort and Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, both in Oregon. He is currently the chair of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association (PNSAA) and is on the Public Lands Committee and Environmental Committee of the NSAA.

From the Northern Rockies, Bob Bonar, president and COO of Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Utah replaces Onno Wieringa of neighboring Alta. Bonar has been president and general manager of Snowbird since August of 1997. Bonar is currently on the board of the Intermountain Ski Area Association (ISAA) and the NSAA Public Lands Committee.

Finally two members, Steven Bailey, president and CEO of Powderhorn Recreation & Development Company, and Roger McCarthy, senior vice president and COO of Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Resort, will join on behalf of the Central Rockies region. Both ski areas are in Colorado.

Bailey sits on the board of Colorado Ski Country USA and assumed his position at Powderhorn in 1998. Meanwhile McCarthy joined Vail Resorts as senior vice president and COO of Breckenridge in February 2000 and served as the eastern region senior vice president for Intrawest from 1998 to 2000.

With U.S. ski resorts tallying a preliminary 56.8 million skier/snowboarder visits for the 2003-04 season, indications are that is the third best season on record. A skier/ snowboarder visit is defined as one person visiting a ski area for all or any part of a day or night one time.

The ski industry has performed strongly in the past four seasons, including the record 57.6 million visits last season, the second-best 57.3 million visit 2000-01 season and the relatively strong 54.4 million 2001-02 season, which came despite September 11th, economic recession, and poor snow conditions.