Andrew Wirth

Until Wirth took over, Palisades Tahoe had always been under the direction of the Cushing family after the ski resort was founded by Wayne Poulsen in the 1940s and later owned by Nancy's late husband, Alex Cushing.

Under Wirth's direction as CEO, the company underwent a $70 million upgrade.

Andrew "Andy" Wirth (born 25 July 1963) is an American businessman and philanthropist who works in the mountain resort and hotel industry.

Andy Wirth was born in Neubrucke, West Germany on 25 July 1963.

Wirth has a Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University and attended Edinburgh University in Scotland.

Wirth worked as a backcountry ranger for the Rocky Mountain National Parks and a wilderness ranger in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness Area.

He was also a member of the Hot Shot Wild Land Fire Crew based out of Northern New Mexico.

He began his career with Steamboat Springs Resort in 1986 and served several different marketing and leadership positions at the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation and its parent companies.

Wirth began as an intern with the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation in 1986.

He worked at Steamboat for more than 20 years, serving in many different marketing positions within Steamboat and for ownership groups involved in the ski resort industry, while based out of Steamboat.

Wirth was also involved in two previous Olympic send-off celebrations in 2002 and 2006.

In 2007, Wirth was appointed the chief marketing officer and executive vice president of Intrawest, which acquired Steamboat in 2007.

In 2007, he was promoted into the parent company Intrawest, which completed acquisition of Steamboat in 2006 for $265 million, and he was named the chief marketing officer and executive vice president of sales and marketing.

At Intrawest, Wirth managed domestic and global marketing strategy, overseeing Intrawest's full portfolio of mountain and ski resorts

Wirth also led and founded the Mountain Village Partnership (MVP) in 2009, serving as president of the board of directors of the organization.

MVP is a business and marketing promotion group supporting local businesses, and it is sponsored by Steamboat.

Wirth was active in Steamboat Springs, serving as chairman of the board of directors for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, a 100-year-old organization responsible for the development of winter sports athletes and staging of winter competitive sporting events.

Wirth also served as a volunteer fireman and then board member of the North Routt Fire Protection District.

In 2010, Wirth left Steamboat to serve as the President and CEO of Palisades Tahoe, taking over for former CEO Nancy Cushing.

Wirth is a recipient of multiple community service and professional awards including the Chairman's Outstanding Service Award from the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Board of Trustees, Steamboat Springs Business Leader of the Year Award and made the HSMAI Top 25 Minds in Hospitality and Travel Sales and Marketing list.

In 2010, he helped direct Steamboat's Olympic send-off for the American Winter Olympic teams going to Vancouver.

In the summer of August 2010, Wirth was appointed the President and CEO of Palisades Tahoe ski resort.

He replaced former CEO Nancy Cushing, who was exited from the position after 16 years as president and CEO.

Changes included vastly improved mountain design and infrastructure, renovations to culinary, base area facilities, lodging and common areas and were funded by KSL Capital Partners, which bought Palisades Tahoe in November 2010.

Improvements have also included much-needed alterations to the customer experience.

According to Wirth, "[Palisades Tahoe] moved from the bottom 20 percent of ski resorts into the top 20 percent over the year" for customer service satisfaction.

In September 2011, it was announced that Alpine Meadows Ski Resort and nearby Palisades Tahoe would merge to offer a combined ticket pass to customers.

Wirth led the acquisition of Alpine Meadows and was the President and CEO of both resorts.

In October 2013, Wirth's right arm was torn off and surgically reattached, as a result of a skydiving accident in Lodi, California.

Steamboat Today chronicled his accident and recovery and his connection with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

In 2014, he was recognized as Citizen of the Year by Disabled Sports USA and received the Community Five Award.

Wirth was the Fall 2014 commencement speaker at the graduation ceremony for Colorado State University's Warner College of Natural Resources.

In January 2016, Wirth was named the Chairman and President of Reno-Tahoe Regional Air Service Corporation.

He is also a former board of directors member at Capital Public Radio, an NPR affiliate in the Sacramento area.

NEOM was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017.

He was most recently the president and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, the parent company of Palisades Tahoe and Alpine Meadows ski resorts in Olympic Valley, CA until 2018.

He is also the grandson of former US National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth and the great grandson of Theodore Wirth.

Wirth has worked in the mountain resort and hotel industry for 25 years.

The project has been the subject of a number of controversies including bin Salman's implication in the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and the 2020 attempt to evict the Howeitat Tribe from their historic homeland to make way for the development of Neom.

In March 2020, Wirth joined NEOM, a giga project in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the CEO Mountain Region.