SQUAW VALLEY USA APPOINTS MIKE LIVAK SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER

[Squaw Valley USA] August 4, 2009 – Squaw Valley USA announced today the appointment of longtime Tahoe resident Mike Livak as the resort’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, who will report to Chairman and CEO Nancy W. Cushing.

Mike Livak, 41, grew up in Reno, NV and attended Mount Rose Grammar, Swope Middle, and Reno High Schools before attending UCLA, where he studied English literature. Mike credits the Reno Junior Ski Program and Sky Tavern and many days spent at Squaw Valley with his father, for encouraging his early love and lifelong commitment to the sport of skiing. In 1990, following graduation, Livak relocated to Tahoe City and got a seasonal job at Squaw Valley as an apprentice ski instructor.

“Working at Squaw was so rewarding that, my single ‘year-off’ extended to six years!” says Livak. During summers, Mike pursued a variety of employment including construction, hotel food and beverage management, marina operations, and public swimming pool manager. “I think my experience with seasonal work and the commitment that is necessary to build a life for oneself in the Truckee-Tahoe region provide me with a unique appreciation for all of our employees - many of whom work for Squaw Valley seasonally.”

Along the way, Livak became certified as an emergency medical technician and attained level I avalanche certification. Livak returned to school in 1996 at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, earning an MBA with honors and an emphasis in Finance and Marketing in 1998. Thereafter, Mike returned to Squaw Valley, working in Administration, Marketing, directing Skier Education Programs, Environmental Improvement, planning, and performing a variety of management functions leading to the position of vice-president.

In 2006, following 16 years of employment with Squaw Valley, Livak commenced work as Project Manager and Senior V.P. of Royal Gorge, LLC, which owns and operates North America’s largest cross country ski resort, two mountain hotels, and two restaurants.

In addition to his employment history, Livak has participated as a member of the Squaw Valley Board of Directors since 1999. Livak speaks of his past and future at Squaw Valley:

I’m proud of the things we’ve accomplished at Squaw during the last decade, including vast improvements in environmental practices, the replacement of a paved parking lot with an exceptional base Village, and installation of new lifts including the Funitel, Headwall, Gold Coast, and Shirley Lake. I will proudly pick up my 19th consecutive season pass to ski Squaw Valley in November; this year it will come along with an exciting new set of responsibilities and opportunities to make Squaw Valley even better. Having had the opportunity to work closely with founder Alex Cushing, Nancy Cushing and previous General Managers Hans Burkhart and Ernst Hager, as well as Squaw Valley’s extended ‘family’ of wonderful employees and guests, I am both humbled and inspired to direct the Squaw Valley Team as we enter our historic 60th Anniversary Year and the 50th Anniversary of the Olympic Games in Squaw Valley.

Outgoing General Manager Ernst Hager, who has worked at Squaw Valley on and off since the early seventies, is retiring from his full-time duties but will advise Squaw Valley on a consulting basis.

“Squaw Valley has been an important part of my family’s life for over three decades. From my time as a U.S. Ski Team coach living here and raising my family, to my tenure as General Manager, life at Squaw has been eventful and rewarding. I am looking forward to spending more time with family here in the Valley, and to pursuing a lifestyle that includes more skiing,” says Hager.

“We are endlessly grateful for the effort and dedication Ernst Hager has put in as General Manager at Squaw Valley,” Nancy W. Cushing says of Hager. “Fortunately for us, he remains a consultant so that we can make continued use of his expertise.”

Like Hager, new Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Livak is a longtime member of the Squaw Family and an avid skier – attributes that make him a welcome choice for the position.

“Mike Livak has spent a great deal of time playing and working in Squaw Valley,” says Cushing. “I speak for everyone here when I say we are extremely pleased he is rejoining the Squaw Valley family to lead us into our celebratory 60th Anniversary year. He will be here welcoming our new 50/60 passholders, as well as the local Tahoe community and our national and international visitors.”

Livak plans to commence work for Squaw Valley in early September.


Site of the VIII Winter Olympic Games, Squaw Valley USA is located five miles north of Lake Tahoe along the Truckee River on Highway 89. The year-round resort offers 4,000 acres of lift-served terrain including superpipes and terrain parks, ice skating, snowtubing, indoor rock climbing, an Olympic Winter Games Museum, shopping, dining and more. For more information call 530-583-6985, or visit www.squaw.com