Mountains change the guard Whistler/Blackcomb has room at the top and has announced management changes to fill the gaps. Now that Jeff Stipec has scampered off to be a vice-president with Intrawest's Enterprise Team, Lynda Airs takes over as director of Whistler/Blackcomb’s food services. Airs has been with Blackcomb since November, 1991, coming from a food management background in Portsmouth, England. Todd Friesen has taken over as director of retail operations, replacing Sandy Black who also joined the Enterprise Team. Friesen has more than 15 years experience in retail management. He and his family have called Whistler home since 1994, coming here from Saskatchewan. Friesen lead the team that developed CanSki North, won the prestigious "Innovative Retailer of the Year" award from the Retail Council of Canada and played a key role in starting W/B's Mountain Adventure Centres this past ski season. Rob McSkimming is the new managing director of the ski & snowboard school, taking over from Bob Mackett who left Intrawest to pursue opportunities in Eastern Canada. McSkimming, who was the second ski instructor hired by Blackcomb Mountain when it opened in 1980, has held a number of positions since then, including supervisor, assistant ski school director and director of Ski Esprit. In 1990 he moved to Blackcomb’s marketing department as manager. He moved on to manage Dual Mountain Programs and last year was promoted to director of sales for Whistler/Blackcomb. McSkimming and Airs will report to Doug Forseth, senior vice president of operations, while Friesen reports to Dave Brownlie, senior vice president of finance.
