Whaleback Mountain, the nonprofit ski and snow sports facility in Enfield, has hired Jon Hunt as executive director.
Hunt started on May 26. His position is new for Whaleback, and its creation and Hunt’s hiring coincides with the mountain’s board of directors adopting a new strategic plan for the mountain.
“Last year was a tough year for a bunch of reasons,” board chairman Norm Berman said, “but we’re actually in a great position right now with having Jon, having a strategic plan that makes sense, having an engaged board, a lot of community support. So I think those of us who are deeply involved with Whaleback are actually pretty optimistic — more optimistic right now than I think we’ve been in a long time.”
Hunt, 43, comes to Whaleback after spending four years as major gifts officer at Colby-Sawyer College. He was previously an advancement officer for Kimball Union Academy for one year and spent 16 years as a college and prep school lacrosse coach.
Hunt said both aspects of his background will come in handy in his new role. His experience as a lacrosse coach will be useful in understanding the sporting aspects of the mountain and connecting personally with skiers and others partaking in winter sports at Whaleback.
His experience in fundraising and community relations will be equally important, if not moreso.
“Through the conversations, it was clear that they wanted someone with a different background,” Hunt said. “You had to have a love of skiing; you had to have a love of this mountain in particular. But more than that, they needed someone who could connect with the community, connect with local businesses for partnerships and be a positive leader for the organization.”
Hunt, an Etna resident, doesn’t want to drastically change the Whaleback experience. He plans on continuing the things he thinks Whaleback already did well, such as adult race leagues and after-school programs, and enhancing the facilities and programs to be even better.
But at its core, he sees Whaleback staying true to its values.
“I don’t see us getting away from our mission ever. I think our mission to create family-friendly, affordable skiing and riding. That’s a top priority,” Hunt said. “My vision is to sustain this ski area as a great local option for our community to be able to find affordable, quality skiing and to help develop that love of snow sports. And I think, especially after this year, folks are looking for opportunities to get outside more, especially during long winters.”
The new strategic plan came about from the past year Berman referenced. Issues with its chairlift and financial complications left Whaleback in a tough spot, and he said they have fences to mend “with people who are unhappy with us.”
Berman said, as a whole, the mountain needs to find a way to extend the season.
“There’s no way we can survive on a sort of six- or eight-week season,” Berman said. “So we need to have better snowmaking to deal with that. We need to keep our chairlift going and then, ultimately, a big, expensive piece of the strategy is to get a new surface lift on the big run at the bottom, Spout.”
That’s where Hunt’s background in fundraising and community relations comes into play. As a nonprofit, Whaleback will need to raise money to afford the improvements. Hunt will be responsible for convincing potential donors that the investments are necessary and worthwhile, as well as appeasing various groups involved with the mountain who may be hesitant about any changes or have other ideas.
Hunt is confident in his ability to juggle all of that responsibility. He knows he’s taking over an organization that needs to fix some things, both in structure and in relationships, and thinks he can successfully rebuild both aspects of Whaleback.
“I think if we can earn the community’s trust that we’re doing this for the right reasons and we’re there to support the community, I think that’s really important,” Hunt said. “If we are up front with folks on what’s going on if there is a problem or if everything’s great, I think our communication has to be really clear. And that’s my mission: to make sure we’re communicating with the community, and all of our stakeholders, on everything that’s going on at the mountain and how excited we are for this winter.”
Seth Tow can be contacted at stow@vnews.com.