Tim Cohee

Tim Cohee is the owner and general manager of China Peak Mountain Resort in Lakeshore, California, which he purchased in May of 2010. He is one of only a handful of independent resort owner/operators in the nation, and has been a highly respected ski industry executive for over three decades, including senior management roles at Kirkwood, Sunday River, Bear Mountain, Heavenly and Snow Summit beginning in 1979.

Cohee spent four years as a professional ski instructor and assistant race director while attending California State University at Long Beach, where he graduated in 1977. He began his ski management career full time in 1979 when he was named the first marketing director for Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake. Joining forces with Dick Kun, whose family built the resort in the early 1950s, the two worked together for six years, driving attendance to over 500,000, among the top 15 resorts in the nation. Cohee was also marketing chief for wholly owned subsidiary Sierra Summit, the resort he recently purchased.

In 1985 he was recruited by Bill Killebrew, general partner of Heavenly resort in South Lake Tahoe, to become its first Vice President of Marketing. After three years at Heavenly, Cohee was recruited by S-K-I, LTD. CEO Pres Smith to assume the role of Vice President and Director of Marketing of their newly acquired Southern California resort, Goldmine in Big Bear Lake. Renamed by Cohee Bear Mountain in the summer of 1988, he and a small group of industry veterans drove business from 90,000 skiers to 365,000 in three years, still a record today and one of the top growth stories in the last three decades of American skiing.

In l991Cohee joined Les Otten, owner of Sunday River in Maine, America’s fastest growing ski resort from the early 80s into the early 90s, as Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales for the resort. In 1992 Sunday River took over the #1 ranking among Eastern resorts, the first time any resort toppled Killington from that position.

In 1993 Cohee was recruited by Kirkwood’s Chairman to become the resort’s new President, CEO, COO, CMO, General Manager and a member of the Board of Directors. In 1994 he guided the struggling resort out of financial trouble by forming a partnership with the Telluride Ski Company of Colorado. Cohee orchestrated a dramatic turnaround, ultimately resulting in record skier attendance and profitability, highlighted by Kirkwood’s first 400,000 visit season. As President of its real estate development and brokerage, Cohee was responsible for over 300 million dollars in new and existing sales.

A father of five boys, Cohee is very active in his son’s lives. His oldest son, Taylor, 28, is a successful real estate development executive in San Francisco. Chase, 23, attends Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village. Nick, 22, is a scholarship athlete at the University of Utah and was a 1st Team All-American skier in 2009. Troy, 17, was also a nationally ranked alpine skier and will attend a small private college outside Boston and play Division III soccer in 2011. His youngest son, Tristan, 14, is a budding soccer star, distance runner and top free skier.

Cohee is also an avid athlete, and has been among the top age group triathletes in the west for over 20 years. He is a professional level alpine skier, and enjoys golf, tennis and basketball. His wife, Anita, is a fitness enthusiast as well and plays a major role in the design elements of China Peak Mountain Resort.

Cohee chairs the Ski Business & Resort Management Program at Sierra Nevada College. He was an active youth sports coach for 15 years, and has served as President & Chairman of Far West Skiing, which guides the careers of over 1,300 junior racers throughout California and Nevada, for the past nine years. He also is a member of the California Ski Industry Board of Directors.

Cohee prides himself on a career full of valued colleagues, leadership, company success, family, fitness, and a personal commitment to the highest levels of guest respect, service and community involvement. He is proud to say he enjoys good friendships with his former employers, including Dick Kun, Bill Killebrew, Jerry Blann, Les Otten and Chuck Cobb.