WINTER PARK, Colo. — Winter Park Resort president Gary DeFrange will continue to lead the ski area as general manager under its new operators, Intrawest Colorado.
Intrawest Colorado is a unit of Intrawest Corp., based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Intrawest Corp., which owns Copper Mountain, has a contract to manage Winter Park, which is owned by the city of Denver.
David Barry, an Intrawest senior vice president who oversees Intrawest Colorado, announced DeFrange's new title last week.
DeFrange had been president and chief executive officer of Winter Park since 1997.
Barry and DeFrange said Copper Mountain and Winter Park would maintain separate identities but offer two-resort packages. Intrawest said in January the resorts would honor each other's passes.
Intrawest signed a deal in December to lease Winter Park for 50 years in exchange for an initial $3 million payment to Denver and guaranteed payments of $2 million annually for 10 years. Intrawest also pledged at least $50 million in improvements.
Intrawest Colorado was created in January to oversee Copper Mountain, Winter Park and Intrawest's Breeze-Max Ski and Snowboard retail chain.