Dave Betts, a longtime employee at North Cascades Heli, is the new general manager at the Loup.
Dave Betts, a long-time employee of North Cascades Heli in Mazama and devoted outdoorsman, is the new general manager at Loup Loup Ski Bowl.
Betts took over in July, replacing C.P. Grosenick, who had held the position for several years.
Betts grew up in Seattle and has been skiing since he was toddler, and snowboarding since he was 13. After graduating from Whittier College in California, he spent 13 years in the advertising, marketing and brand strategy business in Seattle, working for a number of different agencies. He moved to the Methow Valley as a mountaineering instructor for Outward Bound. “It was a good mid-career change,” Betts said in a recent interview.
Betts spent the past decade as office manager at North Cascades Heli. He also continued to do freelance marketing and brand strategy consulting. In addition to snow sports, he is a backpacker and climber.
Betts said the new Loup Loup position is, for him, a perfect combination of “passion, profession and purpose.”
Betts said Loup Loup will see some changes this season. There will be more luge sleds to accommodate growing interest in the popular feature added last winter. “It brought people up here who don’t ski or snowboard to do a winter sport — and ride a snow cat,” Betts said.
This season Loup Loup will operate the day lodge, rather than a concessionaire as in the past, Betts said. There will be a good selection of “grab-and-go” food, he said, and streamlined service.
Betts is looking for a new ski school director, he said, because of Chad Rosenstine’s retirement.
Popular events such as the Wolf Chase, the Community Challenge and slopestyle competition will be back this season, Betts added. There will also be a “retro” day where participants can show off their vintage alpine skiing gear and clothing.
The fifth-graders ski free program is continuing, and the Loup also continues its replacement and expansion program for rental gear. “We will have all-new snowboards, boots and helmets from Rossignol, along with additional skis … so that the one-stop rental shop on the hill has more to offer folks,” Betts said.
