Our Team

Tara Schoedinger was appointed the Vice President and General Manager of Crested Butte Mountain Resort in June 2021. In this role she oversees all resort operations, from ski school to dining and everything in between, and engages with the community on behalf of CBMR. 

Tara grew up in Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993 with a business degree with an emphasis on management information systems. She first joined Vail Resorts in 2010 as a project manager in the IT department. She managed the development of what would later become the EpicMix app, and oversaw the original design of Guest Connect — the software that allows guests to secure lift tickets, ski school classes, and other activities during their stay.  

In 2010, Tara also became Mayor of the Town of Jamestown, a small, historic town located in the foothills west of Boulder. While she originally expected her biggest challenge in the role would be barking dogs, she had no way to know what was to come. In September 2013, devastating floods consumed the town, destroying most of its roads, infrastructure and many homes. Jamestown was nearly wiped out, and most of the residents couldn’t return home for 10 months due to the lack of drinking water, accessible roads and emergency services. Tara stepped away from her role at Vail Resorts to fully dedicate herself to Jamestown’s recovery. She led the town’s ambitious recovery effort for nearly three years, working closely with state and federal agencies and local residents to rebuild and recover. 

Tara returned to Vail Resorts in 2016 and helped support integration efforts for Whistler Blackcomb after its acquisition. She became Chief of Staff for then-Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Lynch, who is now the CEO of Vail Resorts, in 2017. With a strong desire to learn more about mountain operations, in 2019 Tara moved into the role of Chief of Staff for then-President of the Mountain Division Pat Campbell. In 2021, Tara was named the first female Vice President and General Manager for Crested Butte Mountain Resort, and of the five Vail Resorts mountains in Colorado, she is one of four women at the helm. 

Throughout her career, Tara has enjoyed and sought out leadership roles in small communities where she can truly make an impact. She spent 15 years volunteering with the Jamestown Fire Department. As a new resident of Crested Butte, Tara currently serves on the board of the Town of Mt. Crested Butte’s Downtown Development Authority, and as President of the Town Center Community Association. In addition, she is on the board for the Lodge at Mountaineer Square Homeowner’s Association and is a member of Air Command for the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority. 

In her free time, Tara enjoys mountain biking, skiing and camping — making Crested Butte the perfect place for her to call home. 

Favorite memory at CBMR? 

“My entire first winter season as part of the CBMR team is my favorite memory – it was amazing!” 

CBMR Director of Mountain Operations Steve Duke grew up in Salt Lake City, and learned to snowboard in high school in the Utah mountains. He loved the world of skiing and riding, but he thought he would pursue a career in the banking industry, so he attended the University of Utah to study business. In his junior year, he began working for Brighton Ski Resort in the terrain park department.
After graduation, he decided to take “just one year off” to follow his passion working in the resort industry, and took a job at Brighton as terrain park supervisor. One year turned into two, and Steve eventually transitioned to Canyons Resort in Park City, where he worked in the bike and terrain parks. When Park City merged with Canyons in 2015, he assisted with the integration of the resorts’ terrain park departments, leading mountain operations in becoming the first fully integrated department at the new Park City. In 2017, he moved to Keystone Resort to manage their A51 Terrain Park, where he helped construct the world’s largest mountaintop snow fort.

In 2019, Steve made the move to Crested Butte. He took on the role of senior mountain operations manager, where he oversaw grooming, snowmaking and the terrain parks. In 2022, he was promoted to Director of Mountain Operations, where he remains today.
Steve lives in Gunnison with his wife, Kristen, their four children and their two dogs. They are active outdoor enthusiasts and can be seen riding the slopes, floating the Gunnison or riding bikes every weekend around our beautiful mountains.

Favorite memory at CBMR?
“The 2021/22 season, when I rode Phoenix and Last Steep with our grooming team in 12” of fresh snow!”

CBMR Senior Manager of Health and Safety Josh Kersten has always been passionate about helping people stay physically healthy, having grown up as the son of a physical therapist in Davenport, Iowa. He is particularly passionate about helping people avoid injury so they can enjoy and make the most of each day. Josh attended the University of Iowa, earning his bachelor’s degree in health and human physiology and his master’s in occupational and environmental health. Josh’s experiences with skiing and riding as a child involved school trips to Snowstar, Ill., and in his sophomore year of college, he took up snowboarding and started participating in university-sponsored ski trips to Colorado.

After graduate school, Josh became a safety specialist with Amazon, and later, a workplace health and safety manager. As he grew as a company leader, he moved from Iowa to Illinois to Indiana and, in 2021, to Washington State. It was in the Pacific Northwest that Josh rediscovered his love for all things outdoors. It also made him miss the closeness of a tight-knit community like the one he had in Iowa. So when the opportunity arose to combine his passion for keeping people safe with his love for nature in a small town, he took it.

Josh began in his role as CBMR’s senior manager of health and safety in 2022, and is excited to apply his workplace safety knowledge and experience to the world of skiing so we can all enjoy the slopes all season long. Whether it’s in an Iowa cornfield, a Washington warehouse or on the peak of Mt. Crested Butte, Josh has one goal: to take care of people, so they can enjoy the next day.
Josh is looking forward to participating in summer activities across the Valley like biking, camping and hiking. When he’s not outside, you can find Josh cooking, at a concert, or playing guitar or Nintendo Switch.

Favorite memory at CBMR?

“Driving up the mountain in the Fall and seeing the rocky, gritty, rugged terrain. I had never experienced a mountain like that before. It was beautiful being up there, trying to imagine what this place looks like with snow. We got the first snow of the season a week later.”

Senior Director of Lodging Bill MacFarlane grew up in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with dreams of becoming a chef and restaurant owner. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked as a chef for 10 years. But Bill had other dreams, too — of getting married and having a family. He knew that working nights in a restaurant would make that dream more difficult. So, in 1990, he moved to Colorado, transitioning from cooking in the back of house to hospitality management in the front of house.  

Bill started working in Beaver Creek as a front desk clerk at what was then The Inn at Beaver Creek and is now The Osprey. He spent 10 years in hospitality at Vail Resorts, followed by 10 years as the general manager of the Inn and Suites at Riverwalk in Edwards, Colo., before returning to Vail Resorts in 2011. This time, he was general manager for the Osprey, Pines Lodge and Trapper Cabin in Beaver Creek. He continued to work his way up in hospitality, and in 2019, he was promoted to senior director of lodging for CBMR and made the move to Crested Butte. 

By moving to Colorado and shifting to hospitality, Bill fulfilled his other dream: he met his wife and best friend, Katie, on a mountain biking trip from Vail to Fruita in 2006. They have two children together, and when Bill is not spending time with them, you can find him anywhere outside. He has a passion for cycling, backcountry skiing, fly fishing, bow hunting and camping. 

Favorite memory at CBMR? 

“Mine would be from the 2021-22 ski season – the 99” Betty White snow storm we received in December 2021 over the peak holiday and occupancy period. It was incredible!” 

CBMR Director of Lift Maintenance Damien Fraser originally hails from New Zealand but has found his home in Colorado. He learned to ski on family vacations to Mt. Ruapehu in his teenage years and attended the University of Auckland for business. During that time, Damien obtained an international work Visa and spent the winter of 1997/98 working in lift operations at Vail Mountain. Damien did not expect it to become permanent, but after graduating from college, he felt the call to return, and he decided to make a career in the ski industry.

Damien came to the United States full-time in 1999 and began working as an assistant lift mechanic in the summers to complement his winter lift operations job. He enjoyed being able to see how things worked and appreciated contributing directly to the guest experience. Damien completed an apprenticeship with Vail Resorts and Colorado Mountain College in 2004, and since then, he has continued to gain experience and knowledge in the world of lift maintenance. He led a crew in maintaining the then-brand-new Gondola One in 2012, and he served as an adjunct instructor in the Vail Resorts Pilot program with Colorado Mountain College to assist in the professional development of lift maintenance team members. Damien most recently spent five years as Senior Manager of Lift Maintenance at Vail Mountain before joining the Senior Leadership Team at Crested Butte in 2024.

Damien and his wife, Kara, used to visit Crested Butte for long-distance biking trips years ago, and he is excited to revisit some of those trails again as a full-time CB resident. When he is not on the job, Damien enjoys biking and skiing with Kara and their two sons, Liam and Lachlan.

Favorite memory at CBMR?

“I clearly remember my first time driving on Kebler Pass the first time I came here. I was blown away. I remember at the end, when we dropped down into town, just thinking, ‘wow.’ It was so beautiful.”