Nestled in Ironwood, Mich., Mt. Zion at Gogebic Community College (GCC) is home to a long standing and continually growing Ski Area Management (SAM) program. This unique community is not only dedicated to cultivating a strong outdoor culture, but also prioritizes accessibility and education on the slopes.
Although Mt. Zion is a modest hill with only one chairlift and two tow ropes, its impact is anything but small. For over 50 years, the SAM program has been one of the nation’s most premier and comprehensive training and development programs for individuals interested in pursuing a career in the snow sports industry.
Focused on workforce development, driven through technical and academic study combined with a practical internship conducted at major resorts throughout the country, the SAM program evolves with the ski industry and its constant need for skilled graduates. The program boasts a consistent job placement rate of over 95 percent.
On the GCC campus, Mt. Zion is the college-owned community ski hill and recreation complex founded in 1937, which is utilized as a training laboratory for students to excel their “hands on” learning scope and develop into the future leaders of the ski industry. Graduates of the SAM program have established themselves in leadership roles throughout every facet of the winter sports business world-wide, including general and mid-managers of resorts, leaders of businesses that support and supply the ski industry, and innovators for the future of snow sports.
Whether a student is passionate about grooming, resort design, lift maintenance, business management, marketing, hotel operations or leading entire ski schools, the SAM program provides diverse pathways into the ski industry. What sets the program apart is its hands-on, all-encompassing curriculum.
In the students’ first year, they not only work on-mountain jobs that align with their class schedules, but also build a complete resort proposal, down to topographic planning, lift calculations and cost analysis. In the second year, they take that knowledge on the road through internships at resorts across the U.S. and beyond.
With ultra-affordable lift tickets, gear rentals and lessons, the team’s mission is clear: make skiing accessible, fun, lifelong and deeply rooted in the community. The SAM program also supports community initiatives like youth ski race, terrain park programs and competitions.
The SAM program’s heartbeat has been led for 47 years by Jim Vander Spoel. He is retiring this year and handing off the program leadership to multiple SAM graduates to keep the integrity of the program strong for the next generation of ski leaders. Vander Spoel’s passion for the program, the students, the community, the ski industry, and the future is what has made the program special for his tenure and is what makes him a true icon of the ski industry.
From leading the construction of the lift on Mt. Zion in the late-’70s to teaching cost analysis, he has always led by example and kept his students focused on learning to do things the “right way” with a patient approach and always being open to lifetime mentorship.
Vander Spoel has always been more valuable than any job scope that he has worked under, his core values have always directly tied to creation of the next generation of skiers and snowboarders, which is shown most, on any given day, by the smiles of the guests and the working SAM students at Mt. Zion. He not only teaches the ski industry, setting up his students for success, but he teaches everyone how to be successful in any career, all parts of life and family.
In the best sense of the word, he has turned the SAM program into the SAM family.
To learn more about GCC’s SAM program and Mt. Zion, visit gogebic.edu/programs/ski_area_mngt.html and gogebic.edu/community/mtzion.html.
Ryan Stubbs has spent most of his career in sales, marketing and finance with a strong background in new business development, data-driven decision-making and strategic planning. His secondary, lifetime focus and passion is the ski industry in a variety of roles at different locations, most recently highlighted by developing, implementing and managing an abandoned ski hill back to life as a non-profit community winter park complete with tubing, skiing and snowboarding. He is now taking over the leadership of the SAM program at GCC. He is a proud father of his daughter, Ella. She is a nurse, avid skier and dog mom of two with her fiancé Matt. In his free time, Stubbs enjoys skiing, hiking, climbing, outdoor recreation and being a part of a great community in Michigan’s upper peninsula.
