SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Having over 25 years of experience in the ski industry, Tahoe is happy to have Shaydar Edelmann back as Heavenly Mountain Resort’s new general manager and vice president.

Edelmann was born and raised in Kaikoura, New Zealand, to active, traveling American parents. “I love the adventure, I was born into it,” he smiles. An avid surfer and snowboarder, Edelmann worked at Cardrona Ski Resort in Queenstown, NZ, in the late nineties. His first season out of college, Edelmann spent the winter at Tignes Resort in France, working for a British ski tour operator. But then he couldn’t go back the following year, so he decided to use his US citizenship to apply for seasonal jobs here. Crested Butte got back to him first, but Alpine Meadows offered him a supervisor position in the race department. That winter, in 2001, Edelmann moved out west. In 2002, he met his wife Kelly, who is an Incline Village native and frankly, crushing it in the CrossFit world. (She has qualified in the top 20 worldwide for her age group three times in the last 10 years.)

Despite them being a (literally physically fit) power couple, the Edelmanns are laid back. Once ski season is over, they travel quite a bit, often to places with decent surf breaks. They’ve been to Europe, Asia, and most of Central America. In August 2012 when I was working at Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, I randomly met up with Kelly and Shaydar in Jaco, Costa Rica, and we went on a whale-watching boat tour. We also both share a love of NOFX.

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Shaydar stayed with Alpine Meadows until 2007, when he moved over to Boreal. He worked there for the next 10 years as its vice president of mountain operations of Boreal, Soda Springs, and eventually Woodward Tahoe (for those years, he worked for Jody Churich who is now the senior VP and COO of the West region for Vail Resorts and then for Amy Ohran who is now the president and COO at Palisades Tahoe).

While there, he was part of the team that created California’s first recycled water snowmaking system at Soda Springs, which earned Boreal the NSAA Golden Eagle Award for Sustainability in 2016. He also managed the building and opening of Woodward Tahoe.

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In 2018, the Edelmanns moved to Park City, Utah, where Shaydar was general manager for the construction and grand opening of Woodward Park City. He then moved to Vail Resorts in 2020 first as senior director and moved up to vice president of mountain operations for Park City Mountain. When Heavenly’s COO and VP Tom Fortune announced his retirement this past spring, Shaydar was a natural fit for the role. In June of 2024, the Edelmanns moved to Genoa, Nevada, a 35-40 minute drive to the resort. You can see the end of Shaydar’s neighborhood from the top of the Stagecoach lift.

“I am so honored and excited to be stepping into the role of GM & VP at Heavenly,” Shaydar said at the time. “Tahoe has so much passion and energy around the outdoors and snow sports, and Heavenly is truly iconic. The chance to lead this special mountain resort is something that comes once in a lifetime.”

Now settling into his new role, it seems like Shaydar also brought the snow. Heavenly opened two days ahead of target on November 20 and Kirkwood and Northstar California opened early as well for the 2024/25 season.

When the Edelmanns lived in Tahoe previously, he rode Heavenly a handful of times. When asked what the main thing he noticed about the resort, Shaydar replies, “I was always impressed to see a higher level of consistency, standard, and attraction that all Vail resorts presented across Tahoe. “Every resort has different terrain here. Each of the [Vail-owned mountains] is so dynamic, each has its own personality and community.”

Thinking about it, the Vail Tahoe resorts’ safety signage, the My Epic app, and its entire branding, messaging, and communication is always on point.

He also recalls his cousin visiting from Minnesota and doing a full tour of the mountain. “I remember the expansive views, everywhere here is amazing.” Heavenly maintains close to 5,000 skiable acres spanning two states, with 97 trails containing great terrain parks, chutes, nice wide groomers, and breathtaking panoramic views of Tahoe.

On December 15, Shaydar and I took some runs together, meeting at Heavenly’s Stagecoach Lodge on a bluebird powder Sunday. I parked close to the lodge and the slopes were nearly empty. In my own 18 years of living in Tahoe, I’ve never experienced such good conditions this early in the season. Shaydar led me to legit powder stashes off Stagecoach and Comet lifts; I was amazed at how deep the snow was in some spots (Heavenly reported a 20-in. snow base depth that day). We rode the Comet lift with a guy who was starting a heli-ski operation outside of Lake Tahoe and then the Dipper lift with an avid skier who started skiing at Heavenly in 1955 (the year the mountain opened) and worked there in the 1970’s under Hugh Killebrew. “He still skis Gunbarrel,” his wife said of her husband as we were transported uphill.

We had lunch at the East Peak Lodge, where the service was friendly and efficient, along with the chicken poblano soup being delicious and warming. We talked about traveling, surfing, and commitment to the environment and sustainability.

“I’m always looking at things through an experience lens and business lens whether I’m at a different resort, surfing in Mexico, or walking the streets of Croatia. I appreciate different perspectives and points of view,” Shaydar says.

In 2017, Vail Resorts announced its Commitment to Zero sustainability goal, a 13-year strategy to eliminate waste, emissions, and have a net-zero impact to its habitats and forests by the year 2030. Vail is working towards that goal at the Tahoe resorts; this year Heavenly will be using renewable diesel for shuttles at Heavenly and Kirkwood, and snowcats on the California side of Heavenly. Shaydar also recently told the Tahoe Daily Tribune that one of the most innovative advancements in the ski industry is ramping up the technology in the My Epic smartphone app…instead of having your lift ticket or season pass in your pocket, it can be scanned directly from your phone.

“We’re in Year Two in the app process [to be able to scan a ticket from your phone] and it’s game-changing,” Shaydar told the Tahoe Tribune’s Rob Galloway and Mike Peron. This feature could eliminate thousands of pieces of plastic from being printed. Already you can use the Find My

Friends feature, view the mountain cams of your favorite resorts, and turn on the GPS to track your runs. It’s intuitive and easy to use.

“We have a big commitment in technology and improving the experience,” Shaydar adds.

Just like at Boreal, Heavenly has always been a wintertime playground for skiers and snowboarders of all abilities, but the innovations at Heavenly are next level, and Shaydar’s presence enhances it.

“[At Heavenly], there’s a friendly and attentive vibe; playful on a really big scale,” Shaydar says.

“I have an appreciation of the team; our lift maintenance manager just retired after 50 years and that legacy, that passion of the resort…it’s impressive to get to know that and be a part of it.”

To learn more about Shaydar Edelmann, also check out the December 10 Tahoe Tap podcast. At the end of the episode, Mike Peron and Rob Galloway talk about Shaydar’s special talent of being able to easily fall asleep on airplanes. I can attest to Shaydar’s ability of falling asleep in public places…when we were in Costa Rica, I met Shaydar at my friend’s yoga studio. After shavasana, aka the final resting pose, we all came out of it and said our “namastes”, packing up and leaving the room. Except for Shaydar, who was still sound asleep. I’m assuming my friend eventually woke him up or he did so on his own, because he met us on the boat tour the next day. And I’m not sure if anyone noticed this, but a “Mantenga Tahoe Azul” sticker was on the boat.