Stan Kaminski has hung up the surfboard and pulled out the skis. The new general manager of the St. Regis Deer Crest in Utah was hired in August after serving as GM of the W San Diego. After spending 20 years working in coastal towns, the surf and ski enthusiast is excited to get the chance to hit the slopes of North America’s top-rated ski resort in Deer Valley.

The $320-million St. Regis Deer Crest, a 181-room condo-hotel, opened last November amid the industry’s deepest recession. Kaminski says occupancy has been around 50 percent this year, and bookings are up 15 percent for ski season compared to last year.

Kaminski, who grew up in Vermont and Pennsylvania, took some time to discuss his new job, the excitement of ramping up for ski season and the challenges of building better off-season business.

That’s a pretty big lifestyle change from the beaches in San Diego to the slopes of Utah?
Not really, I’m a pretty big outdoors guy, and whether you’re paddling out for a surf or running a trail in the mountains, it’s still an exhilarating experience. It clears your mind for the day.

You hit the slopes yet?
No, not yet, but I plan on skiing as much as I can. Being right here on the slopes I’ll be able to try and take advantage of that. Living so close to this type of environment, if I can get out, even a couple days a week, for just a couple runs … Knowing the mountain will lead to exemplary customer service. The more I know the better I can do my job.

Dec. 4 is the big day, right?
We’re getting ready. I’ve been meeting with the Deer Valley operations team and senior management and they have all the snow guns deployed. Temperatures are dropping and we’re supposed to have snow in higher elevations. If temperatures stay down, they’ll start making snow soon.

Would they ever open early if the weather cooperates?
Deer Valley Resort is diligent about driving a quality ski experience. There is no need to open it earlier. They want to make sure they have ample terrain and variety for skiers on opening day.

How’s business been at the St. Regis?
We are well ahead of where we were last year moving into this year’s ski season. I’m super excited. Year over year pace is well ahead of last year and Christmas week is already sold out. Presidents Day week is almost sold out and spring break will be super strong for us in March. We have one season under our belt and have been able to identify the challenge and need points and have deployed additional staff in those parts or have changed our thought process going into this season.

How was the offseason?
A lot of people compare this resort to the resorts of Jackson Hole (WY) and Aspen (CO). It is not a cohesive comparison; it’s apples to oranges. We as a resort community need to market and drive offseason business. We need to create summer activities in Park City. Much like Aspen does with all their activities. Jackson Hole has Yellowstone next door. We have seen some drastic peeks and valleys throughout the year. I need to personally align myself with the other five-star operators in Deer Valley and really drive summer awareness of Park City. I got here in August and it’s beautiful.

How has occupancy been through the year?
October and November are traditionally slower months in the mountains. We’re looking at much less than 50 percent occupancy and year to date is about 50 percent. Traditionally you have four super soft months in the mountains: April, May, October and November.

So what can you do to build business in the offseason?
There are some summer festivals, but it’s more of an awareness thing and campaigning more. A lot of marketing dollars are spent on winter business. We need to take a look at sustaining not only business then, but in the summer periods. Whether it is with adventure programs, fly-fishing or mountain biking … Or a restaurant festival, something with winemakers—I really think it’s going to take several luxury operators to join together to really promote a great summer season. It can’t just be one of us.

Is that complicated working with competitors?
I don’t see any challenges, whether a Starwood product or not, we’re all in this together, driving a destination. In such a small resort area we share a lot of staff members, so there’s no reason we can’t align ourselves. Sure there is the inherent competitive nature hoteliers have to drive ADR and occupancy, but we still need to set those egos aside and drive this destination.

How reliant is your business on the weather?
Obviously, when people hear about the mountains getting dumped on everyone wants to come and get that fresh powder. But it’s Mother Nature; you never know what she’ll throw at you. Who’s to forecast or predict? There could be a warm spell in January or February, but the snow making capacity at Deer Valley is one of the best in North America.

How does your mix of business change throughout the year?
In ski season most of our business is leisure. For us to drive and substantiate year-round business we need to put together a great group schedule. For summer, for the hotel to have 12 months a year, or at least nine or 10 months a year, there needs to be a good group base. And a lot of times when hoteliers, architects and developers look at hotels in resort areas, they think it’s going to be 70-percent leisure. Any type of group business is good for any type of hotel, and it really allows the operator to have a base of business many months out and layer in higher leisure rates. Once you have that group business it helps you manage ADR flows. Throughout the season, we’ll be a very high leisure house, but in the offseason—May, June and through November—group is king.

How does your staff size change throughout the year?
We’re going to ramp up between Nov. 15 and Nov. 30. We have close to 85 seasonal staff members coming on board … We have close to 300 in season, and around 200 out of season.

How big of a challenge is it filling those positions and juggling a staff like that?
There’s a great pool of seasonal staff out there that work at different resorts around North America and many Latin American staff members come from Brazil, Chile and Argentina, who work the ski seasons there. We have to do our due diligence in hiring and the HR department has been really busy. We’ve been using Skype to do in-person interviews, which is a unique way to do it.

How fast does occupancy change?
There’s a build up. The first couple weeks in December still run in the 50s (occupancy percent), but at Dec. 23, we’re at 100 percent through New Year’s, then we’ll be at minimum in the 80s through the rest of the season. It ramps up quite quick, almost overnight. It’s quite an exhilarating experience to go through.

Are you ready?
We’re ready. I’m amped for the season. We’ve got a very engaged management staff. It has to start at the top, it’s about me being out on the floor and interacting, not sitting behind my desk.