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Mark Godomsky joked that he hasn’t had time to think about moving on from Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, given his preparations for one final budget at the turn of the fiscal year in July.
The executive director of the on-snow sports nonprofit informed the club that after seven years in the valley he’s moving on, back to Bethel, Maine, where he will be the athletic director of Gould Academy. It’s a private college preparatory boarding school, and one he’s familiar with, having previously served as its director of ski and snowboarding competition programming.
With their kids now graduated from Aspen High School, Godomsky and his wife Heidi always figured they’d end up back in New England, but figured that plan was four or five years out. That was until Gould approached him to return.
“It was an incredibly difficult decision and it just came down to an offer that somebody reached out,” Godomsky said.
Godomsky oversaw AVSC through the pivotal pandemic years and watched as the club surpassed 3,000 served across the valley. The club got in on the trend of acquiring property in the midvalley for employee housing during his tenure. AVSC is raising $2.5 million a year and offering scholarships to one-third of its athletes. It’s maintained around 30 year-round employees.
Most recently the club was visibly involved with the return of the FIS World Cup in March, hosting members of the U.S. Ski Team, with some of the club's competitive Alpine skiers forerunning the course and its youth participants serving as flag bearers.
“We’ve simplified systems internally, trying to make working here for the full-time people a profession. In seven years, we’ve added retirement plans and disability plans and handbooks and all the things that aren’t sexy, but the goal has always been to try to elevate the professionalism of the club,” Godomsky said. “We’re in a pretty dang good place.”
One of the biggest visions for the long term, in his mind, was trying to navigate the downvalley migration of interested athletes and how to reach families in the midvalley and beyond. The club is partnering with Crown Mountain Park to install a trampoline to engage athletes between Basalt and Carbondale.
Godomsky said his successor will have to determine their own priorities: whether they want to continue solidifying what the club already has or think about a stronger downvalley presence.
“As a club moving forward, it’s really trying to find where do you want to go with this,” Godomsky said. “You got a great piece now. It’s running well. Do you want to expand into more summer? Do you want to expand into more downvalley? Do you want to have a greater presence in the valley or here’s what we’re doing right now, just have to continue to work on and improve what we do?”
In the past three years, Godomsky watched as the club had to navigate the unique situation of being an outdoor club during COVID in a time when sports like hiking, skiing and golfing spiked in popularity. Still, there were discussions around safety and all the other complications.
According to annual reports from 2020 and 2021, the club jumped from 2,400 athletes to just shy of 3,000 in a year, a jump of 20% in one season. In 2022, the club surpassed 3,200, giving it growth of 33% since 2019.
Godomsky said that while he’ll miss the “special place” that is working at AVSC, he’s excited that his new job will allow him to interact with kids in his program more. He previously was more hands-on in roles as a coach for skiing and football.
“The coolest thing is getting back to working with coaches and kids. In my desk here there was a lot of office time,” Godomsky said. “I don’t see a lot of kids around me, I see some but not to the intimacy that I’m used to: knowing everyone’s name and congratulating them all the time.”
Gould lists his start date as Aug. 1. Godomsky said his last day with AVSC will be some time at the end of July. The club has put together a seven-person search committee and issued a priorities survey to stakeholders. The club has declined to speak further about the search at this time.
Following Godomsky’s departure, AVSC Director of Finance David Volz will serve as interim executive director, effective Aug. 1.
“I’m thankful that this community gave me the opportunity to come here seven years ago. It has been one of the most incredible professional learning experiences for me, it’s been an incredible experience for my kids,” Godomsky said. “The staff around here is probably the most passionate staff I’ve ever worked with. They love the club, they love the kids, they love the community.
“It’s not a place that when I leave I won’t continue to call people. I think this is a truly special place.”
Rich Allen, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer