American Skiing Company Announces Appointment of Kelly Pawlak to Managing Director of Mount Snow Resort

PARK CITY, Utah, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Skiing Company today named long time employee Kelly Pawlak Managing Director of its Mount Snow resort in Vermont. Ms. Pawlak brings 20 years of ski resort industry experience to the Managing Director position.

"I am thrilled to announce the promotion of Kelly Pawlak to Managing Director," commented B.J. Fair, President and CEO of American Skiing Company. "In addition to her many accomplishments at Mount Snow, Kelly brings an extraordinary level of enthusiasm, passion and professionalism to bear in this critical leadership position. Kelly's experience in operations, marketing and her community involvement represent a rare skill set which makes her uniquely qualified to lead this fine resort. I am confident that she will lead an outstanding management team to take Mount Snow to the next level of success as a business."

Ms. Pawlak replaces Stan Hansen who was recently named Senior Vice President of Real Estate for American Skiing Company. In his new role, Mr. Hansen will continue to play an active role in the planning and development of Mount Snow, as well as the other seven ASC resorts. "After working with Kelly for many years and admiring her abilities in so many areas of resort management, I couldn't imagine a more qualified person to lead Mount Snow. I look forward continuing my work with Kelly and the Mount Snow team on new real estate opportunities in the Mount Snow area," said Stan Hansen.

Since joining the company in 1985, Ms. Pawlak has held a variety of positions in sales, human resources and operations at Mount Snow. Since 1998, Ms. Pawlak has served as a vice president of Mount Snow, first in Human Resources followed by Resort Operations and Marketing and Sales. Most recently Ms. Pawlak served as Vice President of Brand Management.

"I am very excited about the opportunity to grow and improve Mount Snow," said Ms. Pawlak. "I know first-hand the level of talent and dedication of this management team and I am looking forward to working with them and our community to deliver a fantastic experience to those who visit us," continued Pawlak. "Stan Hansen has done a great deal for this resort in his tenure. After working with him for the last several years, I hope to continue the same standard of excellence that Stan set here at Mount Snow," added Pawlak.

Michael Berry, president of National Ski Areas Association commented, "Kelly brings diversity to the leadership of a major ski resort and American Skiing Company, which is good for Mount Snow and the ski industry. I anticipate her influence will be felt across the industry." Berry added, "This is a positive move on the part of the American Skiing Company; taking advantage of home grown talent should send a strong message to their employees."

Currently Pawlak serves on the Town of Dover Planning Commission, the Town of Dover Development Review Board, Vermont Ski Areas Association Marketing Committee and the Mount Snow Chamber of Commerce Marketing Committee.

Ms. Pawlak graduated from Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. She lives in West Dover, Vermont with her husband Dan, daughter Marley, 13 and son Tanner, 9.

About American Skiing Company

Headquartered in Park City, Utah, American Skiing Company (OTC: AESK) (BULLETIN BOARD: AESK) is one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts include Killington, Pico and Mount Snow in Vermont; Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine; Attitash in New Hampshire; Steamboat in Colorado; and The Canyons in Utah. More information is available on the Company's web site, http://www.peaks.com/.

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are or may be forward-looking statements. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," and words and terms of similar substance in connection with any discussion of operating or financial performance. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In addition to factors discussed above, other factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: changes in regional and national business and economic conditions affecting both our resort operating and real estate operating segments; competition and pricing pressures; adverse weather conditions regionally and nationally; changes in weather patterns resulting from global warming; seasonal business activity; increased gas and energy prices; changes to federal, state and local regulations affecting both our resort operating and real estate segments; failure to renew land leases and forest service permits; failure to cure pending defaults under our ground lease at The Canyons resort and any resulting disruption in access to ski terrain at such resort; disruptions in water supply that would impact snowmaking operations; the loss of any of our executive officers or key operating personnel; and other factors listed from time to time in our documents we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution the reader that this list is not exhaustive. We operate in a changing business environment and new risks arise from time to time. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this document and under Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, we do not have or undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.