Persoon

Forseth, Doug

fl. 1960s-

Doug Forseth is vice president of planning, government relations, and special projects at Whistler Blackcomb. He attended Newport High School in Newport, OR, where he met his future wife, Mary Pete. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Restaurant and Hotel management at Washington State University from 1967-1971. Upon graduating, he began as a management trainee at the Hyatt Hotel in Albany, NY then at the Hyatt in Cherry Hill, NJ and in Washington, DC. From 1976-1980, he was the general manager for the Hyatt Richmond in Virginia; from 1980-1981 the general manager of the Hyatt Regency Chicago; from 1981-1984 the general manager at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Virgina; and moved to Canada to become the general manager of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver from 1985 to 1992. In 1988, he was named Hyatt’s General Manager of the Year. During this time in Vancouver, Doug and his wife, Mary, were 'weekend warriors' in a shared cabin in Whistler before purchasing their first chalet/home there in 1986. After a brief period as general manager of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego in California from 1992 to 1994, Doug and Mary moved to Whistler, where he became President of the Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation (WMSC), a position he held until 1997. He was senior vice president of operations at Whistler Blackcomb from 1997 to 2012, and, since 2012, has been vice president of planning, government relations, and special projects at Whistler Blackcomb. He was the resort’s chief liaison with the Olympic Committee before and during the events for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. He is active in Rotary Club, sat on Tourism Whistler’s board, and was a founding director of the Whistler Centre for Sustainability, the Dave Murray National Training Centre, Whistler Learning Centre, and ONE Whistler. Doug and Mary Forseth also created an endowment fund at the Community Foundation of Whistler that will support scholarships for graduates in Sea to Sky who wish to pursue studies in tourism and hospitality. The couple have a dog named Kali, who came to fame in Whistler in 2021 for being on the run around town for 14 days.

Newport, OR
Pullman, WA
Albany, NY
Cherry Hill, NJ
Washington, DC
Richmond, VA
Chicago, IL
Arlington, VA
Vancouver
San Diego, CA
Whistler

Hotel management
Ski resort management
Mountain staff

Forseth, Mary (fl. 1960s-)

US-OR-FD001

RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives.

Catalogued May 2022.

1) Archival material
2) https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler-news/community-foundations-legacy-book-preserves-whistlers-stories-2500770
3) https://whistlerfoundation.com/forseth-legacy-story/
4) https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-forseth-6672048/
5) https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/17052143
6) https://magazine.wsu.edu/2012/01/31/doug-forseth-71-snow-business/