As visions of snow covered Austria scrolled on the computer screen in a welcoming office brimming with piles of file folders dutifully spread about the room waiting for imminent perusal, I sat down with Gunther Jochl, the maestro of Southern skiing and community.
“That’s Mother,” he said pointing to the screen.
Speaking with the disarming, warming confidence of a person, an optimist, accustomed to overcoming obstacles and adversity, Jochl shared with me intimacies of his migration to America and his fateful arrival to the High Country in 1976.
Why maestro? Because Jochl orchestrated enduring changes that initially stood the ski industry on its head. He opened the resort on Nov. 5 — more than a month earlier than usual—groomed the slopes twice a day and doubled the previous record of skier visits his first year.
“They thought I was insane when I first came here,” Jochl said. “No one groomed. We changed the philosophy and by the time they figured out what we were doing, we had money in the bank.”
At the time, many Southern and Mid-Atlantic ski resorts were in dire financial straights including Sugar Mountain Resort which was in bankruptcy when Jochl took the helm.
“The area wasn’t developed like today. Between here and Banner Elk, there was a motel and lumber yard. The roads on Sugar weren’t paved and the property owners association was having a hard time maintaining the infrastructure,” Jochl recalled.
A bankrupt resort and struggling community weren’t the only obstacles standing in the young Austrian’s way. “Thirty-five years ago, I didn’t speak English as well as I do today and the language of Avery County, which I have gone fond of, stumped me at times,” Jochl said as he shared one amusing example.
“I called the snowmaker’s office early in that first season and asked for a particular employee. The employee who answered said, “He took the thing-a-ma-jig over yonder; he’ll be back, right now, in a minute.”
Not understanding, Jochl said that he thought it best that he just hang up the phone. “I got myself promptly educated.”
Jochl is known locally for giving it his all on the race course, too. He is a certified race coach, very competitive and a strong advocate and supporter of the High Country Junior Race Series. He has been quoted as saying that racing builds character.
His commitment to community goes beyond the day-today challenges of overseeing the resort. Jochl is Mayor Pro Tem of the Village of Sugar Mountain, having served on the town council for almost twenty years.
“It was a mess when I first came here. The community association was a tough way to do it; incorporation was the only way to finance the community’s needs. Even though it meant that our resort would become and is the largest taxpayer, we don’t mind,” Jochl said. “Today, all the roads are paved, we have a golf course, tennis courts, a savvy town manager and the village is in a good financial position. We’ve got a pretty nice town.
Making Sugar sweeter ran through my thoughts as my focus wandered back to the rolling photo display of Gunther’s home, the small town on the Austrian and German border. I was reminded of how simple wishes and intent drive destiny at times.
Wanting the best for their children is a mother’s forte and I must admit that when I think about it, I’m moved by the bittersweet and unselfish advise that Gunther Jochl’s mother gave him. “If you want to have a successful career as an engineer, you need to learn English, and teaching skiing in America will be a good way to learn,” she told him.
He took his first position in America teaching skiing at Bryce Resort in Virginia, moving to a resort in Pennsylvania before the allure of a challenge and in his words, the Southern hospitality of the people in Avery attracted him to Sugar Mountain.