gmcunni
Active member
what's the best option for being paid to ski?
??
- Ambassador
- Ski Instructor
- Ski Patrol
- other
??
-
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Best on-mountain job for skiing?
- Thread starter gmcunni
- Start date
I don't think ambassadors get paid wages; only a season pass.
C-Rex
New member
I was impressed with our shuttle driver's life out in Tahoe. He makes a few stops, drives us from South Lake Tahoe to Kirkwood, drops us off and goes skiing for the day. Sometimes he skis the resort, others he goes into the backcountry surrounding it. Then he gets back to the bus by 4:30 to bring us back. He makes pretty good money in tips and has all day to ski. Not bad.
I hadn't thought of that before, but that does sound pretty sweet.
For a full on ski bum, I always thought being a groomer would be pretty good. You only work non-resort hours, so you either work from 4 PM - 12 AM, sleep then ski all day, or work from 12 AM - 8 AM, ski all day and then sleep before you start your shift again. Wouldn't be great for a social life though.
Puck it
Well-known member
Drive the snow cat and then ski!!!!
gmcunni
Active member
fair enough but i'd call that compensation (at least in terms of what i was thinking)
i have a couple of friends who do it at Sugarbush. if i recall correctly they are required to put in a certain number of days to get the season pass and they try to get them done early in the season.
Grizzly Adams
New member
I met a guy on a lift one time who worked as a dishwasher out west and said while it wasnt glamorous, it paid the bills and he was able to ski a ton.. he worked the dinner/night shift, would wake up ski all day then head back to the kitchen for his shift. He said he'd usually get a free meal and occasionally party with the rest of the staff after work, combo that with getting to ski pretty much every single day, seems like a pretty alright situation if you ask me
I was a ski bum a long time ago. Had a friend who was a groomer. Great job! He reported to work at 3:30PM, drove around in a heated cab listening to music all night and got off at 11:30. Time enough to go home and get a good night's sleep and hit the slopes in the morning.
I worked as a lift-op and because I actually talked to management about some safety concerns (they liked that) I but got bumped up to lift maintenance. Most of my job was skiing around to all the lifts in the morning delivering lunches to lifties. Then I made the rounds again giving those who worked solo on the more remote lifts a break so they could eat their lunches. Other times I skied around and shoveled snow or helped the real mechanics out a bit. I have never come close to skiing as much as I did that season... it was also an epic snow year!
I worked as a lift-op and because I actually talked to management about some safety concerns (they liked that) I but got bumped up to lift maintenance. Most of my job was skiing around to all the lifts in the morning delivering lunches to lifties. Then I made the rounds again giving those who worked solo on the more remote lifts a break so they could eat their lunches. Other times I skied around and shoveled snow or helped the real mechanics out a bit. I have never come close to skiing as much as I did that season... it was also an epic snow year!
drjeff
Well-known member
The Ambassadors at Mount Snow have a 20 day commitment per season. Not all days are they on the hill, sometimes they may be greeting tour buses, sometimes greeting guests outside the ticket window, sometimes helping out staffing events/races, sometimes actually skiing
One of the ambassadors at Mount Snow has a place 2 doors down from my place. The days she works, she's on the 7AM shuttle bus to the mountain and usually isn't back to her families condo before 4:30, so it's a long day.At Mount Snow at least, the current ambassador program makes you eligible for additional passes for immediate family members after 3 consecutive seasons of work in good standing
I bartended my ski bum life. The key is to get a gig at a restaurant that has early closing hours midweek. I worked at places where I got out at 1030 on average midweek and midnight on weekends. I would ski from 8 until 2 and then go in to work at 4. Good money, great hours, good for picking up the ladies too.
The IRS probably considers it compensation, too.
Bartending nights is as good as it gets.
For me its nights, fine dining (more $$$$, more fun), in village (from slope to work in 10 minutes). Alot of days I'll go in around 2 but on peak days its more like 12. I'm always done by 10. Also, events and banquets....usually nights and usually good for wage plus 2-300 in gratuity. Really its about hustling money and getting paid while finding a balance, 10 bucks an hour doesn't go far in a proper ski town and for a lot of jobs that's the pay. Avoid mgmt if you want to ski/ride
For me its nights, fine dining (more $$$$, more fun), in village (from slope to work in 10 minutes). Alot of days I'll go in around 2 but on peak days its more like 12. I'm always done by 10. Also, events and banquets....usually nights and usually good for wage plus 2-300 in gratuity. Really its about hustling money and getting paid while finding a balance, 10 bucks an hour doesn't go far in a proper ski town and for a lot of jobs that's the pay. Avoid mgmt if you want to ski/ride
Single most accurate and important bit of information in the thread so far.
This. Best ski bum job I ever had. Groom 4pm-12am, ski 11am-4pm. Every day.
Not necessarily. Depends on the management position, and the particular ski area. An, IMNSHO, management that doesn't ski semi-regularly is failing to adequately manage. How can you provide the best skiing product if you don't even know what your product is like???
Smellytele
Well-known member
Matters what you are the manager of. Manager of snow making or grooming or the GM, etc then yes. Manager of the rentals, cafe or bar than no
Snoseek and I come from an F&B background. I worked 6AM until 11PM, 6 days a week in F&B management roles at ski resorts.
As I said, it does depend on the position. But to be a cohesive team offering a unified product, even managers who are not directly responsible for on-mountain departments should get out, at least from time to time, if they are skiers/riders. Granted, this can easily be abused, and I've seen it terribly abused. But I still think it's important for the entire management team to understand the on-mountain product. [/derail]
Wow, you just blew my mind!!! I'm gonna guess you were salaried too? I bet it didn't even work out to minimum wage....fucking criminal, I've been in that same situation a couple times in my career and vow to never let it happen again unless just a very temporary thing.
Was that expected of you or did you put it upon yourself? Did they expect you to be there all the time? PM me company so I can avoid at all cost in future....seriously.
I'll also add if approaching from f&b angle its often better to find something privately owned in village/town. Pay is usually going to be better, food better and often slow/not open during skiing hours. You'll need to buy a pass, sometimes local businesses get deals.
Both were due to short staff, both line level and shift leaders. I'd often do management stuff all day and then cook line at night to cover the shortages HR would leave us with.
Intrawest / Snowshoe was one, Wisp was another. Both situations lasted the full season. Wisp I occasionally got a second day off, but not Intrawest. Hours at Intrawest didn't improve much in the off seasons. They laid off everyone in the one open restaurant and even had managers working as servers to save the $3 an hour
Intrawest / Snowshoe was one, Wisp was another. Both situations lasted the full season. Wisp I occasionally got a second day off, but not Intrawest. Hours at Intrawest didn't improve much in the off seasons. They laid off everyone in the one open restaurant and even had managers working as servers to save the $3 an hour
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