SterlingArcherYeah I feel you..
I did seasonal work at resorts for 7 years. It's a lifestyle that actually works in this industry, and other insiders understand the seasonal gig. I've had a lot of people undermined me and said the seasonal work showed instability to keep a job.. but that's because they don't understand the nature of seasonal work. As long as you got the good references it's all good. The freedom of being able to move and experience all the different resorts is awesome. I worked for Intrawest (being the parent company) and did seasonal gigs at many of their resorts. Never had a year round gig with one, but the nice thing was my seniority (comp ticket amount/pay/benefit eligibility) transferred with me every time I moved. Hopefully your mountains do the same if you're working under the same ownership roof. Best choice I ever made with my life. In a totally different profession now and I still have the days I wake up and say.. why don't I just quit this and go back to working in the parks or driving cats. You don't owe anyone anything is very true... you can't let them manipulate you or put up with too much crap. Now I'm rambling
Yeah. Moved to several different companies, but there are so many independent spots. Last year was my first year with Vail Resorts. If I took the grooming job at vail this season it would have been my second year with VR and if I wanted to move to tahoe I would still be able to work for VR etc. That def appealed to me. Honestly it's still something I'd like to do. The idea of being able to move within a company like that is awesome. I've never worked for intrawest but I get why it worked for you.
Unfortunately I sort of fucked my self a bit. By moving around I kept starting over. I didn't move that high up the chain anywhere. That said, IMO some of the places I was at, things just weren't a good fit. Unfortunately trying to find a good place to work can be as hard as finding good workers.
I haven't really moved up into any crazy positions but I feel I've got a decent enough resume/skill set that I'm fairly comfortable with at least getting a decent job somewhere. So I'm happy that worked out, but if I had stuck with one place, I probably could have moved up the chain, and been in a solid spot at one of those mountains year ago, and made things happen.
That's legit that things worked out for you, you move on but still are happy with your days on the mountain. A lot of my friends got burnt out/tired of being fucked over and want nothing to do with it anymore. I would hate to have those kinds of negative feelings toward it.
I hope I can do it forever, but if not, I hope I leave while I still love it. I'd rather leave it like you missing it sometimes, than leave with a bad taste in my mouth.
/more rambles
