Looking for advice/thoughts: Living and working at Keystone this winter

WolffyHey all... been awhile since my last post, but I'm making a pretty serious life transition right now and felt that this community can provide the best insight as to what to expect going forward with this journey. As the title states, I will be working and living in Avon at Keystone as a ski instructor this upcoming winter. I am reaching out to all of you who may have experience with this line of work specifically, or rather just the area in general, and hoping that you can provide me with some expectations/advice/observations that could be of value to me. I am 21 years old, will have a car, and expect to be living in employee housing(not sure where yet, however). Any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance and hope to see you guys out there shredding this winter!

traffic is always a bitch. I-70 is usually backed up during the winter.saying that you will be living in employee housing thats probably around the keystone area, you might not need to worry about this as much but it is still good to know.

i70 sucks and Summit County is really boring as a general rule of thumb. Look forward to a lot of house parties and nose beers at the bars.

Expect a second job (or more). Expensive place to live and EPIC resorts don't pay instructors much. Unless you really like park I'd recommend anywhere else.

Start Drinkin!

On a real note, I would give it a shot dude! If only for a season so be it. But Its hard to tell for sure if it will be rad or not. It could be shitty or alright or even great depending on what you make out of it. When I instructed, there was always the one instructor who complained and hated working there.... don't be him, if you bring enthusiasm and optimism starting day one, you will (probably) enjoy it much more, and working will be much easier.

Financially it will (probably) be hard but you definitely wont die. If Keystone is providing you housing I would take advantage of it. If you live close to other instructors or mountain staff thats awesome. From my experience the community of mountain staff is the best part of working for a mountain. Your co-workers (New Friends) give you something proud to be associated with, not the (probably) asshole jerk bag mountain management.

I don't know if you are already a ski instructor or not... But I would look into becoming PSIA certified. Level 1 certification really isn't that hard at all and the mountain should give you a raise for it. (plus it gives access to the sweet discounted pro shop so you can get ski gear with huge discount).

Good luck on whatever you decide!

Hang Loose

Wolffy. As the title states, I will be working and living in Avon at Keystone as a ski instructor this upcoming winter. I am reaching out to all of you who may have experience with this line of work specifically, or rather just the area in general, and hoping that you can provide me with some expectations/advice/observations that could be of value to me. I am 21 years old, will have a car, and expect to be living in employee housing(not sure where yet, however). Any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance and hope to see you guys out there shredding this winter!

I've been instructing part time at Keystone for the past eight winters - so this season will be number nine. It's not bad, don't expect to make any money - starting wage for an uncertified instructor is around 10$/hr. If you have some certs, you'll make a bit more. If you go full time - expect to work 5 days a week which leaves only two days for riding park. If you go part time, you won't work much but you can ski all the time which is why I do it..part time might cut you out of being eligible for employee housing though.

Keystone isn't in Avon, so I'm not sure if you've done your research. Avon is on the other side of Vail pass.

Have you applied for the job yet? Vail generally does most of its hiring this time of year and may close down a lot of the better instructor jobs (ie the non 3-6 year old ones) pretty soon. Check out http://www.vailresortscareers.com/ for what is open.

Employee housing has several options depending on how poor you are...the main two places are Sunrise and Tenderfoot. Sunrise being the cheapest option but worse living situation. You pay for what you get basically. Careful with smoking weed in employee housing, I've known several people who have been fired for leaving a bong out and getting caught during inspection.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or want to film urban this winter.

Wolffy. As the title states, I will be working and living in Avon at Keystone as a ski instructor this upcoming winter. I am reaching out to all of you who may have experience with this line of work specifically, or rather just the area in general, and hoping that you can provide me with some expectations/advice/observations that could be of value to me. I am 21 years old, will have a car, and expect to be living in employee housing(not sure where yet, however). Any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance and hope to see you guys out there shredding this winter!

I've been instructing part time at Keystone for the past eight winters - so this season will be number nine. It's not bad, don't expect to make any money - starting wage for an uncertified instructor is around 10$/hr. If you have some certs, you'll make a bit more. If you go full time - expect to work 5 days a week which leaves only two days for riding park. If you go part time, you won't work much but you can ski all the time which is why I do it..part time might cut you out of being eligible for employee housing though.

Keystone isn't in Avon, so I'm not sure if you've done your research. Avon is on the other side of Vail pass.

Have you applied for the job yet? Vail generally does most of its hiring this time of year and may close down a lot of the better instructor jobs (ie the non 3-6 year old ones) pretty soon. Check out http://www.vailresortscareers.com/ for what is open.

Employee housing has several options depending on how poor you are...the main two places are Sunrise and Tenderfoot. Sunrise being the cheapest option but worse living situation. You pay for what you get basically. Careful with smoking weed in employee housing, I've known several people who have been fired for leaving a bong out and getting caught during inspection.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or want to film urban this winter.

Wolffy. As the title states, I will be working and living in Avon at Keystone as a ski instructor this upcoming winter. I am reaching out to all of you who may have experience with this line of work specifically, or rather just the area in general, and hoping that you can provide me with some expectations/advice/observations that could be of value to me. I am 21 years old, will have a car, and expect to be living in employee housing(not sure where yet, however). Any and all comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance and hope to see you guys out there shredding this winter!

I've been instructing part time at Keystone for the past eight winters - so this season will be number nine. It's not bad, don't expect to make any money - starting wage for an uncertified instructor is around 10$/hr. If you have some certs, you'll make a bit more. If you go full time - expect to work 5 days a week which leaves only two days for riding park. If you go part time, you won't work much but you can ski all the time which is why I do it..part time might cut you out of being eligible for employee housing though.

Keystone isn't in Avon, so I'm not sure if you've done your research. Avon is on the other side of Vail pass.

Have you applied for the job yet? Vail generally does most of its hiring this time of year and may close down a lot of the better instructor jobs (ie the non 3-6 year old ones) pretty soon. Check out http://www.vailresortscareers.com/ for what is open.

Employee housing has several options depending on how poor you are...the main two places are Sunrise and Tenderfoot. Sunrise being the cheapest option but worse living situation. You pay for what you get basically. Careful with smoking weed in employee housing, I've known several people who have been fired for leaving a bong out and getting caught during inspection.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or want to film urban this winter.

LivingDaLifeI've been instructing part time at Keystone for the past eight winters - so this season will be number nine. It's not bad, don't expect to make any money - starting wage for an uncertified instructor is around 10$/hr. If you have some certs, you'll make a bit more. If you go full time - expect to work 5 days a week which leaves only two days for riding park. If you go part time, you won't work much but you can ski all the time which is why I do it..part time might cut you out of being eligible for employee housing though.

Keystone isn't in Avon, so I'm not sure if you've done your research. Avon is on the other side of Vail pass.

Have you applied for the job yet? Vail generally does most of its hiring this time of year and may close down a lot of the better instructor jobs (ie the non 3-6 year old ones) pretty soon. Check out http://www.vailresortscareers.com/ for what is open.

Employee housing has several options depending on how poor you are...the main two places are Sunrise and Tenderfoot. Sunrise being the cheapest option but worse living situation. You pay for what you get basically. Careful with smoking weed in employee housing, I've known several people who have been fired for leaving a bong out and getting caught during inspection.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or want to film urban this winter.

Thanks for the response man. I think I just confused Avon with Dillon because I've been seeing them both on all of the different forms for vail resorts. I will be living in Dillon. I already have been hired and am committed to full time. I am not certified yet, but plan at least on getting level 1 PSIA as soon as i get out there.

I will have a decent amount of money saved up before I go out, so I think I'll be able to afford the better options of the employee housing. Saying that, I have heard that although Tenderfoot is nicer, the residents may be not as desirable to live with(non-mountain workers, international). I would like to live around people with similar lifestyles to mine. Is sunrise the best option for that? You also mentioned room inspections... I am not necessarily worried about being able to smoke in my room, but is the environment that of dorm living with strict rules and inspections? Also, as far as Vail is concerned, does being 21 change anything with regards to how they would treat a weed infraction?

RousedWitsOn a real note, I would give it a shot dude! If only for a season so be it. But Its hard to tell for sure if it will be rad or not. It could be shitty or alright or even great depending on what you make out of it. When I instructed, there was always the one instructor who complained and hated working there.... don't be him, if you bring enthusiasm and optimism starting day one, you will (probably) enjoy it much more, and working will be much easier.

Financially it will (probably) be hard but you definitely wont die. If Keystone is providing you housing I would take advantage of it. If you live close to other instructors or mountain staff thats awesome. From my experience the community of mountain staff is the best part of working for a mountain. Your co-workers (New Friends) give you something proud to be associated with, not the (probably) asshole jerk bag mountain management.

I don't know if you are already a ski instructor or not... But I would look into becoming PSIA certified. Level 1 certification really isn't that hard at all and the mountain should give you a raise for it. (plus it gives access to the sweet discounted pro shop so you can get ski gear with huge discount).

Good luck on whatever you decide!

Hang Loose

Thanks for the advice man. I'm very excited to head out there so I feel like there aren't really many scenarios that would lead to me complaining. I'll be living at the base of the mountain with the best park in the country, being in very close driving distances to some of the premier mountains of Colorado. I really don't see how anyone could complain. People bitch about Vail resorts management, but I highly doubt they are as bad as people make it seem. You are getting paid to ski and although it may not be the skiing you want to be doing, it's a hell of a lot better than sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week. If at the very least its just for a season, it will be a great experience that I can use going forward if I wanted to go somewhere else like Alta or Squaw.

I haven't actually lived in employee housing so just going from what I've heard from friends. I've had friends in both Sunrise and Tenderfoot - so people with similar lifestyles live in both. They're also within walking distance of each other and Keystone runs a good bus system so if you find you have more friends in Sunrise and live in Tenderfoot, it'll still be chill.

Vail will fire for weed, no questions asked. That said, most of the employees still smoke, so don't worry about it too much, just be smart.

PSIA certs blow but definitely worth it for the raise.

Breck employee housing is by far better from what ive seen. but you can't afford to not live in employee housing. they fuckin pack the people in those places because housing is a huge issue. Breck has night clubs where you can't even hear but i guess im just not hip haha. cool bars all over the county. you can also find free alcohol most days of the week and they do free community dinners all over the county. I work nights at breck so i can ski everyday and its awesome! if its not to late, try and snag a night job. you'll have a basin opening in october and closing in junen ($10 day as a keystone/breck employee when abasin is the only one open) 2 of the best parks in the world on your pass and you could buy a season pass to the barn so on your work days you can still hit foam pits and the tramps over at copper (also in the same county) there are free buses everywhere so there really is no excuse for a DUI yet im sure 3 or more of your friends will get one this season and the courts will bend you over and fuck you! theres no crime but a lot of cops. Barkley's ballroom in Frisco is the place for music. also vail resorts has promotive and you can get some sweet deals on so so much shtit! Colorado Mountain College is there too and it incredibly cheap and easy. Theres a good facebook group to buy/sell/trade most anything called One Man's Junk - Summit County. Some people just go on there to bitch and complain though and that gets real annoying. last but not least, love thy gaper! with out these rich ass tourists coming in all the time there would be no economy here. be patient with them and they will pay all yo billz!

I moved away from Summit a few years ago, but it's really a great place. If your without a vehicle, the county has a free bus system that will get you anywhere in summit, resorts included. I lived in employee housing in breck not keystone, but I know plenty who have done both. If your young and looking to shake up your life a bit, it's a great way to spend a season.