Legitimate question for the industry folks

I was a manager at a small ski hill in a remote part of Canada for two years. I was often the go-to person for day to day operations and I ran the snow school and terrain park. I was also cleaning floors and taking out trash though, as it was such a small operation everyone had to just do whatever was needed. I quit because I wasn't able to get my work done to the level I wanted to while also skiing a reasonable amount.

There are for sure many people on this site in management in the ski industry though, including many pros who have aged out who often end up in management jobs in skiing.

And if you people exist on this site, it might be helpful to provide some direction or feedback to the kids on here looking in that direction. Also would be interesting to read

I worked for a large online retailer, then a mid-size ski manufacturer, now I work at a large company that deals more with resorts etc as the GBM. The reason you don't hear about those jobs much is that there are not many of them and they pay poorly compared to other industries. Even for outdoor/action sports freeskiing pays pretty poorly so they fail to retain the talent that would really bring the industry up- even some of the most passionate, skilled people get worked out of the system because of the pressure from below on those kinds of jobs. Everybody wants a crack at it, and most will be willing to work for significantly less than an experienced person would expect to make in that position, leading to a downward spiral of wages, forcing some of the most capable and innovative people into other segments. I know other brand managers who fully run the show at ski/outerwear companies and make less than 100k. Typically that kind of position would be requiring at least ten years and a good reputation in the industry to be considered for.

It is slightly better on the resort side- some people make good money running ski hills. I also know people who have been fired after asking for a raise. I know people who have been replaced by entry level workers who make just above minimum wage after budget cuts. There is not much money in most of these companies, and low wages are par for the course because there is a steady supply of cheap, passionate people out there who will work for nothing in order to "break in" chasing a position that will look very different from what they expected when they get there.

Also- the people that "run the industry" (at least on the freeski side) are often newschoolers kids grown up. Most lurk this site regularly. Maybe (hopefully) some of the others will have a different perspective than I do, but mine seems to be a pretty common experience among peers.

Lots of people get a lot of good, applicable experience in hustle and innovation working in the outdoor industry. There are very few conventions and best practices, and the people that the industry attracts are nearly always down to challenge them if they need changing. Working in the ski industry is like getting a damn MBA, and most other industries feel chill in comparison. Everyone at every freeski company wears many hats. They all have to hustle to keep their brands functional and tell their stories. They tend to make a lot of money and have a load of impact if they move into a more traditionally high paying industry like tech or finance.

TLDR/ most people in skiing that work the jobs you are describing do it for passion and significantly undervalue themselves (cash wise, the lifestyle and community can be amazing) so they do not last very long before they are forced to go into other industries, because they realize that they would like to retire before age 70. The hustle and skills that they pick up working in skiing, a very hard industry, lead to success in other, more conventional industries.

^facts.

If you want to work in the ski industry, just get whatever entry level job you can and take whatever opportunity comes your way if it fits with what you want to do. If you stay in it long enough you will end up in some kind of management role, but you will inevitably be paid less than a similar job in a different industry, while simultaneously having the busiest part of your year be when the best skiing is, whereas if you worked in a different industry you could probably take vacation during ski season.

@Farmville420 is a fully maxed out town hall 8 and also has pekkas. Id say he’s made it pretty far in the industry

I'll jump in here since this is a legit question and I would love to see more people pursue a career in this industry. Especially if you really love skiing.

I am the Design Director of Ski and Snowboard for K2. I handle the graphics, colors, and all things visual for the brand. While work is work and long work hours are definitely a thing - I love my job and would recommend working in a field you love and keeping your passions and work closer than some people would recommend. Because at the end of the day...why not?!

I don't want to write out my whole history of skiing and work but here are some bullet points in timeline form that could help. It's long enough without too much story-time.

1985 - The year I was born
1990 - Started skiing at age 5. Didn't understand that doing a pizza was talking about a slice and not a whole circular pie.
1993 - Started ski racing
1996 - Started snowboarding (still skiing but was snowboarding more because I was only associating skiing with racing and didn't truly care for it).
1999 - Saw PoorBoyz "13" and began begging my parents for twin tips.
2000 - Received a pair of Dynastar "Concept" Twins for my birthday.
2000 - Convinced my parents to send me to High North Ski Camp. Shane McConkey and Shannon Schad were my coaches for the week and showed me how to not kill myself while doing backflips. Seth Morrison told me I needed to "chill out" while I struggled to learn 540's in the Whistler halfpipe.
2003 - Graduated High School / Started college for a degree in Business Marketing
2003 - Got sponsored (mostly regional/rep flow) by Rossignol, Smith, Helly Hansen, and Big Bear Mountain Resorts
2004 - Invited to Freeze Magazine's Parkasaurus at June Mtn
2005 - Competed in the US Freeskiing Open (DID TERRRIBLE)
2006 - To help with business school I began to teach myself design with bootleg versions of Photoshop and Illustrator I traded for some weed. :)
2007 - Blew my ACL and meniscus in a halfpipe contest
2007 - Graduated College with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Marketing
2008 - Got an internship in design for a small streetwear brand based out of Orange County. Worked there 2 days a week while working 5 days a week at a skate shop. The internship was unpaid but since I didn't go to design school it was the only way I could think of to properly break into being a designer.
2009 - Hired full-time from that internship for the same company and began my career as a Graphic and Apparel Designer.
2010 - Left that "streetwear" company
2010 - Got my second job as a designer for Active Ride Shop. This design job focused on tshirt and skateboard graphics so I really felt like I made it.
2012 - Was promoted to Creative Director of Active Ride Shop. With no proper design schooling this was a highlight of my career because I then knew that I had successfully faked it till I "maked" it...
2013 - Started a small brand with a friend of mine that was based in skate and snow called WeatherMTN
2014 - Moved back to the mountains that I once called home
2017 - Left Active Ride Shop
2017 - Did a few graphics for Surface Skis (Daily, Auburn, and the white-out blanks)
2017 - Began working as the Senior Designer of Apparel for skateboard footwear brands Emerica and éS.
2018 - Started talking with K2 about working with them. Definitely name dropped Shane teaching me backflips at High North.
2018 - Moved to Seattle to start working with K2 (October) as Senior Designer for Skiing.
2020 - Promoted to Design Director of Skiing and Snowboarding.
2023 - Here we are...

The goal of laying this out is my way of showing that while it takes a while to accomplish, it is 1000% possible to make a career in whichever area that you want. You don't HAVE to go to school for it, you simply need to put the hours in and make it possible. Also, your pursuit to the job that you want can take a bunch of turns before you get to where you want to go. If you want to work in skiing or the outdoors industry, don't be afraid to take a few side steps as long as you have your eyes on the main goal.

Best of luck and hope this helps or inspires some of you to aim towards a career in ski!

@onenerdykid

Any ski/outdoor industry related jobs I’ve looked at pay half of what 90% of other companies will pay you unless it’s a really big corp

bradwaltersI'll jump in here since this is a legit question and I would love to see more people pursue a career in this industry. Especially if you really love skiing.

I am the Design Director of Ski and Snowboard for K2. I handle the graphics, colors, and all things visual for the brand. While work is work and long work hours are definitely a thing - I love my job and would recommend working in a field you love and keeping your passions and work closer than some people would recommend. Because at the end of the day...why not?!

I don't want to write out my whole history of skiing and work but here are some bullet points in timeline form that could help. It's long enough without too much story-time.

1985 - The year I was born
1990 - Started skiing at age 5. Didn't understand that doing a pizza was talking about a slice and not a whole circular pie.
1993 - Started ski racing
1996 - Started snowboarding (still skiing but was snowboarding more because I was only associating skiing with racing and didn't truly care for it).
1999 - Saw PoorBoyz "13" and began begging my parents for twin tips.
2000 - Received a pair of Dynastar "Concept" Twins for my birthday.
2000 - Convinced my parents to send me to High North Ski Camp. Shane McConkey and Shannon Schad were my coaches for the week and showed me how to not kill myself while doing backflips. Seth Morrison told me I needed to "chill out" while I struggled to learn 540's in the Whistler halfpipe.
2003 - Graduated High School / Started college for a degree in Business Marketing
2003 - Got sponsored (mostly regional/rep flow) by Rossignol, Smith, Helly Hansen, and Big Bear Mountain Resorts
2004 - Invited to Freeze Magazine's Parkasaurus at June Mtn
2005 - Competed in the US Freeskiing Open (DID TERRRIBLE)
2006 - To help with business school I began to teach myself design with bootleg versions of Photoshop and Illustrator I traded for some weed. :)
2007 - Blew my ACL and meniscus in a halfpipe contest
2007 - Graduated College with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Marketing
2008 - Got an internship in design for a small streetwear brand based out of Orange County. Worked there 2 days a week while working 5 days a week at a skate shop. The internship was unpaid but since I didn't go to design school it was the only way I could think of to properly break into being a designer.
2009 - Hired full-time from that internship for the same company and began my career as a Graphic and Apparel Designer.
2010 - Left that "streetwear" company
2010 - Got my second job as a designer for Active Ride Shop. This design job focused on tshirt and skateboard graphics so I really felt like I made it.
2012 - Was promoted to Creative Director of Active Ride Shop. With no proper design schooling this was a highlight of my career because I then knew that I had successfully faked it till I "maked" it...
2013 - Started a small brand with a friend of mine that was based in skate and snow called WeatherMTN
2014 - Moved back to the mountains that I once called home
2017 - Left Active Ride Shop
2017 - Did a few graphics for Surface Skis (Daily, Auburn, and the white-out blanks)
2017 - Began working as the Senior Designer of Apparel for skateboard footwear brands Emerica and éS.
2018 - Started talking with K2 about working with them. Definitely name dropped Shane teaching me backflips at High North.
2018 - Moved to Seattle to start working with K2 (October) as Senior Designer for Skiing.
2020 - Promoted to Design Director of Skiing and Snowboarding.
2023 - Here we are...

The goal of laying this out is my way of showing that while it takes a while to accomplish, it is 1000% possible to make a career in whichever area that you want. You don't HAVE to go to school for it, you simply need to put the hours in and make it possible. Also, your pursuit to the job that you want can take a bunch of turns before you get to where you want to go. If you want to work in skiing or the outdoors industry, don't be afraid to take a few side steps as long as you have your eyes on the main goal.

Best of luck and hope this helps or inspires some of you to aim towards a career in ski!

Awesome reply. Thanks for this

SchizoSkier@Farmville420 is a fully maxed out town hall 8 and also has pekkas. Id say he’s made it pretty far in the industry

Valks are the way

@RobKatz

ive held a few manager and senior manager roles at a few ski resorts. Had teams of over 125. Currently run health and safety for a ski area that sees over a million skier visits. If I coulda been an orange name I woulda haha. But since I can’t, i am in a salary role where I get to ski as much as I want and make an impact on both guest and employee experiences. I’m extremely goal oriented when it comes to my career. Idk if i quite fit the bill your talkin about though. But I honestly think it’s realistic for me to say I could be a GM of a small resort in the next 7-10 years and shooting for a COO role of a destination resort in the next 15 years. Dreamin for sure

See working at the bigger resorts and moving up the chain you just get jaded about the whole thing. I was a lift ops higher up (foreman and trainer) at a larger western resort that will go unnamed, and it's just easy to see too many problems that will never have solutions. Employees outside of skiing/riding were rarely happy with their living situations. The cost of living in those resort towns is outrageous. People spend most of their paychecks getting super fucked up at the bars or OD'ing on some surprise fent in their apartment. On top of that the company housed the vast majority of its employees in employee housing (myself included) so you literally fork over half your paycheck right back to the people who gave it to you for working your ass off. I don't want to dissuade anyone from getting into the industry but try to find a mountain that isn't too blown out and corporate and breathe new life into it. Also find a job that makes YOU happy, don't just go with the easiest/most convenient option. And if you expect to make any $ you're in for a big surprise, unless you happen to be CEO or like a social media manager or some bullshit desk jockey shit where you don't actually do any real work or contribute to the culture/community of the area.

g_lectrolyteSee working at the bigger resorts and moving up the chain you just get jaded about the whole thing. I was a lift ops higher up (foreman and trainer) at a larger western resort that will go unnamed, and it's just easy to see too many problems that will never have solutions. Employees outside of skiing/riding were rarely happy with their living situations. The cost of living in those resort towns is outrageous. People spend most of their paychecks getting super fucked up at the bars or OD'ing on some surprise fent in their apartment. On top of that the company housed the vast majority of its employees in employee housing (myself included) so you literally fork over half your paycheck right back to the people who gave it to you for working your ass off. I don't want to dissuade anyone from getting into the industry but try to find a mountain that isn't too blown out and corporate and breathe new life into it. Also find a job that makes YOU happy, don't just go with the easiest/most convenient option. And if you expect to make any $ you're in for a big surprise, unless you happen to be CEO or like a social media manager or some bullshit desk jockey shit where you don't actually do any real work or contribute to the culture/community of the area.

What you describe points to a bigger issue we see on here a lot in regards to compensation, benefits, and workplace environment at ski resorts. Yes this exists across all industries however ski areas appear to be more visible in this fact. Sounds like upper management should focus more inwards than on outward growth. It is kind of unethical how poor overall QoL is for the entry level and skilled positions at some/all of these places, multiplied by the exorbitant cost of living in these areas. I'm not trying to turn this thread into a full on bash your employer discussion but it is important to point out. Thanks for the input.

As many have said the pay and the burnout in the ski industry push a lot of people to pursue a career somewhere else. I can say from my experience growing up I could only think of working in the Ski industry, however after working 2-3 years post college in that environment i knew it wasn't for me. The winter season in very short and stressful. In most traditional jobs you have 12 months to make your yearly targets but for many people in the ski industry this is shortened to 3 very hectic months during prime skiing weather. I also found mixing my passion with the business made me extremely jaded. I ended up pivoting into a role with a major athletic company that allows me to active in the outdoors but my livelihood doesn't depend on it.

bradwalters2010 - Got my second job as a designer for Active Ride Shop. This design job focused on tshirt and skateboard graphics so I really felt like I made it.
2012 - Was promoted to Creative Director of Active Ride Shop. With no proper design schooling this was a highlight of my career because I then knew that I had successfully faked it till I "maked" it...
2013 - Started a small brand with a friend of mine that was based in skate and snow called WeatherMTN

I spent a good 10 years in OC and SD around that time, and am/was very familiar with Active. I remember seeing WeatherMTN on the Active site and thought you guys had some cool designs. Seems like Active has gone through some changes since I moved away (also Seattle) but man, thanks for the trip down memory lane!

**This post was edited on May 18th 2023 at 1:03:37pm

I think its funny that I like skiing more than everyone I personally know that still works in the industry. Only exceptions to that are people that still work or run terrain parks.

I've been working in the retail side of things for the last 4 years. Got the job partially through an ex employee who I helped out with the small ski brand he and his buddy had (RIP Epilog Skis). Honestly if you truly live and breath skiing, nothing beats an industry job. The company I work for is pretty big on the west coast of Canada, especially for free(ish) bootfitting. That was my starting position which paid above minimum wage at the time. After 2 years and after I dropped out of uni due to Covid I moved up to essentially manage the ski hardgoods section. I absolutely love my job. The people are amazing and I thank fuck every day that I'm not back at home depot. That being said it's hard work, and there's a standard I have to uphold. To me, that's easy because I'm a huge gear nerd and could live off of the Gear Talk forum if I wanted too. In terms of moving further up, I'm going back to school so I'm not going any further for the time being. However I got a high school friend of mine hired there in my second year. He's finished school so he leapfroged me me and now is the assistant manager. So IMO, if you're willing to commit and network within the industry it can be rewarding. I definitely think however, location plays a very large role in how easy it is to ascend up the ranks

JuviticusI've been working in the retail side of things for the last 4 years. Got the job partially through an ex employee who I helped out with the small ski brand he and his buddy had (RIP Epilog Skis). Honestly if you truly live and breath skiing, nothing beats an industry job. The company I work for is pretty big on the west coast of Canada, especially for free(ish) bootfitting. That was my starting position which paid above minimum wage at the time. After 2 years and after I dropped out of uni due to Covid I moved up to essentially manage the ski hardgoods section. I absolutely love my job. The people are amazing and I thank fuck every day that I'm not back at home depot. That being said it's hard work, and there's a standard I have to uphold. To me, that's easy because I'm a huge gear nerd and could live off of the Gear Talk forum if I wanted too. In terms of moving further up, I'm going back to school so I'm not going any further for the time being. However I got a high school friend of mine hired there in my second year. He's finished school so he leapfroged me me and now is the assistant manager. So IMO, if you're willing to commit and network within the industry it can be rewarding. I definitely think however, location plays a very large role in how easy it is to ascend up the ranks

Shout out to Zav and Epilog. Still wish I was able to get a pair in the day.

OhJayI spent a good 10 years in OC and SD around that time, and am/was very familiar with Active. I remember seeing WeatherMTN on the Active site and thought you guys had some cool designs. Seems like Active has gone through some changes since I moved away (also Seattle) but man, thanks for the trip down memory lane!

**This post was edited on May 18th 2023 at 1:03:37pm

Rad! Love hearing that you came across WeatherMTN when we were doing our thing. Nothing teaches you more lessons than trying to start a brand with no proper investing, knowhow, or resources.

Active has definitely gone through a fair amount of changes over the years. The owner that was there during my time recently bought it back so hopefully it has a change for the better soon!

partyandBSive held a few manager and senior manager roles at a few ski resorts. Had teams of over 125. Currently run health and safety for a ski area that sees over a million skier visits. If I coulda been an orange name I woulda haha. But since I can’t, i am in a salary role where I get to ski as much as I want and make an impact on both guest and employee experiences. I’m extremely goal oriented when it comes to my career. Idk if i quite fit the bill your talkin about though. But I honestly think it’s realistic for me to say I could be a GM of a small resort in the next 7-10 years and shooting for a COO role of a destination resort in the next 15 years. Dreamin for sure

One of my friends probably has the same or similar role at one of the biggest East coast resorts (and one of the real paychecks.)

Hes the one who has to deal with families of people who die skiing or get badly injured lawsuits etc. Just keep climbing those jobs will come open and someone will have to do them.

PeppermillRenoOne of my friends probably has the same or similar role at one of the biggest East coast resorts (and one of the real paychecks.)

Hes the one who has to deal with families of people who die skiing or get badly injured lawsuits etc. Just keep climbing those jobs will come open and someone will have to do them.

Yeah thats my role as well in CO. Good gig. Work with every department so the exposure is great for career development.

WabbleDeeAny ski/outdoor industry related jobs I’ve looked at pay half of what 90% of other companies will pay you unless it’s a really big corp

No one works in the ski industry for the purpose of getting rich, that's for sure. But you can totally make a comfortable living from it and let your work be an extension of your passion. For me, if I was going to spend 40+ hours a week of my life making a living, it always made sense for that job to be aligned with what I love doing. There are for sure times when it gets frustrating and wears you down, but for 90% of the time, I fucking love my job and I love what I do.

JuviticusTo me, that's easy because I'm a huge gear nerd and could live off of the Gear Talk forum if I wanted too.

Gear gabber really is the best subforum on here. Learn a lot. Contribute a lot. Nerd out on ski gear. It's great.

This conversation is always interesting and there a bunch of good responses in here from people who made it way deeper into the industry than I did. I think a good portion of NSers work in the industry in some capacity for a time and move on, but its cool to hear from some lifers. I also think its true that when you are immersed in the industry all the time you tend to spend less time on NS since you're living it every day... at least this was the case for me.

I worked my way up to middle management in the ski shop at my home resort. At my peak, I was overseeing a staff of 10 between the sales staff upstairs and the techs in the basement. I really enjoyed the gig - the people I worked with were awesome and I am a huge gear nerd so it fit well. I also got to ski a bunch (almost every day for at least an hour or two) the first couple years in the shop. Got a lot less fun when I started dealing with the corporate heads. Ultimately decided the balance of headache/skiing/money was not working out and left the industry.

I think poor leadership has a lot to do with high turnover in the industry - at least it definitely does where I am from - and that cycle can be tough to escape. The higher-ups were always hesitant to promote from within for any job, almost always going for an outside hire who had some "experience at a bigger resort" but had never been to our resort. I only got promoted when the outside hire rage quit mid season... then a new director tried to replace me with another one a year later. I guess I'm trying to say the ladder is slippery, and if you stay on the same one for too long, the risk gets higher that something will make you fall. The people I ran into who were most successful within the industry had worked a TON of different jobs within the industry.

The real higher-up resort management type jobs are also few and far between. They change people maybe once every 20 or 30 years, so it can come down to being in the right place at the right time. If you are working under a 70yr old manager who likes you and might retire soon, you can have some hope you might get their job, but if you're working under a 45yr old who's not going anywhere anytime soon, it can be a tough sell to sit and wait indefinitely waiting for that job to open up.

Now I work in municipal government and I gotta say its way less of a headache. I still ski 80+ days a year but now I am only at the resort for fun. I found it tough to have fun and get really pissed off by my job in the same place. I'm convinced going to the place you work on your day off fucks with your head. And when it comes to changing the industry for the better, resort higher-ups listen to me better now as a regular paying customer than they did when I worked for/with them.

very insightful thread thanks guys

I think poor leadership has a lot to do with high turnover in the industry [/quote]

Facts. Shout out my boss B. Mikes who's moving on this fall to start his own thing after over 20 years in his position. Best boss I ever had. Go support Bluebird Tuning in squam next season

MainahThis conversation is always interesting and there a bunch of good responses in here from people who made it way deeper into the industry than I did. I think a good portion of NSers work in the industry in some capacity for a time and move on, but its cool to hear from some lifers. I also think its true that when you are immersed in the industry all the time you tend to spend less time on NS since you're living it every day... at least this was the case for me.

I worked my way up to middle management in the ski shop at my home resort. At my peak, I was overseeing a staff of 10 between the sales staff upstairs and the techs in the basement. I really enjoyed the gig - the people I worked with were awesome and I am a huge gear nerd so it fit well. I also got to ski a bunch (almost every day for at least an hour or two) the first couple years in the shop. Got a lot less fun when I started dealing with the corporate heads. Ultimately decided the balance of headache/skiing/money was not working out and left the industry.

I think poor leadership has a lot to do with high turnover in the industry - at least it definitely does where I am from - and that cycle can be tough to escape. The higher-ups were always hesitant to promote from within for any job, almost always going for an outside hire who had some "experience at a bigger resort" but had never been to our resort. I only got promoted when the outside hire rage quit mid season... then a new director tried to replace me with another one a year later. I guess I'm trying to say the ladder is slippery, and if you stay on the same one for too long, the risk gets higher that something will make you fall. The people I ran into who were most successful within the industry had worked a TON of different jobs within the industry.

The real higher-up resort management type jobs are also few and far between. They change people maybe once every 20 or 30 years, so it can come down to being in the right place at the right time. If you are working under a 70yr old manager who likes you and might retire soon, you can have some hope you might get their job, but if you're working under a 45yr old who's not going anywhere anytime soon, it can be a tough sell to sit and wait indefinitely waiting for that job to open up.

Now I work in municipal government and I gotta say its way less of a headache. I still ski 80+ days a year but now I am only at the resort for fun. I found it tough to have fun and get really pissed off by my job in the same place. I'm convinced going to the place you work on your day off fucks with your head. And when it comes to changing the industry for the better, resort higher-ups listen to me better now as a regular paying customer than they did when I worked for/with them.

Yeah I was in my City Hall paying for my boat slip and saw the job postings and couldn;'t believe how many 100k/year directior type positions were open or what was going for $25-30/hour.

I'd be a meter maid for 200 bucks/shift ffs and do nothing but watch netflix and write a ticket or two.

All the boomers are retiring and theres noone left to fill these roles.

The thing with resort pay is that ski area are still runnjng on the vibe of the old school ski area. The employees are loose, its a lot of chaos but they get a pass and ski a bunch.

It's changed a bunch over the last 20 years and even the smaller places are much more corporate vibes. Not even including the Vails/Alteras of the world. That ski bum dream isn't really dead but it kind of is from the was it used to be.

Mtns struggle to pull enough people with low wages. It sucks that ticket prices keep going up and wages are now just starting to. Big mtns fill a ton of their roles with J1 visa. I get that seasonal work can be tough to fill a tom of jobs, but ski areas def use it as a crutch.

The constently worsening housing market doesnt help anything.

There's def room to move up, it just depends what you want to do and how much time you want to spend, what opportunities there are. Sometimes you have to move around to move up to better positions and better pay.

Some of the guys that used to post in the park builders cult are decently high up in ski areas. A lot of park people have switched over to dirt work for the $$$.

It also depends on where you want to lock down and how long you want to stay. Some people like being around one place, making it home, maybe starting a family and even biying a home. Some people are constantly moving.

You can get into it from 1 year doing lifts, ski school, park, whatever and jist do a season. You could do 20 years at 1 mtn, or 2 and move on. You can take a break and go back.

Idk it's different, it's got it's pros and cons for sure.

I would say regarding ski areas, learning different things is always helpful. You have to deal woth other departments and if you know how that department works, it makes things far easier.

There's also ways you can branch off into other jobs from skills you pick up in the ski industry.

Idk, its cool but it's not for everyone.

Also as far as jobs. Me and the snow surfaces manager are currently running the park. I'm more grooming so instead of being "Terrain park manager" he made me "terrain park grooming supervisor".

A few friends have settled into permanent full time roles as grooming managers at decent sized resorts the last few years. I think it's a mix of people staying in those positions for a long time and then also people trying out working at ski resorts and either not liking it or moving on to other jobs

To add to what I said earlier, I started out just being a keener at the hill, volunteering in the park (this doesn't happen as much anymore, because insurance companies for ski resorts have gotten a lot more strict over the past few decades),
and ski instructing to get a free pass while working as little as possible.

Over about 10 years, and especially after graduating University (I considered going on to do a Master's degree and/or starting out as a professional artist, but put my art career on hold to stay in skiing), I took on more hours of work and responsibility, ended up as a senior instructor and park manager, and had done some work in virtually every department, at which point I was head hunted for a management job at the small ski hill I mentioned above.

Local/State/Federal government positions with ski and rec areas in/near their jurisdiction. Admin, Public Works, Public Safety, Rangers, Biologists, Analysts, Management, Elected Officials... all good jobs which support and provide service to the industry. Some can be very hands on with ski areas.

Also. Construction management and trades. If you can get a thumb on the pulse, you can get in with a company that's building a new ski lodge or something

Some of our city planners have the coolest effin ski industry adjacent jobs

If this happens, I expect free tickets. And if it’s echo mountain somehow, turn it back into a terrain park.

partyandBSBut I honestly think it’s realistic for me to say I could be a GM of a small resort in the next 7-10 years and shooting for a COO role of a destination resort in the next 15 years. Dreamin for sure

signtimeAlso. Construction management and trades. If you can get a thumb on the pulse, you can get in with a company that's building a new ski lodge or something

If you have a pulse you can get in woth the construction company building the new lodge at Crystal.