Some Real Pros and Some Really Big Cons - Snowboard Instructor Vail Resorts Employee Review

2.0
17 Oct 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Skiing at the area is a blast, and I made some wonderful friends.

Cons

Where do I start? I had to work forever to get my insurance - something like 750 hours. They barely cut you a break on the cost of your food. The management has a poor opinion of it's workers, stating, "If you don't like it, you can move on." Our way or the highway is pretty much the culture. They have some very poor managers who have very little experience and the culture is just a bunch of ski bums who made good. They have pathetic transportation to and from the area. A bunch of us would get on in the evenings and it was completely unsafe - we must have had 50 people too many. No parking close to the area, you have to take a bus. This one manager was such a jerk to everyone and a bunch of us complained and she's still employed. Such a joke. Nobody cares. Nobody listens. And my paycheck! Pathetic. Who can afford $9.00 per hour? Not this ski bum.

Explore other reviews about Vail Resorts

5.0
12 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The managers were really cool and the work was fun. Pretty relaxed environment.

Cons

It was cold sometimes and long hours standing but that was all in the job description and we got jackets.

2.0
14 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Most people are smart, passionate, and enjoyable to work with and be around. - Fairly frequent opportunities for development and advancement through the internal job board. - Nice perks if you're into skiing or riding.

Cons

- There's an unspoken expectation to regularly work significantly more hours because the majority of employees are very passionate about the ski and ride industry, which isn't great for work life balance. There's not much down time either; you're either hustling in season or hustling to prepare for the next season. - Climate change poses a significant threat to the future of the company. The season pass model mitigates some of the impacts, but not as much as senior leadership asserts. And, since bonuses are tied to company results, you can end up working super hard all year and still end up getting half of your bonus target due to uncontrollable weather conditions. - The culture has taken a serious hit since enterprise transformation work began. Lots of people are constantly stressed out and the atmosphere in the office is depressing. - Most of the time, it feels like senior leadership makes decisions in a vacuum without consulting any of the people that would be responsible for the downstream work associated with the decision. For example, I've seen senior leaders decide on a savings target multiple times without consulting the experts, who then have to scramble to figure out how to make it work. It creates chaos and negatively impacts morale. - This organization has a wordsmithing problem. I've never worked at a company that spends such an inordinate amount of time on the framing of a message compared to the actual substance of the message.

4
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All