Question: Any Other Diva Mountain Hosts Out There?

[dloveski]

Well, after four wonderful years as a Mountain Host at Solitude, I'm moving up the canyon to host at Brighton Ski Resort. Hosting for me is more than free skiing---I love being part of the team and helping families and visitors navigate the hardest part of the ski day---gearing up, getting tickets, figuring out their runs given their abilities, etc. There are a few jerks and a few wild stories, but most people are amazingly patient and good-humored---and I've met some wonderful folks from all walks of life and from all around the world.

Are any other Divas Mountain Hosts? Any wild stories?

 

[cinnabon]

I was a Mountain Ambassador at Killington VT for the past 8 seasons and loved it, for all the reasons you said. They have a very large program there and it was a great experience. Plus the free skiing & food & other discounts were a nice perk! Now that I moved to Utah I want to do something like this, preferably at the Canyons. Their mountain hosts seem to be paid f/t employees and I only want to volunteer 1 day a week, so I need to call them and see if they take any part time Host volunteers. They have a volunteer position for surveyors 1 day per week, and it looks like that person would do some on snow/mountain host type stuff. Guess I need to get moving on setting this up! I can't do anything in BCC/LCC this season because I don't yet have a good winter vehicle, but I like it a lot up at Park City, so this seems like a good place to start.

I'm sure I have a few wild stories... but can't think of any offhand...

 

[dloveski]

I can't do anything in BCC/LCC this season because I don't yet have a good winter vehicle, but I like it a lot up at Park City, so this seems like a good place to start.

You could take the bus........in fact, traffic volume increases each year and driving and parking will be more difficult than ever up there. The bus drops you right off and you don't have to worry about parking---and the employee buses run early before the craziness begins on the road. Just a thought.

 

[cinnabon]

I didn't realize there were special employee buses - maybe that makes a difference? I got really turned off to the bus idea after my one day skiing at Snowbird last season. It was a big powder day, with the line up of cars and the canyon closed for avalanche control, and I know that this is a regular occurrence. My gripe is, once the road opened we had to wait about 3 hours for a bus to show up at the park n ride at the mouth of the canyon. The buses have to sit in that line of cars too, I guess, but it really sucked getting up early to enjoy the powder (I was near the front of the line) & not getting to ski until almost noon when most of it was skied off.:(

I have a question for you, being new to UT. Are the Park City resorts (and snow) really that inferior to BCC/LCC? I know they are lower elevation and have a shorter season, but coming from the East they are still soooo much better than what I'm used to. I really loved the Canyons & Deer Valley. I'm planning to get a 10 pack for Snowbird and spend time there & Alta & check out the BCC resorts as well. I'm off Sun - Tues. so there should be plenty of time... Just wondering because all I ever hear is Alta, Alta, Alta!

 

[Greeley]

You need to try Snowbasin. Over all, it is my favorite Utah resort. The last time I was there we skied untracked pow all day while riding highspeed quads & empty gondolas. We used to ski Alta/Snowbird a lot and just got tired of the pushy big city attitude.

 

[dloveski]

I have a question for you, being new to UT. Are the Park City resorts (and snow) really that inferior to BCC/LCC? I know they are lower elevation and have a shorter season, but coming from the East they are still soooo much better than what I'm used to. I really loved the Canyons & Deer Valley. I'm planning to get a 10 pack for Snowbird and spend time there & Alta & check out the BCC resorts as well. I'm off Sun - Tues. so there should be plenty of time... Just wondering because all I ever hear is Alta, Alta, Alta!

Every resort has its own 'personality' or attributes and there's no way to compare them exactly. In terms of snow quality and depth, the Cottonwood Canyons get the most, the elevation is higher so the snow doesn't deteriorate as quickly, and there are more steeps. That said, the roads up are getting clogged and on a pow day, likely to be closed for avy control or because some yahoo goes too fast and spins off the road. The P.C. resorts are much larger and offer more intermediate terrain plus some good bowl skiing. And access is usually easier. Then Pow Mow and Snowbasin offer different experiences altogether.

So, the answer is........mix it up and visit them all.

 

[marta]

At our resort, mountain hosts have slowly transitioned over the years to patrol rangers. Now a part of ski patrol, the rangers are out on the mountain all day helping guests, radioing incidents, and protecting patrollers when they're on an accident. We've been given first responder training and a variety of ski patrol training so we can help them as needed. This will be my 6th season and I love it.

 

[Marigee]

I'm on the Safety team at my local mountain. We are part of the Ski Patrol - like the Rangers on Marta's mountain and do pretty much the same things. We also investigate accidents - take pictures, interview witnesses and the like. I'm pretty much skiing my entire shift and I love it.

 

[cinnabon]

So, the answer is........mix it up and visit them all.

thanks, I definitely will!

At our resort, mountain hosts have slowly transitioned over the years to patrol rangers. Now a part of ski patrol, the rangers are out on the mountain all day helping guests, radioing incidents, and protecting patrollers when they're on an accident. We've been given first responder training and a variety of ski patrol training so we can help them as needed. This will be my 6th season and I love it.

That sounds great! At Killington, much of our day was spent on snow doing this type of stuff, but our actual role was more guest services oriented (that was the department we were a part of), and we had to do stuff like stand around in the AM and greet guests. I like the idea of being like a patroller minus the actual rescues. What resort do you work at?

 

[marta]

I'm at Mountain Creek in NJ. It's 32 hrs/month for us. How many hours are required for the rest of you?

 

[Marigee]

I'm at Whitetail, in PA. We have to do 4 shifts each month which works out to 32-34 hours each month.

 

[cinnabon]

At Killington it was 20 days over the course of the season, basically whichever 20 days you wanted.(and it was a long day - 7:30 AM until 5:00!) Some people would try to get them over with early on, but I liked spreading them out over the whole season, 4 per month or so. They really had to give us this flexibility because a lot of us lived 4 or more hours away, and would only come up some weekends. Here in Utah everyone is local, so the places seem to require 1 day per week.

 

[cinnabon]

Well, looks like The Canyons is out.:( Their mountain hosts are paid employees, and the only volunteer jobs they offer are surveyors, which doesn't fit my schedule or "lodge hosts" where you spend the entire day stuck in the lodge answering questions. Yuck! I don't know how they find people to do that - isn't the whole point to be able to ski?

So I'm applying at Park City Resort, which I don't like as much, but they do have volunteer mountain hosts who do a bit of everything... Hope I can find something - it seems like such a good way to meet people.