Staffing at Ski Resorts: '21/'22

[SallyCat]

I know nothing about running a ski school. But, it seems like it would be really hard to manage staff, ensure consistency and offer a quality product with a bunch of people that only worked 5 days a year, no matter what the job or endeavor is

Yup, it is. As someone who used to help manage a ski school, we never had enough instructors during Christmas, MLK, and Presidents' Week, and that's where we made almost all of our money for the season. If you are a reasonably competent skier, you can get a job instructing over the holidays. Maybe not everywhere, but someplace. That $150 people pay for an hour of instruction? The mountain keeps 80% of it.

A school can try to standardize instruction with training and clinics, but most of the instructors aren't around for them throughout the season (no guarantee you'll get paid work during the slow times). If you try to mandate clinics and training, you'll lose a ton of people and kiss a LOT of holiday money goodbye. And once an instructor is out on the hill, they'll do what they do anyway. Sometimes that's great, other times it's just cold-temperature babysitting. We had mostly very good instructors, but even with the very capable ones, there were issues with inconsistency.

Want to be matched with a good instructor? Book a lesson during the non-holidays when a school has the flexibility to match you with the right person.

PSIA level I training is great for people who find it useful and engaging. Many great instructors are Level I. But the cert alone doesn't tell you much about how capable your instructor is. (The upper levels of PSIA are a different story and offer much more of a guarantee of skill and instructional competence). PSIA's instructional methodology has its critics, which is not to bash the organization or its instructors, just to point out that there are many ways to teach skiing well, and PSIA's curriculum is one of them. Many excellent instructors don't like being bound by that particular curriculum.

 

[Skivt2]

Yes. And unfortunately progressing in snowboarding AASI requires being able to ride the park and leave the ground. That’s a problem. It’s not required for skiers to progress in certification to be able to jump. Even if you are a really technical snowboarder, if your knees are not equipped with cartilage anymore, and your orthopedist has told you not to leave the ground if possible, then that disqualifies you from moving up the L2 or L3. Even the L1 park riding requirement is somewhat discriminatory in my opinion.

 

[liquidfeet]

Yes. And unfortunately progressing in snowboarding AASI requires being able to ride the park and leave the ground. That’s a problem. It’s not required for skiers to progress in certification to be able to jump. Even if you are a really technical snowboarder, if your knees are not equipped with cartilage anymore, and your orthopedist has told you not to leave the ground if possible, then that disqualifies you from moving up the L2 or L3. Even the L1 park riding requirement is somewhat discriminatory in my opinion.

This I did not know. There have never been enough snowboard instructors at the mountains where I've taught.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Qualified instructor versus appropriate instructor, I think the second is more important.

As stated in this thread, level 3s and beyond have spent money, and time to reach that level. However, some are simply motivated by the financial gains offered to certified staff. I have seen it first hand at its worst.

Occasionally, the five day, level 1 or nothing instructor, is indeed a local kid, who raced at the collegiate level and will show a guest the best secret stash while really upping the student's game.

Some 5 day instructors are full certified, but realized they need a real job. I have worked for 2 decades with a local building inspector who literally takes vacation days to teach 10 days per season.

2 days of training are mandatory even for a few days of work.

Back to my opening statement. Sometimes the instructor with less qualifications on paper can be a much better fit for the guest. My very first year, clueless, I was paired with a second home owner who needed help. Turns out she is my longest lasting student. She needed a fun, caring, and most of all patient instructor. That can not be taught, though sometimes faked. On the flip side, I know when to pass on a lesson no matter how many certifications I have if I suspect a poor fit skill or personality wise.

 

[Iwannaski]

I know nothing about teaching skiing - but I do know about teaching and learning. I tell my students that being uncomfortable is part of learning.

I suspect part of that “appropriate” metric is the ability to trust the person who is going to have to make you uncomfortable to get you to a better level.

What do y’all think? Is there a correlation between how you perceive the reliability of the instructor and how well you learn?

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@Iwannaski yes to to trust! Easy to loose and very hard to regain, so the first 5 minutes are key.

 

[Skier31]

Qualified instructor versus appropriate instructor, I think the second is more important.

As stated in this thread, level 3s and beyond have spent money, and time to reach that level. However, some are simply motivated by the financial gains offered to certified staff. I have seen it first hand at its worst.

Occasionally, the five day, level 1 or nothing instructor, is indeed a local kid, who raced at the collegiate level and will show a guest the best secret stash while really upping the student's game.

Some 5 day instructors are full certified, but realized they need a real job. I have worked for 2 decades with a local building inspector who literally takes vacation days to teach 10 days per season.

2 days of training are mandatory even for a few days of work.

Back to my opening statement. Sometimes the instructor with less qualifications on paper can be a much better fit for the guest. My very first year, clueless, I was paired with a second home owner who needed help. Turns out she is my longest lasting student. She needed a fun, caring, and most of all patient instructor. That can not be taught, though sometimes faked. On the flip side, I know when to pass on a lesson no matter how many certifications I have if I suspect a poor fit skill or personality wise.

Agree 100%

 

[dloveski]

Same thing is happening in MA and RI with staffing shortages at restaurants etc. EVERYWHERE is hiring, it’s crazy. Where are all of the workers?

workers in the restaurant industry are moving away/on. My son (an executive chef) quit the industry (just pre-pandemic thank goodness) for a job in sales in a tech start-up. His colleagues were laid off during the pandemic and many are done with the cruel hours, hostile work environments, marginal benefits, and now (more than ever in the past) hostile, angry customers who are mad at the lower levels of service and food choices due to above issues. The hospitality industry was due for a reckoning---COVID was the earthquake that forced this reckoning.

and housing---ski resort/no ski resort---rents can't be paid on even $15.00 per hour. Ski towns have converted to Air BNBs and local workers literally have no place to live. What a system.

 

[BackCountryGirl]

I know nothing about running a ski school. But, it seems like it would be really hard to manage staff, ensure consistency and offer a quality product with a bunch of people that only worked 5 days a year, no matter what the job or endeavor is. I don't think I'd want to pay for instruction from someone that only taught 5 times a year. I want someone that knows the mountain inside and out and is a true professional. Even the volunteer groups I'm involved with wouldn't let anyone offer their free labor that little. I can also think of other potential issues--maybe insurance or legal reasons, maybe customer feedback--that might mean having an employee that only works 5 days a year doesn't make sense. Again, I don't know, but I can imagine all sorts of possibilities.

You are right. It takes so much to pull together a functional staff and when I managed a kids' program, that didn't happen until Feb. break.

 

[BackCountryGirl]

I didn't realize this. I've always read so much about the training and certification instructors go through. I have never bothered to check the qualifications of the instructors at any given place where I've taken a lesson. Good to know!

It also explains how my friend's high school age sons taught kids at Snoqualmie last year even though my friend herself thought them quite unqualified (but she was happy to have them out of the house on weekends).

One of my bugaboos about PSIA is that it doesn't do enough to highlight what it means to have certification to the general skiing public. And, resorts have 0 incentive to do that. I do think PSIA is a bit beholden to resorts who host clinics. If you have a busy snow sport school and have to hire people who aren't certified and the public starts to ask for certified staff, you'd be screwed. Or, you'd have to start paying for certification.

 

[Skier31]

One of my bugaboos about PSIA is that it doesn't do enough to highlight what it means to have certification to the general skiing public. And, resorts have 0 incentive to do that. I do think PSIA is a bit beholden to resorts who host clinics. If you have a busy snow sport school and have to hire people who aren't certified and the public starts to ask for certified staff, you'd be screwed. Or, you'd have to start paying for certification.

One of my issues with PSIA is the cost of the clinics and cost of the exams. Not only do you have to pay for the exam or clinic but take off work, incur travel costs (at times). I teach part time. I am Level 2 and CS1. I did those because I love teaching and learning and wanted to be a better teacher and skier. However, the cost of these exams is a burden for many people. Our resort relies on PSIA certification for pay categories and work priority categories so people are stuck doing it.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I recently had what is now an unusual (and puzzling) experience when I attended a work function at Paradise Point Resort in San Diego. I went in w/low expectations given what I know about worker shortages, etc. To my surprise, the service was fast and exceptional throughout the resort. Staff were professional, pleasant and plentiful. I never had to wait for a table, in-resort transport, or counter service at the coffee bar/sundries shop. The folks doing the food service, AV, and room set up for the conference were the most professional and proficient I've encountered in 25 years of attending these events.

Of course, there was no daily room freshen up service, which I've always considered ridiculous and wasteful anyway, and their signature restaurant wasn't open every day, but other than that, our visit was seamless and thoroughly enjoyable.

The resort assured us that all employees were vaxxed (as we also required of attendees), and there was an indoor mask mandate until day 2 when CA lifted the requirement.

Maybe it was the location in a major metro area? Maybe they actually pay a living wage? I don't know, but kudos to them. And, BTW, the staff members we dealt with refused to accept our organization's tips b/c the resort actually PAYS them the 26% service fee that corporate guests pay.

 

[Iwannaski]

Honestly, I haven’t had too many bad service experiences … some of that might be that i largely frequent local and small businesses that were wired to treat their employees (often neighbors) better than the average employee?

I also think that there’s a bit of emotional baggage for all of us at this point. Everyone is burned out and tired and a little grumpy with everything that’s been going on for the last few years.

For some people, that just means they behave badly. Unfortunately, in a closed system, that bad behavior just ripples to all of us?

My husband thinks that people are just doing more drugs and have therefore lost all judgment.

LOL.

 

[Christy]

I've noticed (here anyway) that restaurants have been good at metering capacity so that they aren't overwhelmed. So you'll see empty tables, and might have to wait for one (on a sunny day at my favorite waterfront spot for instance), but once you are seated everything works as it should.

 

[marzNC]

Mt. Hood Meadows is pushing hard to attract employees.

October 28, 2021

Mt. Hood Meadows Boosts Wages, Benefits to Attract Staff - Ski Area Management

SAM Magazine—Mt. Hood, Ore., Oct. 28, 2021—Mt. Hood Meadows aims to make working at the resort more attractive with higher wages, benefits, and increased housing opportunities as the winter season approaches. Meadows is raising its base pay to $15 per hour and will increase wages for all team...

www.saminfo.com

"Mt. Hood Meadows aims to make working at the resort more attractive with higher wages, benefits, and increased housing opportunities as the winter season approaches.

Meadows is raising its base pay to $15 per hour and will increase wages for all team members by $1.25 per hour. The entry-level wage is now $2.25 higher than the Oregon state required minimum. The resort is also providing a $200 vaccination incentive to all team members and is reinstituting Covid sick leave to allow staff to stay home when feeling ill so as not to risk infecting other employees and guests.
. . .

Staff living in nearby Sandy and Hood River can take free shuttle transportation to work, provided by the resort. Meadows also provides staff with a 70 percent discount at resort restaurants and childcare for $25 a day.

In addition, Meadows is aiming to expand employee housing opportunities by offering lift ticket and season pass incentives to local landlords who provide affordable housing for staff. The resort has hired a housing programs supervisor to manage team-member housing opportunities."

 

[liquidfeet]

Now that's a notable move to get employees. Season passes to landlords offering affordable housing? Creative thinking.

 

[BackCountryGirl]

I have often booked Sunday River lodging for friends and so my address is in the marketing system and I often get marketing flyers geared to guests. I got a glossy flyer in snail mail last week urging me to work this season. That reeks of desperation.

 

[marzNC]

Between looking at Facebook Pages for resorts and being on a few e-lists for places I have a special interest in, it's clear the entire industry is using every potential contact method to look for employees. True for every region, not just the northeast or Rockies. I have never noticed job listings on ski resort websites before, especially with detailed job descriptions and links to an online application.

From what I can tell from SAM, the industry is sharing ideas for how to recruit staff. As they did in 2020 for how to get through a pandemic ski season while minimizing the risk of being shut down because of an outbreak of COVID-19 among guests.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@marzNC . is it staffing or housing? I only know my area. No shortage of potential employees, but a permanent and deal breaking housing shortage causing the staffing shortage.

 

[Iwannaski]

Now that's a notable move to get employees. Season passes to landlords offering affordable housing? Creative thinking.

it’s also smart business potentially for landlords. If you have 10 properties that you rent to travelers near a ski area, and you provide staff housing at 3… that means that you are supporting the means of income for the other 7…. No housing —> no staff —> no resort —> no/lower rental income?

We’re all connected…and the more we think about ourselves as part of a closed system, rather than some sort of mythical, infinite open system, the better we’ll be.