Pros
-I'm paid to be on skis at a renowned mountain. -The majority of people in my department are responsible, loyal, friendly and driven. I'm proud to be a part of the team. -My immediate supervisor is refreshingly grounded and qualified for his position; he genuinely cares about his employees and pushes to implement ideas brought forth by us. -The department we coordinate with is composed of serious professionals who (mostly) appreciate the work we do for them. -Good people can be found among every other on-mountain department: food and beverage, security, lift operations, mountain hosts and ski school.
Cons
Our mountain reeks of corporate inefficiency. Disorganization, unfair pay, maddening bureaucracy, unethical behavior, high turnover and pathetic hiring standards degrade the work environment as well as the product we're pushing at a laughably high price. The department I work for is plagued by illogical protocol mandates delegated by distant office-dwellers that severely limit our functionality and overall effectiveness. Furthermore, the vast majority of input from us - the people on the ground every day - goes ignored beyond our supervisor and the lead of the department with which we coordinate, resulting in failed and/or stupid practices being kept in place. For what we do, our compensation is insulting. Unfortunately, I don't imagine this will ever change, as Vail has demonstrated that it fully embraces the notion that employees are dispensable and thus can be paid only enough to survive: a policy that allows for irresponsible burnouts and foreign man-children from wealthy families to be found all over the mountain. Stemming from this indifference is perpetual instability within most on-mountain departments which causes confusion, inefficiency, and substandard results; however, upper management can't seem to identify the relationship between constant turnover and sub-par numbers. To them, we're simply not trying hard enough.