Previously an amazing company, a victim of its own success and short-sighted management - Director Vail Resorts Employee Review

2.0
Dec 10, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You will work with some of the best, most inspiring, and unbelievably dedicated people you will ever meet. Expect to leave with friends for life and have a lot of fun with them along the way. The subject matter and industry will keep you engaged and close to things that you are passionate about. It would be hard to find better perks, with ski days being relatively commonplace and benefits very employee-centric.

Cons

Vail's focus on leadership culture, once an amazing learning experience and growth opportunity, evolved into a manipulative atmosphere that was constantly the enemy of progress. As a high-potential leader at Vail Resorts, you will likely be granted an Experience of a Lifetime at least once every few years. This will entail absorbing the responsibilities of someone who has turned over or been let go, while still keeping all of your prior responsibilities, receiving a pittance for a raise. You will be expected to regularly and outwardly appreciate this opportunity to save the company thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Don't dare say otherwise. The C-level retains a large amount of decision-making power well below their pay grade, and then inserts an unbelievable amount of time into even the most basic decisions with little added value. "Vail Resorts" is included in the dictionary next to the definition of analysis paralysis.

Explore other reviews about Vail Resorts

5.0
Jun 12, 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
May 14, 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