It is what it is - Anonymous employee Vail Resorts Employee Review

2.0
Aug 12, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

VR is truly a place where the expectation is to evolve and bring new ideas to the table. You truly learn a lot about the business and learn from really intelligent people who really try to push the needle on making the customer experience special. Every other ski company in the world is jealous of what has been created on the backs of the employees all across the company. The experience is worthwhile but...........

Cons

The company makes money hand over fist but don't expect to see it. The attitude from the top is you are lucky to be here and if you leave, oh well, everybody can replaced. The problem is that if you are a Director or above, you are on the chopping block and if you are VP, your life expectancy is 1-2 years Max unless you Politicked or wormed your way in with Rob or one of his C-ronies. (C Level). When people are not replaced, expectations do not change from the top and the work flows down hill. You have to get your job done, the person who was not replaced and then at the end of the year they will review you in a group setting saying how disappointing you are so they don't have to give you an exceeds expectations which means they have to give a 3% raise instead of a 3.5% which saves them basically nothing when everybody gets tired and fed up that they leave and the cycle continues.

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
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