When arrogant deal guys pretend they're seasoned operators and leaders - Manager Vail Resorts Employee Review

1.0
Dec 21, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It's easy to skate by when nobody around you, especially senior leaders, knows what he/ she is doing. If you're lucky enough to be considered "high potential" (a label bestowed to only marginalized demographics or those able to check their values and dignity at the door) you'll have no problem hiding your ineptitude.

Cons

Senior leaders (especially the C-suite) are just Wall Street deal guys with minimal operating experience and, as such, have little idea how to efficiently operate a business. Vail Resorts grows revenue primarily through resort acquisition, but the company isn't leveraging its scale to the fullest extent possible and inefficiencies exist everywhere. This is especially true of the corporate functions -- e.g. Finance, Shared Services, Marketing and the call center). In these functions in particular, people are in charge simply because they blindly smile and nod at their boss' inane ideas or unrealistic plans. Knowledge and experience are in short supply with this group, resulting in a chaotic environment where nothing gets accomplished and employee churn is unsustainable. Making matter's worse, leaderships' arrogance and pride prevent them from accepting that others in the business, people actually operating the business, may have knowledge on how to run things more efficiently. As such, there is little hope for change and organic growth of the top or bottom line will be much less than they'd be if the company let operators do what they do best: i.e. implement enterprise technology, develop intelligent employees (and pay them a competitive salary so they stick around), implement efficient and scalable processes, and leverage data to gain insights which, in turn, increase efficiencies and the bottom line. Overall, Vail Resort's is place where blowhards and yes-men thrive and anyone with expertise and a spine sees their career stunted.

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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