It's great, just accept you are part of bottom-line corporation that is a slave to Wall Street expectations, not yours - Instructor Vail Resorts Employee Review

3.0
Apr 15, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Access to a sport you love in your free time. Outdoors culture, teaching what you love.

Cons

Access to a sport you love in your free time. That's tongue-in-cheek for the reason behind the unlimited access to low-wage employees who do not see the mountain as a career, but a pit stop. This seemingly inelastic supply allows for wages that in real terms (i.e. after inflation) continue to go down while lesson prices increase at double-digit rates. You are a profit center they love with very little power over how much you earn as a portion of that $800 plus lesson. Great for a season or two, not so great for a career. The economic rent you pay for doing something you love is an economic decision you have to make. Accept it, or find something else to do.

Explore other reviews about Vail Resorts

5.0
Dec 30, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

pay ski discounts employee housing

Cons

no cons during my* employment

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