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Are most positions in the ski resort industry at or near minimum wage for the locations they are in? I imagine that the lift attendants and service folx at the cafes probably are, but do ski instructors, groomers, park maintenance people, etc... make any decent wages?
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Sep 14, 2019 16:37
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Most under-25 people I know who have lived / worked whistler services literally lived 5-7 people to a house, so that actually would be affordable No one ever said ski bum life was glamorous or comfortable
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Sep 14, 2019 17:09
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ante posted:Most under-25 people I know who have lived / worked whistler services literally lived 5-7 people to a house, so that actually would be affordable Red Bull's "Keep your tips up" show makes it seem otherwise, haha. Anyone have any idea what higher up positions in the maintenance department might pay for most ski resorts?
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Sep 14, 2019 18:02
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IncredibleIgloo posted:Are most positions in the ski resort industry at or near minimum wage for the locations they are in? I imagine that the lift attendants and service folx at the cafes probably are, but do ski instructors, groomers, park maintenance people, etc... make any decent wages? Though, all EMS work in general is basically always criminally underpaid, though patrol does way more than just EMS.
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Sep 14, 2019 18:15
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Most jobs in Whistler, at least the more entry-level jobs, tend to pay around the $15 an hour mark. I know a level 2 instructor with a bunch of prior experience elsewhere was getting $14.50 an hour last year. Groomers used to make good money here when Itrawest owned it, and the grooming was loving awesome, because the people who were doing it had like 20 years of experience and were making good money. So Vail fired them all, hired a bunch of newbies on barely above minimum wage and now the grooming is underdone and awful. IncredibleIgloo posted:Thanks for all the info, that sounds like a very complex and stressful situation. 600-650k seems like a whole hell of a lot too; I could not afford that even with a relatively high paying job. I don't see how many people could begin to afford something like that working the type of jobs that are likely available there. Dangerllama posted:Doesn’t Canada have some weird pricing scheme going on with houses? The TLC shows based out of t’ronnah always have people shopping for insanely priced houses on zero income.
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Sep 14, 2019 18:29
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Well now I feel a little bad for buying an Epic pass and giving Vail money. It sounds like they are really cost cutting to the detriment of the sport. What differentiates good grooming from bad grooming? I believe you that there is a difference, I just don't know what it would be. Is it the route that they run the equipment on and the reallocation of snow, or is it more about driving the groomer through where people will actually want to ski? Or is it a matter of technical proficiency, like getting the plow low enough in the snow to do an effective job? When I went to Sun Valley I thought to myself "Wow, the grooming is really good here", but I am not sure what criteria I used to make that decision. But perhaps that was because it was not crowded and the groom wasn't all skied out.
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Sep 14, 2019 18:53
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Eejit posted:Honestly it's housing in general, not just ski towns, but when affordable housing caps at $100k to qualify and it's $2000/mo, you're asking the unicorns at the top end of the spectrum to pay a quarter of their income. That's really as much as you want to pay. But then when you have people or households earning 80, 70, maybe 60k or less, you start to have insane proportions of income to rent. It just blows. It might be the market rate, but affordable housing should actually be affordable Yup very true. When my cousin did a season at Vail employee housing in Vail village (north side of course) was $430 a month for everything, private room. Shared room was in the mid $300s. Not sure he made money but he had a lot of fun.
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Sep 14, 2019 19:20
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IncredibleIgloo posted:Well now I feel a little bad for buying an Epic pass and giving Vail money. It sounds like they are really cost cutting to the detriment of the sport. Well I mean buy the pass that's right for you. I have an Epic pass, and I hate Vail. There aren't really a lot of options anymore and they're only going to get fewer. Good grooming leaves the snow looking even and crisp from top to bottom. Bad grooming you'll have tracks in between where one pass ended and the other pass started. REALLY bad grooming (or especially in the spring) and you'll end up with holes in the snow and random bumps everywhere. Here it's also about how much is groomed; I've been on green cat tracks in January that hadn't seen a pass all season; whether that's from Vail being cheap or from the groomers not having enough time to get there at the end of the night because they're new and inexperienced, I don't know. In this picture, even though it's from far away you can see the ridges from where the groomer finished one pass and started another, and a couple of holes, especially towards the top at the left.  I'm having trouble finding good pictures of lovely grooming, but that's the basic idea. It's from a combination of technique and time; when the groomers are rushed they don't have the time to do the extra pass a run might need to make it perfect, but also someone more experienced might have gotten it right on the first try. Meanwhile, this is a very nicely groomed hill, where everything is completely even from side to side, and you can't tell at all that the groomer had to go over the hill 7 or 8 times to get the full width of it groomed. It just looks like they had one, giant machine that made it perfectly smooth from top to bottom. 
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Sep 14, 2019 21:11
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Thanks, that response was very clear. I can understand more clearly why the grooming at Sun Valley seemed very nice.
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Sep 15, 2019 04:42
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Pretty disappointed that the Swiss ski resorts are starting to capitulate to the US tentacles. Sounds like the Vail bullshit is pretty bad for skiers.
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Sep 15, 2019 08:54
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My favourite Vail story from last year: So, Vail has the regular "Epic" pass, and the "locals" pass which from what I understand is a cheaper version for people who primarily live in Colorado and don't want unlimited skiing at all the Vail resorts. Last year, because their staff are trained absolutely terribly (not the fault of the staff, but the fault of management) multiple people who went in to buy an Epic pass were actually sold an Epic LOCALS pass, which has 10 days at WB. Apparently (this came out way later) some of the staff thought they were the same thing, and that they were saving people money by getting them to buy the locals pass. And the pricing is hosed up here anyway since the Epic pass is sold in USD and we're in CAD, so it's not like the pricing is this one simple thing when you're on this side of the border. The problem was, those people would eventually hit the 10 days, and then they'd get to the hill and be told "no, you don't have an epic pass". So the ones who did this early went to guest services, and apparently with a lot of trouble, were eventually switched over to the full epic pass when they paid the difference. BUT there were a lot (20+) people who didn't hit those 10 days until mid-February, and then Vail went "No, too bad, you bought the wrong pass, and since we don't sell passes anymore your only option is to buy day tickets for the rest of the season". These were people who genuinely thought they had the right pass (they weren't Edge cards), figured that since they had Epic Pass written on their passes that they did, in fact, have en Epic pass, and were then completely screwed out of the last half of the season because someone at Guest Services sold them the wrong pass. Like, I know, caveat emptor and all that, but here no one has heard of the local's pass. I didn't know it was a thing until I read about these issues, since there's no point in having it if you live here. We have Edge cards if you want 10 days. The people who did it probably saw "Epic Local's Pass" and figured that was because they were local to Whistler that it was printed up the top. And it affected a LOT of people. There were angry letters on Facebook, the local paper did an article about it, etc. And to straight-up refuse to sell these people the pass they actually wanted after February even if they paid the difference is just so ridiculous.
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Sep 15, 2019 22:38
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Eh, it's not hard to go online and read what each pass offers. It's not called a Local's pass, it's the "Epic Local".
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Sep 15, 2019 23:12
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Moey posted:Eh, it's not hard to go online and read what each pass offers. It's not called a Local's pass, it's the "Epic Local". Tbh when a person selling me a ticket tells me about it like they know what they're talking about, I'm not going to go home and fact check on the internet
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Sep 15, 2019 23:16
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ante posted:Tbh when a person selling me a ticket tells me about it like they know what they're talking about, I'm not going to go home and fact check on the internet
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Sep 15, 2019 23:23
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Yeah, I assume it's plastered over every sign in the ticket offices as well. I also don't buy my pass in person. But yes, I'll agree it's not ideal and after the fact you are screwed. Edit: Here is what the page describing said pass looks like. 
Moey fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Sep 15, 2019 |
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Sep 15, 2019 23:32
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Moey posted:Yeah, I assume it's plastered over every sign in the ticket offices as well. I also don't buy my pass in person.
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Sep 15, 2019 23:49
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Master_Odin posted:Given it sounds like the employees themselves didn't seemingly know this fact, this seems unlikely. Yeah, their employees are probably not properly trained, as originally suggested. I've never thought the passes to be deceptive in any way, but I am not a Whistler'er. Just some schmuck in a resort town in Colorado. I'll see if I can walk into one here and see what is hanging up.
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Sep 16, 2019 00:12
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It's not at all EVER mentioned on any signs. There's no point. As Master Odin says, it's for CO people, and that's a good 2,000kms away. All our signage is for "Epic" Pass. They don't advertise Edge cards either since they don't want them as a product, but there was a virtual revolt when they tried getting rid of them LOL. Literally nothing else. We've been under Vail for I'm going to say 4 years now and I had never heard of the Epic Locals pass until this year when that became an issue.
HookShot fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Sep 16, 2019 |
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Sep 16, 2019 02:49
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https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/plan-your-trip/lift-access/season-passes.aspx It's not a physical sign, but there is no mention at all of the Epic Locals pass on the WB website.
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Sep 16, 2019 02:58
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If they bought online that is there fault. If they bought it on person and were told wrong gently caress Vail. I mean still gently caress Vail (even though I have an epic pass...).
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Sep 16, 2019 03:00
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spwrozek posted:If they bought online that is there fault. If they bought it on person and were told wrong gently caress Vail. I mean still gently caress Vail (even though I have an epic pass...). Yeah, every single instance (that I know of) of this happening was people who went in person and were sold the wrong pass by a Vail employee.
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Sep 16, 2019 03:02
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I could see how it could be very confusing. The Veterans pass, for example, functions almost just like a full Epic pass, but does not allow the days at Sun Valley or Telluride.
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Sep 16, 2019 04:40
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My work reimburses $800 of fitness stuff a year. My $50 Epic Local deposit is the only thing showing up online so I tried to call the customer service number to get an itemized receipt showing the full cost of the pass that went on my credit card last week. Their customer service line is a robot that says the line is too busy and hangs up on you 
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Sep 17, 2019 20:29
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resident posted:My work reimburses $800 of fitness stuff a year. My $50 Epic Local deposit is the only thing showing up online so I tried to call the customer service number to get an itemized receipt showing the full cost of the pass that went on my credit card last week. Their customer service line is a robot that says the line is too busy and hangs up on you My renewal this year somehow has people under my "family" that I purchased buddy/SWAF tickets for. Also, they somehow got my pass associated with my father, who has not skied at a VR slope ever, so I got kicked out of line for not looking my age (had me as born in 1958). My epic mix stuff has never showed up since then.
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Sep 17, 2019 21:14
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Trip report: I took my uncomfortable boots to a ski shop near the snow rather than one in the city and they gave it another heat mould while I wore a toe cap on my bigger foot. Also switched to remind inner soles. It's still uncomfortable but only needs one adjustment during the day and the rest of the day it's fine. I think I can live with that outcome until the next season and then I can check out some new boots. It seems like the issue is the liner has a seam or lip running right on top of my nerve on the top of my foot and the pressure causes the pain. Coupled with my right foot being a 8.75 and the boot being a 8.5 doesn't help. I also skipped the "power" lace section on my boot (the one that is attached to the tongue and then pulleys through the boot eyelets for extra torque) which helped, although I'm still having issues with heel lift. Either way I had a better time than had I done nothing at all, and probably my best weekend at that resort I've ever had. Finally getting into hitting some jumps and getting comfortable going really fast. Got my season pass for next year ready and plan for 20+ days on snow. Wanna be able to land a big jump, a rail slide and some form of grab consistently by the end of next season.
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Sep 17, 2019 21:21
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My first experience with Epic this year is less than perfect. I keep getting nag emails from them that there is some sort of problem with my information. First one was that my military status was unverified. Thought for sure I did that, go and check and they have my kids status verified but not mine. So I do that again. Then this week I get a nag email saying that my waivers were not signed, and to go onto the account and sign them. Log on, and they are signed already. The day I purchased the passes their backend was hardly working, and other family members had trouble buying Edge cards for Whistler. Not too impressed by their IT so far, to be honest. But I imagine they are just getting hammered right now.
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Sep 17, 2019 21:46
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Quick Epic Pass question. I assume all the gates at VR are RFID and as long as you have a valid Epic Pass you just go straight to the lift?
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Sep 17, 2019 22:06
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Vail still uses manual scanners (at least in Colorado, Utah, and California). They generally are only at the bottom lifts. Once you are up in the mountain rarely see additional scans done. You do just go straight to the lift though.
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Sep 17, 2019 22:28
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I guess I am spoiled by Mt. Hood Meadows, which I would never have thought would be at the forefront of ski technology. They have RFID gates, and the beauty of it is that it automatically tracks your run and the computed vertical for you and then you can see it in a graph and get a whole season report. My favorite feature of the resort.
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Sep 17, 2019 22:31
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Steven's Pass used to have RFID gates until Vail came in and tossed 'em :|
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Sep 17, 2019 22:34
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Vail does have RFID tracking at all the lifts. So you can see your lift rides and vert and stuff. You get stupid badges as well. I find they pick up my pass 75% of the time. The best feature Vail has on the app is live lift line wait times.
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Sep 17, 2019 22:34
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spwrozek posted:Vail does have RFID tracking at all the lifts. So you can see your lift rides and vert and stuff. You get stupid badges as well. I find they pick up my pass 75% of the time. The best feature Vail has on the app is live lift line wait times. That sounds like a great feature. I assume it is pretty accurate? I like the idea of badges/achievements as well.
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Sep 17, 2019 22:43
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IncredibleIgloo posted:That sounds like a great feature. I assume it is pretty accurate? I like the idea of badges/achievements as well. I found it pretty good at Breck and keystone. The badges are fun but after 8 years of them meh. I look forward to my GMC Denali 20,310' vertical badge.
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Sep 17, 2019 23:09
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Got a new pair of 97mm width skis to supplement/replace my 73mm wide / 152 cm long toothpicks. Now hopefully on the 1 day New York gets powder I'll be able to have a good time in it.
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Sep 17, 2019 23:23
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Whistler has RFID gates everywhere and it's the loving worst because of a combination of people are idiots who can't figure out how they work/not to put their pass in the same pocket as their phone/what side is their left and also the fact that the gates that were bought (before Vail took over) are awful and don't scan the pass half the time anyway. My Epic pass fuckups this year says my husband and I don't have waivers signed (we do, we've had waivers signed for four years) and that he doesn't have a picture associated with his account but I do. It's literally a lottery as to what parts of it will be screwed up in any given year. spwrozek posted:I found it pretty good at Breck and keystone. Don't trust it on a powder day at Whistler is all I can say. Apart from then it seems to mostly work. HookShot fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Sep 18, 2019 |
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Sep 18, 2019 00:11
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HookShot posted:RFID gates So these are at every life, not just base areas? How do they limit people just sharing a pass? I've heard VR rewards their scan teams for catching people sharing passes, the prosecutes them for theft.
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Sep 18, 2019 00:32
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Good to know about the gates. I assume they are the type that have like a little turnstile that opens when you scan your pass? We have those at Meadows, and every single peak day I see a kid who can't figure it out, so their parent swipes their pass on the turnstile, letting their kid go through, then the parent is super surprised when the turnstile rejects their pass, as the passes have like a 1 or 2 minute cooldown between uses. While I really like the tracking the RFID tags allow for, I must say it was super convenient at Sun Valley where they only check your pass at the bottom lift or gondola, as nothing else is accessible without using those. Edit for Above, I would assume that VR RFID gates have a cooldown on the passes for a few minutes. Long enough for the lifty to figure out some shenanigans are going on.
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Sep 18, 2019 00:34
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HookShot posted:Housing We went through this same situation, down to the $87k number. Ugh.
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Sep 18, 2019 01:09
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Yeah, Sugarbush in VT added them two seasons ago with the turnstiles for just the bottom lifts and they have been mostly painless from my experience. They're definitely less hassle then having a ticket checker, and I get to see how many days I've skied when I go through which is cool.Moey posted:How do they limit people just sharing a pass?
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Sep 18, 2019 01:14
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At Perisher in Australia (Vail owned/Epic pass) its on every single lift.
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Sep 18, 2019 02:19
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