Easier to get a job doing trails but sometimes not that easy. Smaller places you need to get lucky or know someone. Bigger places like the vails etc hire more rookies every year. Applying for a few jobs can up your chances. The best way really is to get a job doing snowmaking /early season snowmaking. They hire anyone hardworking, they try to find people other jobs when snowmaking ends. If you do well enough in snowmaking they're usually down to throw you in a cat. Also snowmaking is a rad job and worth doing once even to learn some cool stuff and meet some good people. Just make it known you want to get in a cat and get as much ride along time as you can, maybe some stick time so when it comes to it you're ready enough to go. Some places will hire from within parks but that depends on the place, how long you've worked parks, and some randomness.
But even a trail grooming gig though might seem boring because it isnt parks, but it's really good for learning how to run a cat, leave a good pass. Learn some blading windrowing trails and doing lift ramps.
But yeah, like anything else it takes time and doing it. Check with your local hills or if youre down to move check what's around on indeed, especially in the fall. Snowmaking > trail grooming > park grooming is a good way to go. You learn some cool stuff in snowmaking that is good to know in general but really applies to grooming especially park stuff. How much snow you want, where you want it, how snowmaking works in general. Or sometimes getting thrown into parks but just groming the trails or doing TBL type stuff while learning. I had a tiny bit if stick time here snd there from years of working parks, then got on a night hand crew> "park" grooming doing 90% TBL, trail, or puting passes in some of our wider parks. Then did snowmsking early season a couple years, then got a fulll time trail grooming gig for the summer. Trails is pretty fun. Especially taking a mangled trail and getting it flat again.
Working nights sucks but it's part of it. You might get stuck in a pack grooming situation at the big mtns but sometimes that isn't bad to learn.
If you get a job, do your best, learn when people tell you things to help you, try not to fuck anything up too hard, dont burn any bridges(ski industry is small), listen to some shitty music, and have fun brapping around and picking up new skills.
Thanks so much homie?All my coaches and the guys on park crew at my mountain keep saying that when I’m 18 our head groomers gotta get me in a cat but we’ll see what happens. Snowmaking does sound cool tho.
Word, stay up with those contacts. Idk if you've been doing day staff but that's a good start as well to learn how to maintain features. Good to be able to use a spork and shovel, fun to build things clean enough to not spork too. do some ride alongs when you can. If the chance to go out with somebody is on grave shift(midnight-9) shift, take it even if you're waking up to go out for a few hours at 3 am. I've seen several times where somebody was given chances to get in a cat but never made any effort and people stopped hitting them up about it. Once you get in a cat, stay at that mountain for a bit and keep learning at least until you're hirable somewhere else. But yeah man, stay on it, good luck. The pay is shit, the hours are weird, but it's a cool gig.
