Working at Winter Park

Rosbif

Rosbif

Active member
I have a phone interview for an instructors job at Winter Park coming up. Looking into it it sounds like a good place to ski, Dark territory sounds pretty sweet. Haven't read much about anything else though, is it a good place to live and work? How's the skiing outside the park?

Also, does anyone know how it compares to Snowbird and Canadian resorts like Whistler, Kicking Horse, Jasper, Fernie and Big White? I haven't applied to the Canadian ones yet as am waiting to see if I get this job before paying for the visa.

Any info at all would be great, thanks!
 
I've never worked there, but i've practically lived there and skied there for two years, outside the park is sick, but there are alot of bumps, if you go in the tree's you can often find the nice stuff, and when cirque opens that is some great skiing!

as for the town, its not insane or always having parties go off, its mello, and really chilled, i love it there, and i was always able to stay busy doing something, i know people who work at the mountain, and many have been working there for years, so there must be something to be said for that
 
those Canadian resorts you listed have better terrain. i guess WP's pretty OK, you just have to know where to do. As k2publicenemy said, the Cirque is pretty nice... just a bit of a bother to get to. also, the mushroom patch is pretty fun. and if you dont feel like riding lifts and would rather work for your turns sometimes, berthoud pass has some sick skiing as well.
 
winter park is sick. The skiing outside the park is really good too especially on mary jane. persenn is kinda flat, but the cirque looks really good.
 
Winter Park is a super dope place to ski, live, work whatever. My dad was a ski instructor there for like the last 5 years or so, and he really likes the program. as for the park, next year they will definitely have one of the yop three parks in the state, and at least top 7 in north america. they havent been getting as many shots in skiing magaizines and movies and stuff, but i can garuntee, after all the exposure they will be getting in the snowboard world (the burton international team shot there for 2 straight weeks and there will be shots in every major film) the major ski films will flock there next year. This place is on the verge of blowing thanks to Bob Holme who has devoted his life to making a super fun, smoothe, flowing park, and with the new addition of dark terrritory there is much less of a concern of the insurance issue, so there are bigger features, but more importantly, less goobers. as for the terrain aside from the park, wp has some great shit. a ton of great tree skiing, as jeff mentioned earlier the cirque is pretty dope. so overall i woiuld highly recomend wp
 
I showed up in 2001 to teach skiing for a season, I'm still here and I don't yet plan on leaving. Be careful, it could easily happen to you too.

I think the whole park system is sick--and it's because of Bob Holme, the most devoted park crew in the states, and the mellow, friendly people who love it and ride it. The mentality of the park is not to cater to the uber-pros, but rather be the below-the-radar training ground of the next wave. With the Burton shoots and increasing attention from the snowboard world, I think you'll be seeing a lot more out of WP in the near future.

I had the privilege this season of showing some pros the secret stashes of the WP. They described their little tour as "more like Utah than Colorado." Yeah, it's not as obvious as some BC or Utah resorts, but it's definitely there AND it's not all located in the Cirque. This season, they are opening up one of my favorite pow stashes with a new lift.

Overall, my experience with ski school has been good. They know why you're really there and it's not teaching screaming 3 year olds from Texas how do a pizza (but don't say that in your interview). You don't work much until Christmas, you work your ass off for two weeks, then the work gets slim, but it doesn't matter because the conditions are so good, and then March hits and you work hard until the end of the season.

My advice, don't do the Employee Housing Russian Roulette. There are plenty of better ways to find housing. Live in Winter Park or Fraser. Yeah, it's more mellow than Summit County, but there's always something to do.

That's my 2cents. Hit me up if you've got more questions.

-J

 
i worked facilities there '02-'03 and '03-'04 winters. only left because i got married (and only to denver, still having a pass only to winter park). lots of locals tree stashes that are amazing. park has gone from one of the worst in colorado (01-02) to absolutely incredible (top 10 in north america by transworld snowboard last year). as others have mentioned the park stuff is due to bob holme, who is still there and is still the man, so that should keep improving. there is not a huge selection of cliff hucks or backcountry style lines (besides the cirque which is sweet, but isn't reliably open). but if you can enjoy an amazing park, less than average lines, better than average CO powder, and the best trees, than you'll like it quite much. i did/do.

ps. i do hear it can be difficult to get hours with ski school your first season or two, so you might check into more hours with another dept. or seperate part time job.
 
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