restaurant manager

chef

ski instructor

sous chef

human resources manager

Aspen Skiing Company

I worked in the accounting department handling cash at the Little Nell.  From day one, management demonstrated a lack professionalism. I was constantly being asked to do things with cash against the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) such as cashing employees' paychecks from the company safe. 

It became increasingly uncomfortable after asking for a pay raise and being told "We don't give merit-based raises here, it's our philosophy as a company."  Interestingly, I had been told the opposite when I was hired on.  I later found out that Skico does, in fact, give merit raises and that a round of raises had just happened.  I resigned at this point.  

Their "affordable" health insurance plan will put you out of pocket over $200/month for an individual.  Their argument for paying low wages is that you get a free ski pass and two weeks vacation a year (only for full time year-round employees).  So, if you value cash compensation, a professional work environment, honesty/integrity, and opportunities to increase your pay, don't even think about working here.  One senior manager described the company to me as a "free-for-all" and I couldn't agree more!

A typical day of work was like being a firefighter without a hose or water. I worked in  more than one department in my six years with the organization and one of the most disappointing experiences was constant system / software failures for critical programs like payroll. "Workarounds" were more commonly employed by management than actual solutions which resulted in more work and longer nights for the littler guys actually executing the work. Management was never available due to an excessive schedule of meetings. Expectations to perform without proper tools / software or solutions to ongoing issues made for a cumbersome working experience. My understanding is that not much has changed since my departure from the company, as told by current employees or those who have more recently departed themselves. 

Basic IT Support job / answer/fix daily problems (TVs, computers, sound system, guest issues, phones, cabling, etc). 

Hardest part of the job: 
. Approximately 80% of repetitive issues that could be resolved easily but are not. Do not try to look further into it or propose a stable solution as you will get a written blame or simply never receive an answer.
. Deal with a non-existing / non-existent manager that you will barely see every week.
. Outdated system.
. Total disconnection between department and HR. Rules asked by IT management against global HR policy.
. Very low wage for Aspen, be ready to work 45+ hours a week (plus oncall) and spend more than half of your pay in housing. Do not complain or expose your issues as "you have the chance to live in the Aspen valley". 

Enjoyable part:
. The hospitality side of the job can be nice as you meet and work with some good people.
. Outdoor IT projects
. Face guest issues

After working for the company for 4 years, I've come to realize they care more about profits than their employees. They hire temps at an hourly wage that is $3/hr more than employees who have worked all season and is comparable to employees who have been here for over 4 years. They own the housing buildings that their employees live in and keep jacking up the rent because, "rent in the area is going up and we have to be competitive." The company is two faced; they market about how much they care about the environment but they don't recycle and they talk about being a part of the community however I can't tell you 1 local that's happy with how SkiCo is running themselves.  Everything at SkiCo (lift tickets, food prices, rent on their housing) is going up except for employee retention/appreciation.

Working for one of the busiest and popular hotels in Aspen, CO was a great opportunity to enhance my skills in guest service.  I not only had the pleasure of welcoming out of town guests, but enjoyed the presence of the local community in our lobby lounge.  The fast paced environment could be challenging, but my ability to quickly troubleshoot any guest requests was lead with a sense of urgency.  The most fulfilling part of the job was seeing guests return year after year and getting to know them personally, not just professionally.  It heartwarming to have return guests ask about family, friends and care about you.  Building those relationships did take some time!  I would sometimes be at the hotel upwards of 15 hours a day in our busiest seasons. 
Overall, I embraced the long hours and enjoyed the rewards of guest appreciation, great benefits and a great team atmosphere.

Aspen Snowmass is basically a retirement community on skis. They were very unwelcoming to new hires and I felt very junior in my role all season. I was hired as a full time employee and had more weeks where I did not work full time hours. There are so many rich people in Aspen management was unreceptive to my complaints that I was trying to survive. Communication with supervisors all had to go through a middle man and it was *very* frustrating. I've never not been allowed to have my boss's phone number at work! The hardest part of the job was trying to break into this ski school, someone told me most instructors here don't work more than they work their first three seasons. Don't be fooled by the higher pay like I was, go for a mountain that will pay you 8 hours a day, overtime and not over hire staff.

To be honest, It was one of the worst jobs I've ever had. The job itself was really easy. What made it terrible was having to work with my supervisors. They never seemed able to agree on or set a standard for what their expectations were. I would constantly have to walk on eggshells not knowing if they were going to get upset about something. They just didn't seem very competent. 

The atmosphere of the company is almost childish. Ski instructors will act like they're special for some reason. A lot of coworkers from other departments would rather tell you how to do your job than do theirs. It's just a negative environment with no real growth opportunities. 

Having said that, I did meet a lot of cool people. The skiing was definitely worth it. I also learned more about myself and what I want in a job.

I worked with the Aspen Skiing Co. from 1990 till 2016. During this time I started in the front lines of one of the most prestigious ski resorts in the world. My initiative and leadership qualities allowed me to progress into managerial positions. 

My days were consistently full and interesting. I had wonderful and diligent team members and managers that were as invested as I was in providing exceptional guest service at all levels. From this, I learned that in order to be successful, one needs to be surrounded by succesful people.

The workplace culture was one of pride in a job well done and everybody working together towards a clear vision and attainable goals, while maintaining fiduciary responsibility.

The middle management at The Little Nell makes an absolute mess of things. (Chubby in particular is an absolutely imbacil and is incredibly frustrating to work for) In any given situation there are 5 people above me that usually have no idea what they're doing, that are often working against eachother. Employees are just at their whims. They make last minute changes only to decide to undo that change with even less time to spare. They pay worse than most other hotels in town and I would recommend working at any one of them before this *hole.

Supportive and fun environment. You get to learn something new each day and work outside, all over Snowmass Mtn. Managers work with you, side by side, and check in to ensure you have breaks. In fact, every GS team member is trained to look out for and help each other. Sometimes you can ski to work and back. Colleagues and long term employees are welcoming. The Snowmass Community is welcoming. It can be  physical labor in freezing weather, the locker room is still beaten and bruised, but the camaraderie, nature of the over the top guests, kind locals, great managers and the fun personalities of the team make this an opportunity not to be missed. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Restaurant manager 20 salaries reported	$71,300 per year
Chef 1 salary reported	$87,500 per year
Ski instructor 3 salaries reported	$31.33 per hour
Sous chef 1 salary reported	$67,500 per year
Human resources manager 12 salaries reported	$77,083 per year

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