What's a good skiresort with high paying jobs or a big city near by?

Answer 1

To be quite honest, you will be hard pressed to find a ski resort that will offer a "high paying" job. The bigger resorts with cities close by that are more likely to offer better pay are Whistler (Vancouver), Vail (Denver) and Parkcity (Salt Lake City). Other big resorts to consider are Squaw Valley, Heavenly, Mammoth Mt, Jackson Hole, Mt Bachelor and many others throughout Utah and Colorado (there are so many I couldn't list them all).

What kind of job are you looking for? Ski and snowboard instructors generally get a decent rate of pay but will get very few hours. Lift Operators will also get a decent rate of pay and many, many hours as do ski patrol and trail crew. Inside jobs such as food service, rentals, ticket sales, administration and retail will offer median pay and consistant hours. Probably the highest paid positions are equipment operators such as groomers. These are jobs that require a lot of training and dedication but will most likely pay the best. Keep in mind that these positions are very limited and some mountains require a entire season of training/work in a different position before you will be considered for a grooming position.

If you are looking for a job where the pay will be okay and you will get the opportunity to experience mountain living, then working for a ski resort is a great thing. Don't expect huge wages but you will meet a ton of great people and have a lot of fun doing it.