Group Sales or Patrol Lead?

I count myself fortunate to have decisions in my life, but they still make life complicated.

I recently interviewed for a day group sales position at the resort. It would come with full benefits, pay well, and would be an excellent introduction to sales. It's in an office. I would spend my days coordinating trips for groups of 20 or more.

Today I spoke with my Patrol Director, who offered me a Patrol Lead position (basically a patrol supervisor, with out the benefits). Pretty much a dream job, but pays very little.

I know you guys will say, "dream job" no brainer, but keep in mind that patrol is not my dream career. It is not something I plan on doing forever. I would love to be involved with resort management, and or operate a ski ministry (which group sales would be very geared towards).

I'll find out about the sales job later this week, I'm leaning towards it because of my ambitions, but patrol is incredibly tempting.

if you like people and groups = go sale

if you like skiing and just helping folks in trouble = patrol

dude patroll

I would say look at the big picture and which one is going to keep you living the lifestyle you want to enjoy.
Group sales sounds like it'll keep more money in your pocket and keep you at the snow.
Patrol would definitely be more fun.

My thinking was this...

While patrol would be incredibly fun, it would turn skiing into a job. Group Sales allows you to work "in the industry" while allowing your ski time to be all about you. That said, it helps when the resort/company you are working for understands why you are taking the sales job, ie they will let you out on powder days, etc. You can sell just about anything and probably make more money and have as much or more free time.

.....I ended up taking the sales/marketing route and couldn't be happier.

well, as a more senior member here, all I can say is, just imagine patrolling when you're 45, as opposed to staying inside in a warm, comfy office when it gets nasty.

If you take the sales job do you get powder days off? Or at least mornings?

I'm not sure I consider that a true "sales" job. But if you are talking about the ski area industry, then I'd agree it is sales. Its just not like sales in any traditional business.

Tough choice. I can't believe how little Pro Patrol gets paid. Especially considering the amount of training and work involved. Yeah, you get to ski a lot, but its still a job. It should pay more than being an instructor (especially since they get tips) or lift op. Maybe the low pay explains why some Pro Patrol are so surly.

Keep in mind that the sales job will involve a ton more interaction with the management team. If you like them, then that's OK. If you won't enjoy working with them, then its an easy choice. It also means dealing with lots of people from schools, clubs, organizations, etc. That can be fun but also a PITA. If you don't have a good disposition for it, stick with Patrol. At least on patrol your "customers" don't have a lot of choice as to whether to deal with you. Plus they're usually pretty thankful to see you (unless you are yanking their ticket).

Which resort?

patrol gets to play with explosives...
Sales can actually afford to eat...
tough call...

Seriously - you already know the answer. (hint: it is related to Dreams)

Yeah, but everybody knows that the Red Gods get the chicks...
And when you're fourty some you can still trade in your 40 chick for a pair of 20's.
Just sayin.

Perhaps I should mention that I patrolled last season, and even in a terribly dry winter it was incredibly fun. Both jobs are at that flat resort in Tahoe with the mtn bike park (Yes I have had, and would have the option to patrol the bike park). I loved the people I worked with, and working a day at Lookout means taking laps. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to lookout a lot last winter, and in 50 or so days we only ran one call, but it did involve a bird. Compared to 3-5 calls a day working anywhere else on that hill, that meant a lot of skiing, i mean assessing. We do little to no control work, but we do a lot of medical. It's a very different job than at the other tahoe resorts.

As far as the sales job goes. It sounded like occasionally a big dump might shut the office down until 10 or so. But for the most part skiing would be done on days off, or early hikes. I would be part of a team of 2 responsible for Northstar and Sierra. So I would be in South lake every other weekend. I would definitely be able to afford a pass elsewhere, and would probably have the energy to ski all day on my days off. When you patrol, you're just too tired to spend your entire day off on the hill, unless it's really good.

Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm pretty excited either way. At this point I think I will just let the Director of Sales make the decision for me. It's a pretty great opportunity, and I don't expect to get paid to ski for the rest of my life. But if I can make an honest living in a ski town, at a booming resort, that's not something I'm going to pass up. In the end I'll be moving back to Truckee in a week or two, and that's a good thing.

Oh, and if any Tahoe mags know of a group of disadvantaged kids (ie boys and girls club) that would like to go skiing. I should be heading up the Snowboard Outreach Society program at Northstar (soon to be snowsports outreach society), pending funds. I will be looking for kids in the area who don't get the opportunity to get to the mountain, and getting them on the hill for a five day program.

If it is an option, patrol for a year or two, then switch to indoor work.

I say patrol...time well wasted.

As a fellow patroller with another resort in the basin i would agree that it is hard making a "living". However, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Thus, it trully is my dream job. It sounds as if the honeymoon with your present position has worn of. As a result, you are exploring other options. I'd say go with your gutt. But by all means, never assume more responsibility without some measurable compensation. Our industry has a habit of making promises of future benifits and never following up.

The question for me, really, would be how much skiing will you be able to get in with the sales position--if you can ski every day at lunch for a few hours, and on your days off, I'd be inclined to do that if that's where you want to be (management) in a few years. But I don't imagine that on a powder day you'll be able to just blow off work very easily.
Patrol work has never interested me, my time digging holes in the snow and carrying shit around the mountain for JH race dept. convinced me of that. But as seen here, others feel much differently.

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Originally Posted by fluffballs

As far as the sales job goes. It sounded like occasionally a big dump might shut the office down until 10 or so. But for the most part skiing would be done on days off, or early hikes. I would be part of a team of 2 responsible for Northstar and Sierra. So I would be in South lake every other weekend. I would definitely be able to afford a pass elsewhere, and would probably have the energy to ski all day on my days off. When you patrol, you're just too tired to spend your entire day off on the hill, unless it's really good.

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I don't know about sales at your resort, but for the sales people at my resort, most of their real long-hour work is done in the off-season... i.e. travelling to ski shows, setting up groups, etc. I've done both on-hill jobs and office jobs (including Group Sales) myself for our ski area, and I easily had more enjoyable ski-time with the office job (and by ski-time, I mean non-work skiing). The office jobs also set me up for a nice cushier management job where I can take off literally any time I want to ski. And I know for a fact our sales office shuts down for almost every powder day because I stand with them in the early morning lift lines. When most people think of office jobs, they think of non-ski-industry office jobs, the kind where you're stuck at your desk 9 to 5 no matter what... office jobs at ski areas (myself included) are very different... most of us are on the hill everyday for at least a few hours... when it's a powder day, my boss knows not to expect me in until at least noon, sometimes later.

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Originally Posted by ak_powder_monkey

dude patroll

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Wrong thread.

Hey man. I am in group sales for a hotel resort in Tahoe. I cant begin to explain how awful it is driving to work on a powder day. I used to work at a spa here in tahoe. Worked 3-9pm every day, made half the money,skied every day, I was twice as happy. I regret taking the plunge into the corporate office world, and would love to have my old life back. half the people in my department arent even skiers, so trying to work late arrivals on a powder day is dam near impossible. Be careful, thats all i have to say.