Vail Raises Instructor Pay

**FairWages** · 10-19-2015, 04:02 PM

Hello Instructors!

I hope you are all enjoying the days of fall and gearing up for another epic season on mountain. Your first day back at Vail will be here before we know it, and in anticipation of that, I wanted to let you know about a few exciting updates regarding our Instructors’ compensation for the season ahead.

To consistently deliver the Experience of a Lifetime to our guests requires that we attract and retain the best talent – that absolutely includes our Ski School Instructors who are responsible for igniting, or progressing, the love of skiing and snowboarding for our guests.

As we communicated earlier this summer:

Last year we announced significant changes with a 20% increase in the private lesson incentive and a 25% increase in the group return incentive, which were in effect for the 2014-2015 season.
We also announced changes in the status system that will now allow all certified Instructors to qualify for S1 and S2 status based on their productivity. With the new thresholds that we communicated last fall, and more Instructors generating even higher performance this season, we will have more Instructors qualified for the S1 and S2 categories for the 2015-2016 season than ever before.
In June, we announced increased wages for all new entry level non-certified Instructors, rental techs and indoor staff attendants going into the 2015-2016 season.

In addition to merit increases for 2015-2016, today, we have a few additional changes to announce for our Vail and Beaver Creek Instructors:

New Entry-Level Base Wages:

Compensation Change	Former Rate ($/hr)	NEW Rate ($/hr)
Non-Certified Pros	$9.95	$10.50 (5.5% increase)
Level 1 Certified Pros	$10.95	$12.00 (9.6% increase)
Level 2 Certified Pros	$12.95	$15.00 (15.8% increase)
Level 3 Certified Pros	$14.95	$18.00 (20.4% increase)

Private & Group Lesson Incentives & Increases
New this season, all Vail Instructors will receive an increase of $1/hour for private lesson requests, changing from $6/hour to $7/hour (which totals a 40% increase over the last two years). In addition, we will provide an increase of $1.50 per group lesson return, changing from $7.50 to $9 (a 50% increase over the last two years).

Gratuities Going Forward
We have heard from both our Instructors and guests that there are questions and confusion about tipping Instructors following a lesson – so we are taking steps to help clarify (and we hope, increase) Instructors’ gratuities.

First, at the end of a lesson, guests will now be able to charge a gratuity via credit card at any of our ski and snowboard school offices. Call center agents and location sellers will be trained to answer questions about tipping and provide guidance when asked. These gratuities will be paid out on the Instructor’s next pay check and applicable taxes will be deducted.
Second, to raise awareness about the appropriateness of tipping our Instructors we will provide information to guests about providing their Instructor a gratuity on various collateral and in numerous messages including: our website; online pricing tables/payment pages; pre-arrival emails; and printed brochures.
Lastly, gratuity guidelines will be addressed in our FAQ section on our ski & snowboard school webpage.

We truly have the most talented teachers in the industry and I am excited about what these changes represent for our team and our Instructors. Thank you for your enthusiasm and commitment to our team, our school and our guests – it’s going to be a great 2015-2016 season!
In the coming days you’ll receive more details from your Manager outlining next steps to return for the 2015-2016 season. Should you have any questions before coming back on board in the upcoming weeks, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly or the school at vbcinstnews@vailresorts.com.

Look forward to seeing you soon,
Bobby

Aspen's new pay grid announced in July-
http://www.aspensnowmasstraining.com/new-pay-grid/

Vail v Aspen
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1757775&type=3

**Vt-Freeheel** · 10-19-2015, 04:06 PM

**Benny Profane** · 10-19-2015, 06:39 PM

Wait. "Experience of a Lifetime"?

What?

**TBS** · 10-19-2015, 06:48 PM

Congrats OP - The years of unionization and collective bargaining finally paid off. Way to stand up to the man!

**PlayItLeo** · 10-19-2015, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by FairWages

Hello Instructors!

TL;DR

Look forward to seeing you soon,
Bobby

Wait - in addition to being a full time baker, Bobby is in charge of Vail's ski school? Is everyone getting a pair of RXs as a Christmas bonus? Invites to BBI16?

**fastfred** · 10-21-2015, 07:07 AM

good job fair wages all your internet crying facebook pages and anonymous posts on internet forums really made the difference

just don't forget to use the word EPIC in every other sentence per vail regulations

**HansJob** · 10-21-2015, 10:17 AM

The master distributes crumbs and the peasants praise his magnanimity. Fuck Vail. They're E.P.I.C.

**hatchgreenchile** · 10-21-2015, 10:28 AM

With all that extra cash, you should be able to buy a little 5hp motor and put a rope tow in somewhere. Great way to start your ski school!

**LightRanger** · 10-21-2015, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by HansJob

The master distributes crumbs and the peasants praise his magnanimity. Fuck Vail. They're E.P.I.C.

Yep. You get it.

We've had this discussion before.

When I make it to CO, it'll definitely be to Aspen and others. Our family vacation dollars will be skipping the MTN shitshow.