Seasonal workers left in limbo waiting for cooler weather and ski resorts to open

SALT LAKE CITY — The late start for the ski season is leaving seasonal workers waiting — many without pay.

Ski resort workers need to make themselves available for their winter employers, but generally finish with their summer positions by mid-November. As part of the hiring agreements with ski resorts, they are generally required to make themselves available for the start of the season.

“The longer that the snow takes to get here, the longer we spend in this limbo area where, okay, our winter employer wants us to be free, but if we’re not really working, then how do we maintain our finances?” said Sydney Hyer, Mountain Village vice president for the Park City Professional Ski Patrol.

She said it’s especially hard for those coming out of state.

“They come here for the fall and then they don’t have any employment for the time that they’re waiting for the ski season to start,” Hyer said. “They’ve left their jobs to be here when our winter employer asked us to be here. And now they’re just stuck unemployed, waiting for the season to begin.”

Even after the season starts, it can be difficult for workers to get the hours they need, especially if there is little snow on the mountain.

“So there’s less area to ski, which means you need less people to staff the mountain, which means that less people are called back to work,” Hyer said.

She said if companies choose to call everyone back instead of calling fewer people, those called in may be working reduced hours to accommodate.

“The reduced hours thing is nice because then that means more people on there are on the mountain working, but it’s also challenging because there you are working and you’re not really working all that you wish you were,” Hyer said.

She said to make up the difference, many choose to work smaller, less committed jobs, like dog walking or nannying. Some might even have a contact to do a bit of bar keeping.

“It becomes this game of scrapping everything together and making it work until you actually do have work,” Hyer said.

For now ,workers are still waiting and watching.

“Low snow means not a lot of mountain to ski, means not a lot of workers to staff the mountain”, Hyer said. “Everybody just kind of waits until there really is snow and there really is an opportunity to work.”