Not everyone that heads to the high country right after college for a ski resort job has the plan of taking a break from the so called real world. How do think the leaders in the ski industry got themselves started? F & B, Liftie, Ski Instructor … you start at the base and you work your way up.
Young, passionate skiers want to know, what is the best path towards a ski industry career? Is there really a better route than to start from the ground up? I don’t think so. With your seasonal ski job, you begin to learn more about mountain operations first hand, and even more important, you fine tune those invaluable customer service skills. After all, a key to success for any resort will lie in the quality of service it provides to its guests.
Two ski industry veterans have taken on new executive marketing positions at top ski resorts in the Rocky Mountain region. Rob Perlman is now the VP of Marketing at Winter Park Resort and Chip Carey is Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s new Chief Marketing Officer. What path brought them to their current marketing roles in the ski resort industry?
“Rob Perlman knew what he wanted out of life when he was in high school. He wanted to ski and he wanted to work in the ski industry.”
Rob started as a cook at Winter Park, attended college in Arizona during the summer and the fall, cooking and skiing every winter. After college, he was a snow reporter and info booth attendant for Mammoth Mountain and then back to Winter Park at the age of 22 to work in the Winter Park PR Department. Then on to Vail, back to Mammoth and then back again to Colorado in 2002 to be the President and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA in Denver. He then became the head of Steamboat Resorts Sales and Marketing department, and has now been transferred to Winter Park Resort as their new VP of Marketing. Back to where it all began.
“That’s the thing that makes Winter Park special. Not only are the guests passionate about it, but the people who live and work here are passionate about calling the Fraser Valley home.”
Chip Carey, another well respected ski industry executive, started his ski career in 1969 at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. He moved on to Sugarloaf in Maine, then later out to the Canyons in Utah and now, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, starting his new position as Chief Marketing Officer at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
”The staff is very motivated, very dedicated, very passionate about the sport. Of all the places I’ve been, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team so passionate about skiing,” he said. “Once I felt those vibes, it solidified my desire to move here.”
Back to Jackson’s location. “You have to go the extra mile to come here,” Carey said. “That means people who are coming here want to come here, and that creates a certain atmosphere.”
Relating this to the local scene, I’ve always believed this is at the core of why people love and live life passionately in these ski towns, certainly not exclusive to Jackson Hole. They go the extra mile to get here, they really want to come here (and stay here), and yes, that does create a certain atmosphere.
Best of luck to them both!