Workers say ski business jobs assist, however low pay and weak advantages problem life-style
Carson Roithmayr works Dec. 16 at Ski Barn in Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
A beanie perched atop shaggy, grown-out hair. A near-permanent goggle tan. Money tied up in eight pairs of skis, with a faint scent of reefer hanging within the air.
The ski bum has come to symbolize a contemporary type of freedom lengthy related to the American West. For years, the time period served as a counterculture label, describing a way of life that prioritized private freedom and connection to the outside over materials items.
In its early days – when Purgatory Resort was nonetheless discovering its footing and Silverton’s backcountry remained a little-known secret – Durango attracted this subculture.
Today it nonetheless exists. Durango’s 20-somethings proceed to chase powder, however the sensible actuality of creating it work has shifted amid rising prices of residing and speedy progress within the ski business. That shift mirrors broader challenges going through youthful generations: steep housing prices and an unsure job market.
“In the winter, it’s pretty much all skiing,” mentioned Carson Roithmayr, a Fort Lewis College scholar.
Exactly how a lot time he devotes to the game is troublesome to quantify. Roithmayr spends hours every week at his job in a ski store, in addition to untold hours tuning his personal tools.
Last 12 months, he clocked 50 days of snowboarding – practically two months on the snow. For perspective: Purgatory was open roughly 5½ months for snowboarding in 2024-25, or about 44 weekend days with lifts operating.
“I always tell people, if I didn’t work at Ski Barn, I wouldn’t be able to ski,” he mentioned.
Working within the ski business has lengthy been the easiest way to maximise time on the slopes and afford the famously costly sport. But in Durango – and throughout Colorado – rising prices have outpaced hourly pay.
“(It) was a lot easier back in the day,” mentioned Brian Buerger, former freeride ski director at Durango Winter Sports Club.
“The generation before me would say it was even easier than before,” he added.
Buerger would know – he’s devoted his life to the game. After graduating from highschool in Indiana, he beelined to Colorado in pursuit of the snowboarding he’d solely heard about.
“It just seemed natural to make that move, you know, there’s something about skiing that kind of grabs you, and I didn’t see a future without skiing,” he mentioned. “So I did everything I could to make sure that was my life. There’s a lot of sacrifice that went into – I guess you can call it ski bumming – family relationships, housing stability, food.”
It wasn’t straightforward – Buerger lived in a 200-square-foot shack with out operating water for a decade – however inexpensive housing was simpler to search out again within the day.
“In the ’90s and in the early 2000s – up until recently – I would consider myself definitely a ski bum,” he mentioned. “And its like, you could do a part-time job and still pay rent and afford to eat and pay bills fairly easily.”
Avery Wickes in her 400-square-foot condominium on the north aspect of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
In comparability, Avery Wickes, a latest FLC graduate, is doing the notorious “Durango tango” – juggling three jobs to afford her 400-square-foot condominium and sustain with the payments.
Though she grew up with a ski resort virtually in her yard (Hesperus), she didn’t begin snowboarding till about six years in the past, when she gained extra monetary independence. Her household couldn’t afford it when she was a child.
She skilled the frenzy of hurtling downhill on skies whereas working as a raise op at Hesperus. That first job within the business, she mentioned, served as a pipeline into extra expansive terrain – and broader data.
Now, she works at Ski Barn, an area store the place worker perks assist preserve the game – and life-style – inexpensive. Workers obtain season passes to Purgatory and Telluride, in addition to discounted gear.
Her two different jobs – a web-based advertising job and secure home sitting gigs – permit her to pay hire and construct a financial savings.
“I would love to be a homeowner. That’s like, top of my list right now, and so I’m just at the place now where I have enough jobs, where I have income, that I can save for future me,” she mentioned.
A tradition shift
To some, the ski group has modified together with the financial realities.
Buerger described Summit Valley’s ski scene many years in the past as a tight-knit group, introduced collectively nearly solely by the love of snowboarding.
“All we wanted was to be surrounded by people that like skiing,” he mentioned.
Personalities, backgrounds and expertise didn’t matter – as long as they shared the will, above nearly anything, to be snowboarding.
“It was easier in that way too, because there was more of us, I felt like, making it happen,” Buerger mentioned. “And there was kind of like this community of ski bums and passionate ski enthusiasts and snowboarders and even like ski bikers that, you know, we were just all hanging out together and ripping together.”
That tradition nonetheless exists, he mentioned – but it surely doesn’t really feel fairly as robust anymore.
Wickes agrees.
To her, it appears the tradition has shifted from what it was earlier than the rise of contemporary know-how and social media.
It appeared friendlier and extra centered on the enjoyment of being outdoors, on sticks. Wickes hypothesized social media has pushed the main focus towards gear – new jackets, setups, boots – as a substitute of snowboarding itself.
“We have nonstop conversations about this in the shop, just like, what are we going to do to keep this community alive? What does it look like for our futures?” she mentioned.
For her and her friends, one of many methods to make the approach to life sustainable and keep it up the tradition is thru a profession within the ski business. But it’s not a protected wager.
There was a three-year interval when Wickes was lifeless set on residing a way of life just like the one Buerger pulled off. But now, she mentioned, that appears much less and fewer reasonable.
Most entry-level jobs within the business don’t present medical insurance, and climbing the ranks can really feel exhausting and unsure.
“If you want this to be a career, you will spend years climbing that ladder,” she mentioned.
According to her, the business is oversaturated – a sentiment echoed by Buerger.
The upper-level jobs that pay nicely and have stability are few and much between. In many ski cities, the workers is a revolving door of school college students and short-time residents.
Carson Roithmayr works Dec. 16 on the Ski Barn in Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Nearing 50, Buerger just lately left his job in Durango to educate in Aspen, the place he’ll obtain advantages like well being care.
Wickes and Roithmayr have seen the sacrifices made by the era earlier than them – and anticipate a fair steeper climb forward.
“I’m not sure that I’m willing to keep doing it – like it’s exhausting, it’s exhausting,” Wickes mentioned. “So do I consider myself a retiring ski bum? Yeah, maybe. There was a time that I was dead set on living out of my truck and doing the backcountry stuff – but I cannot maintain that kind of lifestyle.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
Avery Wickes in her 400-square-foot condominium Dec. 17 on the north aspect of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)