forklift operator

ski instructor

instructor

cook

team member

WinSport

The best thing I can suggest is working in their cafeteria since cafeteria workers are paid minimum wage like lift operators but do 10x less work and stay warm during their shift. Being a lift operator at winsport was the most boring and unfulfilling job I've ever had in my entire life. A typical day at work is you sitting in a little hut alone all day in all sorts of elements, with people whining at you for the carpet stopping abruptly even though they keep putting their poles in the safety gate. People will try to trick you by using fake tickets and get upset and even sometimes yell at you when you refuse to let them on the lift. Kids will disrespect you when you tell them to put the bar down. You will have a lot of daily shovelling and walking in all sorts of weather. You will witness people breaking bones, getting drunk on the hill, and kids getting stuck and dragged under chairlifts at the unloading area. Your supervisors will dress up in non-company clothing so that you can't recognize them and they'll monitor your performance incognito. And all of that for minimum wage. Being a lift operator is easily worth $20 an hour for everything that you have to put up with. There are strong instances of preferentialism in management and people from certain minority groups get to bully coworkers without consequence because management knows that they're untouchable thanks to cancel culture. Most of their supervisors and managers are in their early 20's and don't understand how to run such a complex department that includes hundreds of workers. The hardest part of the job is seeing people slack off without any consequence but as soon as you, being a new hire, make the slightest mistake or dare to ask for more hours (of which they give you very, very little), you'll likely be fired. Unless they like you and you're one of their buddies.

I’ve had some good fun working at WinSport over the years and made some lifelong friends along the way... but those are the only positives I could think of. The list of negative aspects is almost endless but I’ll try my best to give some highlights.

First up is definitely the low pay. Be prepared to live paycheque to paycheque unless you live in your parents basement. To make things worse, hourly staff don’t get raises so while car insurance and groceries get more expensive each year you’ll be driven further into poverty.

If you’re hoping dedication and hard work will help you stand out for a promotion at WinSport, think again. Most leaders have their positions because their predecessor quit out of frustration, and were replaced by the employee with the next longest tenure. This means many leaders have no idea how to actually manage or properly train new employees.

This brings me to my final point, the utterly incompetent management. From the authoritarian safety department sucking the enjoyment out of every sport offered, to bizarre operating hours and absurd pricing, WinSport is flushing itself down the toilet. I have no idea how they continue to make the list of Alberta’s Top Employers as this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Despite struggling heavily with front desk and phone call duties due to my anxiety, I never felt like I was dumb for it at Winsport, they encourage success and for you to try new things despite if you struggle with them. During the winter it is extremely busy, especially during Christmas and Weekends, thousands of people will come in and you’ll be sitting there printing a million tickets. During the slow times of the day, you could play on the computers, we would play geoguessr or watch a movie sometimes/a show. You could take as many breaks as you needed in terms of bathroom breaks or to get food and bring it down to your area. You could eat while working, and you would also get up to 30 minutes to an hour break depending on your shift. The food upstairs was amazing and simple. You can watch as they make your food in the back and the food team was so generous they would often give me free food/drink. Some people were less nice and complete bullys, but it was definitely passive and behind the back. I lost this job due to covid and it was the funnest and best experience of my life. I continually re apply but have yet to be rehired. 

Typical day at work for me consists of teaching many different age groups, from young children to the elderly. Each day I learn something new at this job, how to adapt to different clients needs, improve my own abilities and instructing. The management at this occupation is efficient, organized, and cooperative. Every season I always look forward to having new co-workers that I can make friends with, and re-connecting with previous co-workers. This makes the working environment supportive, and unique. The hardest part of this job is figuring out new tactics for different learning styles, and maintaining a safe workplace while doing so. The most enjoyable part of this job is sharing my passion and love for sport with my clients, and maintaining a good relationship with everyone I meet.

Certainly can be full pace at times especially working with school groups, but can be pretty chill too. Everyone you work with are pretty sweet people but some lack motive and drive to actually work or work as part of a team. the reciprocals you get can get from here are pretty generous with free passes to other ski resorts, food discount, pro shop discount and free gym membership to a pretty awesome gym space. Corporate side of things are a little miss managed and I don't think they have the balance between there goals and their staff right.

At Winsport I was teaching skiing, group and private lessons to children as you as three years and to adults 50 or 60+
Usually, my shift began between 8 and 9am. Every morning we had a short team meeting about what is going to happen during the day. We talked about what can be done better and what was done well. after the team meeting, we were meeting our first group of clients. Usually, you had three to for lessons per day. Each lesson was 90 minutes. When the mercury dropped below -20 and you had to be outside could be really tough but it with the right clothing it is absolutely doable. I liked working as a ski instructor for Winsport.

Its a good working environment if you enjoy being out doors doing work. Lots of manual labor so its a good work out especially during the summer. Winter there wasn't much but still demanding. Staff are all friendly but change often and most of either finishing high school or from overseas coming to work. Mangers and supervisors are strict but fair. If you do your work and not slack off and show that your making an effort they will defiantly take notice and will be rewarded hard works.

Pay was good but hasnt changed pre covid so its now on the low end for everything except upper management.
Management can't make a decision to save their lives and will criticize any action they can.
They hire good people at the ground level but there is ZERO chance of advancement of any level.
Perks aren't bad if you are a gym buff or skiier.

Job could be really fun somedays as the events at WinSport had a wide range. However they could also get very boring and repetitive such as place setting for hours on end! 

I enjoyed my teammates the most and made good friends with a few of them. At the time we would do things out side of work and had regular staff parties.

I learnt a lot about events and if you work hard there is a chance to be promoted to Team Lead however past that there really is not much chance for further development.

Ive had 3 jobs at Winsport and the culture was the same.  They dont care if people are lazy or incompetent, so if you are a hard worker, be prepared to do everyone elses job, and watch them get promoted for sucking up to the management.  Lots of poor decision making and immaturity.  There are better higher paying jobs.  If you complain, they dont care, the boss will argue with your concerns and say come forward with issues all in the same breath.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Forklift operator 4 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Ski instructor 1 salary reported	$16.65 per hour
Instructor 3 salaries reported	$18.55 per hour
Cook 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Team member 4 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour

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