Killington Resort Continues to Champion Women in the Ski Industry (1)

Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard destination in Eastern North America, is proud to highlight women working in the winter sports industry through a variety of initiatives. This winter, the resort put on a number of women-centered events, had numerous female-led departments, and hosted a discovery session for all employees at Killington/Pico who identify as women or prefer not to self-identify.

This year’s event calendar featured the return of some female-centric events, as well as the debut of a new one at Pico Mountain. On Saturday, February 7th, Killington hosted Park Affair for the fifth consecutive year, another sold-out iteration of the event series that focuses on fostering camaraderie and sharing knowledge within the female snowboarding community. This season’s event also featured Park Affair’s Build with Purpose, a park building camp on Friday, February 6th that created the venue for the next day’s event. For International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8th, our staff organized a group ride for our female guests and employees in a variety of departments, including Ambassadors, Business Solutions, Central Reservations, Mountain Safety, Mountain Sports, and Patrol.

Pico Mountain played host to the first-ever New England Women’s Demo (NEWD) on Friday, March 20th, a sold-out event featuring 80 women coming together to try out new gear and help shape the future of the outdoor gear industry. The event also included a raffle to support Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC), whose event series Love Your Peaks made a stop at Killington Resort one week later on Saturday, March 28th. The day’s proceedings, including multiple raffles and friendly competitions, raised $12,500, which included a $2,500 donation from the Killington Giving Fund.

The Women of the Mountains program, an 18+ women-only lesson group that met weekly from January through March, saw participation grow significantly year over year, increasing from 19 participants last season to 48 this year. Despite intermittent weather challenges, Women’s Camps led by Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht saw another year of strong participation, featuring high-level mogul coaching and video training sessions for women of all ability levels.

They were thrilled to partner this season with Dana Kent, an executive coach and longtime ski industry leader, to offer a Gender Equity Discovery initiative to all our staff members who identify as women or who prefer not to self-identify. Dana brings with her more than 25 years of experience in mountain operations, safety leadership, and organizational culture in the ski industry. Earlier this winter, she was at Killington for the NSAA Eastern Conference, where she moderated a panel on women in mountain operations featuring our own Ski Patrol Manager, Chelsey Moore.

The first discovery session for employees took place on Thursday, March 19th and was attended by over 40 staff members across a wide variety of departments at the resort. This session and future discussions will focus on four key areas: opportunity, advancement, culture, and safety, helping identify where they as a resort are doing well and where they can improve.

This year, the newly rebuilt Ledgewood Yurt reopened with an all-female front-of-house staff leading the guest experience throughout the season. The team consisted of Lydia Hall (host/lead), Michelle Peacher (server), Aspen Sikkenga (server), and Lisa Solinger (bartender), plus two female culinary specialists in the back-of-house, London Putnam and Florencia DeLa Canal, all of whom were led by Jennifer Wysocki, who completed her second year as supervisor at the Yurt. While this strong and dedicated team of women control much of the primary operation, it is a multi-departmental team effort to keep the yurt operating, including daily transport of food, dishes, and staff to and from this on-mountain location each day.

Outside of Food & Beverage teams, Killington & Pico continue to employ and promote women in several leadership roles around the mountain. Recent promotions have included Aimee Nealis as new Guest Services Supervisor and Chrystal Cioffi as our Banquets Manager. Korona Steves, a soon-to-be graduate of Vermont State University’s Resort & Hospitality Management program, was recently named new Conference & Wedding Coordinator, replacing the recently retired Sharon Mayer who held that position for the past 21 years. At Pico Mountain, Lindsay Seligman was promoted to Pico Snow Sports School Lead, where she brought her 25+ years of experience in snow sports leadership to lead Pico’s first season with the new Bonanza Carpet and newly re-graded beginner area.

Two female employees in the Mountain Operations department are participating in She Grooms, the yearly female-led grooming camp at Mt. Hood in Oregon that seeks to “bridge the training gap that unpredictable conditions of the winter season create by focusing directly on hands-on training for women by industry peers.” Faith Robinett, our Grooming/Bike Trail Equipment Operator, will be an attendee this year, while Halley Riley-Elliott, our Vehicle Maintenance Manager, is attending for the first time this season as a coach.

“She Grooms is such a wonderful event. It's amazing to be able to get so many women in the industry together to network, share knowledge, and try new things,” Halley said. “I’m so excited to attend this year as a coach and have the opportunity to share my story and all the tips/tricks that I’ve learned over the last 5 years working as a mechanic, operator, and manager in the ski industry.”

Killington Resort and Pico Mountain continue to lead the way in encouraging female participation in and around snow sports, both as recreation and as a career. Visit killington.com/jobs to learn more about employment opportunities for this upcoming summer and beyond.