Building Tomorrow's Ski Industry Leaders at Killington

In this episode the Ski Moms talk with Kristel Killary. Kristel Killary is the Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for the Resort and Hospitality Management program at Vermont State University, based at Killington Resort. A lifelong skier who grew up at Pico Mountain, Kristel transitioned from a 12-year career in amusement park operations to Killington Resort before finding her true calling in education. She now leads this unique three-year bachelor's degree program that combines academic learning with paid resort industry experience.

Kristel breaks down VSU's innovative Resort and Hospitality Management program that allows students to earn their bachelor's degree in three years while gaining extensive hands-on experience at Killington Resort. Kristel also discusses industry trends, including increasing opportunities for women in leadership roles and the potential impact of AI on resort operations. 

Resources:

Program Website: https://vermontstate.edu/academic-programs/resort-hospitality-management-bs/

Campus Location: Killington Resort, Vermont

Partner Resorts: Killington Resort, Pico Mountain, Woodstock Inn and Resort

Key Quotes:

"Most of our students graduate debt-free - that's a true testament to working while going to school. The average amount our students make in their co-ops is about $32,000."

"If they can combine a passion with an education and a career - that's the secret sauce, that's what we all really want."

Junior Lease appointments at Ski Haus are open! Book for each child 16 or under to get skis or a snowboard, boots, and bindings—plus a free Tenney season pass, Cranmore ticket & more. skihaus.com

This autumn, Ulster County is the perfect place for a family-friendly getaway.  Learn more at  visitulstercountyny.com/

Join us at the Snowbound Expo in Boston at the Menino Convention & Exhibition Center from November 14-16, 2025. Get your $5 day passes or $10 weekend tickets with code MOMTRENDS10 here.

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Invest in your season with this TSA Approved carry-on boot bag, it's a game changer and built to last. 

Transcript

Nicole: Welcome back to the Ski Moms Podcast. It's season five and we're hitting the slopes. We're sharing real, unfiltered stories of motherhood on the snow. From conquering the bunny hill with toddlers to squeezing in your own powder days, this season celebrates every type of ski mom.

Thanks for joining us. We've got a great season lined up and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Today, the ski Moms are so excited to talk with Crystal Callery.

She is the assistant professor and program coordinator for the Resort and Hospitality Management program that runs at Killington Resort. This is a program run by Vermont State University,

and we are so intrigued by it and thrilled to have Krystal on Welcome.

Crystal: Thanks for having me. I've been really excited to jump on this.

Sarah: So why don't we just start with a little bit of background on your journey and how you ended up at Killington and in the hospitality industry.

Crystal: I grew up going to Pico Mountain, which is now part of Killington,

and I started skiing at like 4 years old. My parents are both skiers and we would come up on the weekends. We were weekend warriors. I loved it up there.

We eventually graduated to Killington,

and when I started looking for colleges, I didn't really tell my parents this, but I wanted to go to the college closest to Killington, thought I was majoring in skiing, and I found Castleton, which it wasn't.

I say found it, but my parents also graduated from there and I applied without even telling them and got accepted and then was like, can I go to Vermont? Which of course they said yes, majored in business.

And I started doing a little bit of instruction through Vermont Adaptive. So just kind of just getting my foot in the door. And at that time thought I was going to be a banker, not work in this industry,

but I knew I loved it. I knew I wanted to be up here as much as I could. So I thought volunteering at Vermont Adaptive would be a good way in graduating.

Graduated college, didn't find a job up here, so went home to New Jersey and had done an internship while I was in school at Maurice Piers and Beachfront Water Parks and found myself in this industry right from the beginning.

I did everything there. I operated rides, I lifeguarded primarily. I worked in group sales and marketing.

I stayed there for 12 years, still looking for jobs that I could find up here because my parents actually ended up retiring up here and I was the last one in New Jersey.

And then actually the same job I was doing at the amusement park opened up at Killington and I made the move.

Turns out amusement parks and ski resorts are pretty much the same from an operations standpoint. So it was an easy transition for me and I was excited to get back up here.

Nicole: So we want to hear about how you entered the field of academia because now you are, while you're working in the resort industry,

you're also helping other people and teaching them how to work within the resort industry. How did you make that pivot?

Crystal: So I always knew I wanted to teach. What I wanted to teach, I didn't really know.

So I went back to Castleton and, well, which is now Vermont State University. But when I went and got my mba, it was still Castleton University.

And with the thought process that I would like to start being a part time professor somewhere,

hopefully Castleton. But at that point I didn't know.

So I went through that. It took me two years.

At the end of it, I was pregnant. So I was kind of rushing.

And I would say a couple months later, my boss at Killington reached out to me and said, you know, the resort and hospitality management program is looking for a marketing professor.

Would you at all be interested? And I'm like,

heck yes. Yeah. So I started teaching part time for the program in 2022 and it was really like two classes a year and it was marketing and marketing research.

And then the person, the founder of the program, the old program coordinator, Frank Palsay,

started talking about retirement and I started teaching more of the co op classes because I was working at Killington. So it made a lot of sense for the faculty member that was working at the resort to also teach the classes where the students were working at Killington.

So I just started taking on more and more classes. Frank started talking about retiring more and more. And that transition just really happened naturally for me.

Last year I was doing a little bit of both as you, I was at the Killington cup with you guys.

But now this year I am. I've settled into just the program and focusing on its success.

Sarah: So give us more of an overview of the program, how it's structured, what kind of like student would be a good fit for this?

Crystal: So it's a three year bachelor's degree.

And in that three years, students are not only completing regular college classes, but we have three co op experiences.

So we're at a trimester basis. We start a little later than a regular college does. We start kind of the second week of September.

They go 12 weeks on, one week off for three years.

And those three co op experiences two are in the winter.

So they have to do front of house and back a house. They work 35 hours or more a week at Killington and then they have a once a week class and that once a week classes.

We're really diving into what's happening on the job and all their assignments during that 12 weeks have something to do with their department.

So it could be they have to do a supervisor in service presentation,

so running maybe a safety meeting or something like that. So what, what's happening in the classroom and at work is kind of overlapping and intersecting with each with each other constantly.

And then we have one summer co op. So the students,

I try to tell them get it over with, do it that first summer and they can do that summer co op either at Killington Resort or Woodstock Inn and Resort.

And I should say for all of these co op students are paid.

They can also pretty much do anything at the resort as long as it's seasonal. So they can't apply for a full time year round job yet. They can, they just might not get it.

But they apply like a regular person. They go through the interview process like a regular person. Of course I'm meeting with the recruiting departments and setting them up for success.

However, we want them to practice applying, going through the interview process so they're not given jobs, they have to apply for jobs and they don't always get their first choice.

So like real life, they go through those interview processes and summer co op they can do whatever they want. But like I said, for winter co op they have to do one front of house and one back of house.

So they get to learn a lot of different jobs.

I think that's the beauty of this program, right? Is that they're coming out with so much experience already.

Whereas you typically when you graduate college, maybe you did an internship but maybe you didn't.

So I will say a lot of businesses, I didn't know this when I took this job, but people want our students.

So as soon as I got this job I got bombarded with emails of I need a student that's graduating, I need a student that could do an internship.

And students do have time to do an extra internship either in that second summer or in that third winter that they're here because like I said, there's only those three co ops and most of our students will do an internship at some point.

So really they're doing four to five jobs while they're here for the three years.

With that being said, more of the hand, the hands on doesn't really end where the co ops end.

Even our regular classes in the spring and then the fall are all really hands on. Anything that's a resort and hospitality management core class doesn't typically use a textbook. And that's because we're using real life data from the resort.

So for example,

our two accounting classes are taught by the controller at Killington Resort. So he's using real information from the resort and bringing it into the classroom.

So therefore they don't need a textbook.

And I teach marketing research and it's the same thing. We're using data from the surveys that the resort sends out and making real recommendations to the resort from that class.

Sarah: And tell us a little bit about where you see students going on to after graduation.

Crystal: Yeah, so our students go pretty much everywhere that we have students in 31 states and five different countries.

Most of them, I will say,

will stay in the ski resort industry for some amount of time.

Some of them graduate and they never want to see snow again. And they're working in Costa Rica, Mexico, even Florida and five star resorts.

I mean, the truth in the matter, right, is that we all change careers now. Like no one's really staying in that same career. And the beauty of this degree is while it does focus on hospitality and the, and the ski industry,

it is a business degree at its core. Right. So you can take that degree and use it anywhere. We have alumni that are in the military, law enforcement, nursing.

When they did, when they redid the bottom of the Killington Road, you know, it used to be like a crazy incline to get up here.

The girl that was in charge of doing the blasts was one of our alumni.

So our students are definitely taking this degree and bringing it everywhere. And then of course we have people like Amy Laramie and Jordan Speer who are on the resort leadership team at Killington and alumni of our program.

The grooming manager, the snowmaking manager, retail managers,

rental managers are all alumni of our program. So it's a really great feeder program for the resort and getting a new management team.

Nicole: It is such an amazing program. Thank you for walking us through it. Talk to us a little bit about what the tuition looks like. It sounds like a pretty affordable program because there's kind of built in work study into it.

What is, what are we looking at for like a three year degree? And is it different if you're in state living in Vermont versus out of state?

Crystal: Yeah, so we do have an in state versus out of state.

And I will say that for the last two to three years, our Students have graduated debt free and that is a true testament of working while you're going to school.

So the average amount that our students make in their co ops is about $32,000.

Yeah. This graduating class that just graduated a couple weeks ago now,

their total wages earned were over $610,000 because they worked a combined of over 32,000 hours.

And I will say, like some of the students, they make over 50 grand while they're here. Those students are typically working outside of those co op times. Right. So they're pretty much just working year round while the, while they're here.

Nicole: That's what I was really hoping that you would paint some color around,

you know, graduating debt free because look, it's realistically not going to be a career where you're going to land a job six figures coming right out of school.

And you know, if you are graduating, let's say from Princeton with $200,000 of student loans looming over you and you said, you know what, I really have a passion for the ski industry.

Well that's not going to make a whole lot of sense for that student necessarily.

Maybe they have a poetry major.

And you know, we, we love practical degrees like this that really matches students interests and that, you know, there's a job on the other side of this. I mean, of course we want kids to learn how to think and learn and how to analyze and I'm assuming that all of that is built into this as well,

but just with a lens of business.

So Krystal, what does your, it sounds like you've had a lot of pivots. What does your day to day look like now? Does it change seasonally or do you keep a pretty consistent pace?

Crystal: For me right now I will say it changes by the trimester, right.

So in the fall, like, and it's, I would say like for me and the students, right, it changes by the trimester. So in the fall I'm teaching a full load of classes.

The students are also taking a full load of classes. So I'm teaching four to five days a week.

Then when we get to co op,

the students are taking the brunt of the wait and I'm stepping back a little bit because they are working 35 plus hours at the resort.

I'm teaching one day a week.

That's where I'm getting the little balance, right. So I'm getting to ski.

I have to ski around, right. To make sure I can see the students working.

And then,

and then into the spring we go back to a full load of Classes, I'm teaching a full load. They're taking a full load of classes.

And then summer I'm teaching one day a week and they're working.

With that being said, I still get the opportunity to be out in the community working with the Killington Pico Area Association. We always have a student that works down there in the welcome center.

And I'm like, still get, I'm getting the best of both worlds, right? So I,

I'm still really involved with the resort. I actually am still an employee. I'm doing something different now. I'm working. My kids go to Killington Childcare. So I'm a substitute over there sometimes.

And so I still get to be a part of that and I get to be there to support the students while they're, while they are working.

Sarah: If a student was interested, if someone heard about this program and thought this sounded really interesting, do they apply directly into this program when they're applying to vsu?

Crystal: Yes and no. Right. So most of the students will apply directly into this program. They will start. We do get a fair amount, I would say two to four transfer students in from one of the main campuses.

I will say, like that's the big difference, right? Is that it's a different experience. Like you're not getting the, the regular college experience of like, you know, a thousand, couple thousand kids.

We're all doing different majors and there's sporting events and stuff like that. Now our students have full access to the main campuses. They can go down to football games, they can go to hockey games, or invited to all the events,

but they don't go.

All their passions and everything they,

they want to do are up here at Killington. So because they, they play, they live, they learn,

everything they do is up here. And our, our students are kind of like in cohorts, right? So about 16 to 20 students come in at a time. They're taking all of their classes together because all of our classes are up here at Killington.

So they're not having to go down to the main campus to take a gen Ed class. Even the gen Ed classes we bring up here support them in what they're, what this program teaches.

So we're not bringing up a chemistry class because one, they're not going to want that. We're doing the science that we have up here, typically as weather and climate or mountain ecology or even meteorology.

So stuff that our students are going to be interested in and also fulfill those gen Ed requirements at the same time.

Nicole: And are you offering student housing? How do the students, let's say they're coming from out of state or they're coming from a different part of Vermont. How do they handle the housing for the three years?

Crystal: So we actually have a dorm up here. We call it the Lodge, and it's the old Butternut Inn and Pancake House that we have refurbished into a dorm.

And it's actually a learning laboratory. So we use it as part of the curriculum of this program.

So they have their own food service there. The lodge is open year round, unlike most dorms. Because our program goes year round,

students are required to live there at least the first year. I will say most of them stay longer.

And how we make it into part of the curriculum. Right. Is that we have a food and service operations class. Well, they have food service at the lodge,

so they use that kitchen as part of that class.

The maintenance of the building. Right. Like we have to do maintenance of a ski resort and the lodges. So we incorporate that into some of our operations classes.

And even the marketing of the program. We have marketing classes. Right. So if you've been on any of our social media that is run by our students, we have a social media class, Principles of Marketing.

So whatever class is. Is in a marketing class at that point takes over the social media channels.

Nicole: And how is it split right now between men and women? Are you finding that this is, you know, a pretty male interested program or is it pretty evenly split?

Crystal: Yeah, so just like the ski industry, it's still really heavy. Males versus females.

We are seeing more and more females come into the program, which is in line with what's happening in the industry, where we're seeing more women become managers and vice presidents and general managers and presidents of ski resorts.

Right. So it is kind of in line with what's happening in the industry.

As a woman that worked in the industry for so long, it's been really great to see the program kind of mirror what's happening. And also almost like I know that these, that these women in our program are going to be the next, like amy laramie and GMs of ski resorts,

which is really exciting for me to watch.

Sarah: So you've been in this industry for a while and are you seeing. Well, it's wonderful you're seeing more young women coming into the industry.

But what are some of the other trends or changes that you're seeing that are exciting right now?

Crystal: Yeah, I would say this was the question I was like,

I think really, like,

from not only, like my side of higher education,

but also the ski industry is like how is AI and how is AI going to affect both? Right. I've been taking a lot of AI courses for education right now and seeing how it's going to apply in the classroom.

But I'm a professor that I need to prepare these students for the tools that they're going to have access to. Right. So I'm not against it at all.

And how the ski industry is going to use those tools as well in the upcoming years. I think that's really, that's going to be really exciting to watch and how streamlined things are going to be.

We've already really seen it with like, like the, the gates and everything like that. And really that you're mostly purchasing anything for a ski resort online and not at a ticket, ticket window anymore.

So I, for me, that's going to be really exciting to watch that unfold.

Nicole: Yeah, I think AI can be really helpful for, you know, give me a one year maintenance plan for this building or give me a prediction based off last year's numbers, what our, you know, monthly averages will be.

I also think AI doesn't know what it doesn't know. You know, it's got the data that you can feed into it. So it doesn't know that human experience of, you know, what are the.

Maybe it's going to be able to predict the growing markets, but maybe not the specific campaigns that are going to match to that market and ways to, you know, ways to get skiers that we don't even know want to be skiers yet.

So I think it's really important that you are training this next generation to think dynamically and to, you know, have that sort of growth mindset as well, to be really curious about ways that not only that they can grow, but the industry can grow as well.

Crystal: Yeah. And like right now we're using it as like, okay, use the AI as like a starting tool. Right. Like not do it for you. Right. Because like you said, it's not always going to be right and it doesn't know what it doesn't know.

But use it as like a brain, like use it as part of a brainstorming session like instead, like with humans also, but also use the tool of AI at the same time.

Nicole: So when we talk to women in the industry who've had these amazing careers and you have definitely manifested your dream job, I, I really just such a great story of this is something that you dreamed of and you've, you've got it at such a young age when you're thinking about more women entering the field.

You've got a daughter, that's often something that, you know, gets in the way. Is that that childcare component,

what are some of the things that Killington specifically, or maybe your program is doing to make sure that we're attracting the best and brightest talent that may not just be, you know, a white guy who loves skiing?

Crystal: Yeah, this is definitely like, I would say like a passion question for me why I love Killington so much and why I worked there for so long and I'm still such a strong part of it, right.

Is that they do support women in the industry and entering the industry. So I didn't share this before, but I left Killington, moved to Maine and came back and was rehired at Killington at eight and a half months pregnant.

And also it was October,

so it was right before the ski season. Obviously, like, you can't not hire someone when they're pregnant. But I just feel like that's like a testament, right? And then also they have their own childcare facility, right?

So yes, the guests use that childcare facility, but it is very deeply discounted to the employees so that we can obviously go to work.

And so yeah, every daycare has like hours, right? But this daycare is open seven days a week all winter long.

It has extended hours for employees.

And then on the scheduling side, right, Is that when I was like, okay, well, I have to leave every day at 4:30 so that I can pick up the girls.

No one is making me feel bad about it. No one is, is making me feel any type of way that like, yes, family first.

Go and get the girls and have a great night. Where I would say going back through my career and working in this industry, it didn't always feel that way. I'm not necessarily talking about Killington, but the how they support you in and your family,

it's just so important to me. And it's important for me to talk about that, right. And make sure that the,

the women going through this program know that there are support systems out there. And you also should ask for what you need, right? Because I nursed the entire time for the first year for each of my daughters.

And like, what did I need to be able to pump at work? And Killington was obviously like, before I even asked, they were like,

put what, you know, put your pump, you know,

obviously, like there's a refrigerator. There's all the things you could possibly need to get that done and take all the time you need.

There's even some moms that work at Killington that will Come down to childcare and actually nurse instead of pump, which is just, just a beautiful thing that you can, you're at work and you can run down and take care of your child at the same time.

Sarah: Well, it's awesome to hear that this is all being embraced and supported.

And I, I'm also thinking about the young men and women students that you have, seeing you as an example that you know, you are leaving and you have balance,

you know, picking up your kids from daycare. And I love that. And I think that will attract more and more young women to the industry as well.

Crystal: Yeah.

And even now I would say sometimes my toddlers are in the lodge. I'm like, nothing like having toddlers in a college dorm. Or if my oldest daughter broke her collarbone last fall and she spent some time sitting in class and the students are like, here I have colored pens.

So it is really just.

Yeah. Asking for what you need. And you'll be surprised at how supportive people can be.

Nicole: I like what Sarah was also touching on is that we need to give opportunities for these young men as well. That maybe, you know, we've seen the plummeting rates of men versus women going to college.

And I feel like programs like this, you know, sometimes we think the male brain is more prone to like doing things. They have that sort of like, fix it gene.

And this is such a happy compromise for the parents that are like, look, you've got to get a degree. You know, it's going to make you so much more employable as time goes on.

And this is allowing them to do something they're passionate about. But to your point, like if they wake up in 10 years and say like, oh, I don't want to work, you know, in this really seasonable business,

they can go to a resort that's year round and they do have this business degree.

What else would you tell the parents who maybe are on the fence because this looks a little less than traditional?

Crystal: Yeah,

I would say that's putting it lightly. Right. It's, it's very not traditional.

I, we have a lot of students that come through that, through that way. Right. Where it's a compromise with their parents and them like they don't want to go to college, their parents want them to go to college.

And it's a hands on experience while getting that education.

I actually was just at a vehicle maintenance tour with my summer co op class and the grooming manager is a, is alumni of the program and one of the students asked him like,

what was your like, like how did you get here? Why did you, why did you end up here? And he said, quite honestly, I wouldn't have gone to college if it wasn't for this program.

And he's like, I'm not that great at school, but I'm really good with my hands. And that's, and that's what got me through.

So what we do tell parents, right, because we have parents that push back on their, on their kids, and they want them to get that regular college experience. Experience is that this, you know, you want your, you want your kids to be happy right at the end of the day.

And if they can combine a passion with an education and a career, like that's, that's the secret sauce, like that's what we all really want and like I said before, is that if they want to go to a, a party or a football game or any of those regular traditional college things,

you know, Castleton is, you know, 40 minutes away. It's not that far away.

And they can take the bus or they can drive down there and experience them both.

We've also seen where the parent wins, right? And they go to the main campus for a year and then they transfer up here. And that kind of makes everyone happy.

So, I mean,

at the end of the day, we, like I said, we just want our kids to be happy. And if,

if they can go to college for something that they really are passionate about, then why wouldn't we let them?

Sarah: And graduate debt free in three years? That's pretty appealing as well.

Crystal: Yeah. And like the other side of that is you graduate in three years. Well, VTSU has a one year MBA program and they can be completely done with a master's degree in four years if they really want to.

And I feel like that's definitely a selling point for parents as well.

Nicole: That is amazing. So what does the application process look like? Is it a traditional. Like you would apply in the.

I think most college deadlines are around January 1st.

Or is it a different process?

Crystal: So it's the same process as VTSU has,

which is significantly easier than when I went through it.

It's a rolling application, so they always accept applications year round.

We only accept students into our program in the fall and the spring. And the reason for that is, you know, you don't want to come right in and start doing a co op and not actually get to like,

be with the people you're living with and going to class with. So it's a rolling application. It's just an application. Students don't have to write an essay anymore. They don't have to present SAT scores or anything like that.

Of course they can still write an essay which will be reviewed.

But it's definitely a much easier process than it was when I went to school. And I feel like that's just removing barriers that people have about like not necessarily wanting to go through the process.

Sarah: Okay, maybe this is silly, but do any of the students not know how to ski?

Crystal: That's not silly. And there are always one or two.

And most of them, I will say, are skiing by the end of the three years.

Not all of them. There's always one or two through the three years that are like, nah, I'm good.

And that's one of the reasons we added Woodstock Inn and Resort as a summer partner.

Because some people are really, you know, want that, you know, they want to go work at a five star resort. And that bringing them in as a partner gives the students that necessarily aren't there for the ski industry an opportune, an extra opportunity for a more high end resort experience.

Nicole: And what about transportation? Is this something where you'd have to drop your freshman off with a car? Are they going to need to be getting themselves back and forth or is that built into.

Is there a shuttle? Is it kind of built into the program?

Crystal: Yeah,

you know,

I strongly suggest people come with a car, but if they don't have a car, it's totally doable,

like I said, because they're cohorts. Like most of the students will just drive together to class.

And the classrooms are at the bottom of the access road. The lodge is in the middle of the access road. And then you work at the top of the access road.

So you're not going far and have to be a bunch of different places.

As Killington employees and VTSU students, they get to ride the bus for free.

So there is a shuttle up and down the access road and into Rutland if they wanted to go shopping so they don't have to have a car. The bus stops right at the end of the road where they live.

And they can get up and down the access road pretty easily.

But like I said, they all are really close. They're like a big family. They're always driving together.

Nicole: Typically, do the students have a favorite rotation or co op that they're just kind of so excited when it's finally their time to get a chance to.

Crystal: Do it with the co ops. They apply for certain jobs. Right. So they're not necessarily going to filter through every job at Killington.

I will say some really popular ones in the summer are the golf is the golf course.

And in the winter, it's snow, it's snowmaking. Grooming,

food and beverage is typically very popular. And also that changes, right? So we are just coming out of a time where we had a lot of students that wanted to be in grooming and snowmaking.

And it seems like it's shifting a little bit more into the food and beverage and more front of house. But every couple of years that shifts.

Nicole: What's the mascot of the Vermont State University? Is it a snow cat?

Crystal: No. You know what? The main campuses all still have their own mascots. So Vermont State University doesn't have its whole mascot. Right? So because I went to Castleton, I know that that mascot's a Spartan.

Nicole: Okay. I'm pushing for the snowcat for this program. I could put little ears on it.

Crystal: Well, what I've been pushing for is to have all the mascots come here and ski down and get a, like a photo of all the mascots together.

And then also having our graduates wear their caps and gowns and ski down.

I pitched it to them this year and they were like,

well, we're not going to wear caps and gowns. I'm like, you're breaking my heart.

Nicole: Oh, what about, what about food? And they're obviously not going to the local.

You know, at the dorm there's one cafeteria. They're sort of on their own. Are they having to be more independent? You said that's one aspect of it in is the learning lab.

But are they like preparing their meals otherwise?

Crystal: So the lodge has food service and it is breakfast, lunch and dinner. There's also snacks. There's grab and go food at all times.

Because it was an old pancake house, it has a different feel than your normal food service at a college. Right. So it's kind of like you're walking into the dining room, the chef comes in and out.

So it's a grab and go breakfast,

made to order lunch, but then they also put stuff out on, on the bar and then a hot dinner.

Now, well, I say, I say this is that during the fall and spring semesters,

that's pretty much the deal. That's what it is during the co op because we have students that are going out everywhere.

They can either order their lunch the night before and take it with them to work that day,

or they just grab some of the grab and go. Now also, being a Killington employee, you get a really great discount on food and beverage. So some students will,

you know, just enjoy lunch at the one of the lodges, depending on what kind of job they're in.

So I would say our students typically will eat at the lodge. Of course, they take advantage of being a Killington employee and, and will treat themselves more often than a regular college student.

Nicole: Anything else that we want to highlight about the program?

Crystal: I just think like my final stuff about the program is that I've seen now and you. And you have talked to one of the parents, right?

Of like success stories, right? So Calvin actually I. He. He start. He started in the program my first year of teaching.

And you know, he was just like any other freshman student. And you're like, oh, is he gonna get it, not get it? We'll see.

Time will tell.

And he left the first summer or he did a summer co op. I saw him again in the fall. He told me he wanted to work in marketing. I was still working in the marketing department at Killington and I was like, great.

Like let's, like let's go through the application process. He ended up being the snow reporter for two years.

He's still working at the resort doing a lot of the social media, a lot of the video.

And I feel like that's like, I call this like a passion career because I get to see those things happen. Right. They come in as like a questionable freshman and then they become really successful at the resort and a contributing member of the team.

And then when I was working in the marketing department, I was getting to work right beside people that started out as a student. And I just, I think that that's like the beauty of this program and why I love it so much.

Nicole: Okay, so we're gonna now pivot a little bit and talk about people go into this career, make these choices because they love the outdoors. And I love that you said your schedule is such that when they are doing co ops you have a little bit more free time.

Where are we going to find Crystal on one of those weekday powder mornings when the rest of the suckers are going to their desk job and you have the day.

Crystal: Yeah. So. Well, it depends on what day week it is. Right?

So if it's a Tuesday or Wednesday powder today I'm dropping my kids off at. At childcare, Killington Childcare, which is at Ramsead and just getting on the lift and going until my legs are too tired and then coming to the office and then going to grab the kids.

If it's not a Tuesday or Wednesday,

say it's a Monday,

Thursday or Friday,

then I'm going to just go to my first love, which is Piko.

And a lot of the reason for that is that my dad is still skiing. He skis over a hundred days a year and I know that he'll always be there.

So I get to ski a powder day with my dad. I will say on occasion we will call a powder day here at the program.

We did it for the last powder day of the season.

That was actually in April this year. I sent a message out to everyone and said,

no class today, Go ahead. We don't do it very often. I don't want parents thinking we're canceling classes for powder days. But when it's going to be the last one of the season, you know, most of them may not come to class anyway.

Nicole: And can you describe the difference between Pico and Killington? I don't know if our, that many of our everyone knows Killington, obviously the World cup, the beast.

But can you describe Piko to those listeners that maybe didn't know about this sister resort?

Crystal: Yeah.

So Pico is,

we call it like the smaller sister of Killington, but quite frankly, if it wasn't next to Killington, it would be a big mountain in its own right.

It has that small mountain charm.

One lodge. So all trails go to the same place, which is really great for families. And I didn't realize that until I had my own kids.

And now I realize why my parents went to Pico so much when we were younger because you'll see a lot like younger kids. You can set your kids free and say meet me at the lodge at X amount of time and everyone will make sure that they're at the same lodge.

So I will say it's closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which is why I said I go to Ramshead on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

But it is,

I mean it's where I grew up skiing. So of course I have like a special place in my heart for it.

But it's just such a family friendly mountain. And that's not to say that Killington's not. It's just that it's, it's on a smaller scale. And like I said, everything ends in the same place.

Nicole: And Piko has that old stone hearth where I think they still use real logs in it.

Crystal: They do.

Nicole: And I also love, they have all the sleds in the parking lot. So for the young families that are trying to schlep their stuff from parking to the main lodge,

that always made it user friendly. And back when the girls were just, you know, starting racing, they ran great races. They think those things Ran on time.

You could tell that Pico had set up a million races over the years because that thing was set, the timing never had errors like many other.

Many other mountains did. We are always super excited when we saw there was a Pico race.

Crystal: Yeah, yeah. And they actually do have those sleds at Ramshead because that's kind of the.

That's where the drop off is for lessons for kids and everything, so. And I think that's maybe why I. I like. That's where I like to start, too, because it could.

Maybe it's kind of more like Pico for me, but it's just a great starting point to be able to get to the rest of the mountain, too.

Sarah: Okay, so you've had your powder day and now,

you know, maybe it's a day you don't. You're not picking up the girls and you're going to have some opera time. What does that look like?

Crystal: Yeah, so.

Kind of gave it away already.

So, last run, lounge at Pico with my dad, because I've been going there with my dad since far before I could drink and just having one or two beers with him because, you know, he's in his 70s.

We don't, you know, he could decide to stop skiing, but right now he's. He's still beating me down the mountain every single run and skis more than I do, so.

But yeah, that's my. Definitely my. My go to opera even.

You know, if.

If it decided to snow right now, that's what I would go do.

Nicole: Krystal, thank you. This has been absolutely wonderful. I think we're going to get a lot of families interested in this. Where would they start their journey to find out more.

Crystal: Yeah, so right on the Vermont state website. So it's vermontstate.edu, and if you go in the top right corner and search resort and hospitality management,

it'll bring you right to the page where there's tuition pricing, there's examples of class schedules. It has my contact information and the admissions person's contact information,

and that's a great starting point. What I do like to tell people is that we want you to come visit, and that's because it's not a traditional college experience. We want you to see the lodge, the classrooms,

how close everything is, and really explain to people how different the schedule is. Right. Because I didn't mention this before, but our winter co op goes over the holidays, so our students don't necessarily go home for the holidays.

We get them home at different times.

But we really want people to come out here and and see it so that they understand the experience.

Nicole: Hey Ski moms. We hope you enjoyed today's episode and got some great tips for your next family ski adventure.

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