SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Great Bear Ski Valley in Sioux Falls is gearing up for winter with a pair of special events.
The hillside is still a mix of brown and green, but Great Bear Ski Valley will soon turn white. That’s why they’re hosting a job fair this Saturday.
“Every year, we have to hire quite a few people. A lot of people are surprised when we tell them we have over 200 staff in the wintertime,” Great Bear Ski Valley Director of Communications Alexa Jerstad said.
Alexa Jerstad is the director of communications and says about two-thirds of staff return each winter, but that leaves more than 50 positions to fill.
“The biggest benefit of working out at Great Bear is the very cheap season pass for you and your immediate family,” Jerstad said.
“If you’ve never skied or snowboarded, that’s also fantastic because you can use that discounted season pass to help you get into the sport, if you’ve never been into it, which is fantastic,” Director of Mountain Operations Kyle Vanderberg said.
Director of Mountain Operations Kyle Vanderberg says the perks of the job don’t end with discounted passes.
“I work with a lot of really close friends, some family, and the new kids that we get to watch grow from first job to, we follow them all the way through their college to families past that, that’s what I love,” Vanderberg said.
Great Bear is also hosting its annual ski swap event next week, where they will buy and sell used ski and snowboard equipment.
“We didn’t know what to expect when we did it the first couple years and now we have lines from the front door all the way to the garbage cans way behind me,” Vanderberg said.
“We always get a good turnout for that event, with lots of families with kids that are growing out of stuff or people just want to upgrade their gear. We’ll have two open drop-off times next week on Tuesday and Thursday in the evening if you want to sell your gear, come on out at that time,” Jerstad said.
As for when Great Bear will start making snow…
“All of our snow-making equipment is ready to go, we’re hiring our overnight snowmakers, so as soon as those temps drop we’re ready,” Jerstad said.
The job fair at Great Bear Ski Valley is tomorrow (Saturday) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., while the ski & snowboard swap is Saturday, November 23rd from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
