What does your job at Palisades Tahoe entail?
I work with Mountain Sports School instructors and Team Palisades Tahoe coaches to improve their personal skiing, expand their bag of tricks for teaching, and accomplish certification goals. I also help with all of the new hire training at the beginning of the season.
When did you start working for Palisades Tahoe and how long have you been in the Tahoe area?
I’ve worked for Palisades Tahoe for six seasons. I live in Truckee, CA, and have lived here for nine years. I moved here with the intention of only staying for one season to instruct, but like so many other people, I got hooked. I worked at Sugar Bowl Resort (Norden, CA) for three seasons before transitioning to working at Palisades Tahoe. One year turned into nine. I feel so fortunate to live here. We have so many outdoor spaces to recreate in literally in our backyard. We live in a paradise.
What did you do before living and working here?
I graduated from UC Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science, thru-hiked the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail), and worked in outdoor education.
What was hiking the PCT like?
It was amazing. All outside distractions get taken away. It becomes a very simple life. You focus on food, shelter, water, and walking. It was really neat getting to see so much of California from a different perspective. I was born and raised in California, so seeing so many different parts of the state that I had never seen before or put much thought into was really awesome. I also loved meeting people out there as well as all of the quiet moments and time for reflection. One of the coolest moments I had while walking was when I was in Oregon. I got to harvest Chantarelles (a kind of edible mushroom) right out of the ground and eat them. What was weird was the amount that I could eat…
What aspects of working in the ski industry have kept you working within it?
There are so many facets to instructing and I’m a total nerd about it. I love that you can go skiing just to have a good time and feel the wind in your face, but I also love the technical side of things – learning new skills that directly translate into the building blocks of tangible skills. The continual education I get to experience through certification processes as well as the ability to work with people have also kept me hooked. There’s something really special about working with people to help them accomplish things they weren’t sure they could do.
Are there any stories in particular that stick out to you about a specific day or person that felt really memorable?
Actually, I think what’s really neat is that there are a lot of important little moments. I think sometimes, we frame success by whether or not we’ve achieved many big goals. I think that’s great, and we can work toward those big goals, but what’s also equally important and wonderful are the little goals, too.
Were you involved in snow sports before working in them?
I was fortunate enough to grow up skiing and I really enjoyed it. I was born in the Bay Area (California) and came to Tahoe growing up. I never thought I’d end up here, but when I needed a winter job, I came here and realized that it could be my home.
Photo: Kate, taking advantage of another day in Tahoe paradise. Here, she’s hiking in the Tahoe Meadows near Ophir trail.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced while working in this industry?
It’s not for the faint of heart. We live in this beautiful place. In a lot of ways, it’s like playing all day long, at least as an instructor, and there can be really long days and so much work in a small timeframe. As an instructor, there’s a bit of a “feast or famine” dynamic. During the holidays and big winters, people work a lot. When it’s a slow winter, people work less. It can be tricky. Everything is double-sided. It’s a physically active job which is great and being in ski boots for five months straight is also not great for your feet. It’s a structurally challenging industry, but I think we take it on because it’s what we love and want to do.
“I am constantly working on my own skiing. I love that I can continue to improve and try new things. That’s part of what got me hooked on the lifestyle. Skiing fast and steep is exhilarating. Ther terrain becomes a puzzle that I am trying to figure out as I go…but mostly I just like making turns,” said Kate.
Have you noticed any big shifts while working at Palisades Tahoe over the years?
I still feel relatively new. There are people that have been here far longer than me. I’m still pretty fresh, but one big shift I’ve noticed has been with the creation of the Ikon Pass. Now, I think we see a more diverse group of people coming to the mountain. I’m hopeful that that’s one of the things we can continue to work on in this industry – bringing more diverse groups of people into snow sports and to enjoy our sport and the mountains.
Kate’s thoughts on being a woman in the industry:
We are in Women’s Month, and I want to touch on being a woman in the industry. This is definitely still a male-dominated industry, but I’m so happy to be working at Palisades Tahoe. We have Dee (Dee Byrne, President & COO of Palisades Tahoe), El (Elianne Furtney, managing Director of Ski & Snowbaord Schools), Kerri (Kerri Flaherty, Director of the Kids Ski & Snowbaord Schools at Alpine Meadows), and Robyn (Robyn Scarton, Palisades Tahoe Adult School Director).
Representation and seeing women in these higher positions, while kicking a** in doing them, is important. When I lead high-level certification trainings, it’s still not unusual for me to be the only woman there and I’m not always the only woman there. I want to be able to continue to foster that and to show ladies out there that this can be a career for them, too, if they want it. We’re here too and we’re doing awesome things.
