Understanding the Stress Continuum

Mountain resorts can be tough, stressful places to live, and the lack of access to mental health services takes its toll. Resorts have become increasingly concerned about the well-being of employees, especially their mental health and psychological resiliency. Yet proven, scalable programming to address this concern is sorely lacking, except in the case of some ski patrols—whose experience holds lessons for other departments as well.

Employee retention is often the impetus for addressing mental health issues. The costs associated with recruiting and training new personnel far outweigh those associated with support measures that encourage employees to stay on the job. Elly Orszulak, director of guest relations at Eldora Mountain Resort, Colo., cites an additional motivation: “After 15 years in ski industry leadership, I have learned that creating a culture of supporting employees results in happy guests.”