Winter Volunteer Program
BOEC relies on over 300 volunteers from November through April to assist with Adaptive Ski and Snowboard lessons at Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin resorts. Volunteers are paired with a student and lead instructor and spend the day on the slopes!
Duties may include, but are certainly not limited to: encouraging students, brainstorming creative ways to improve adaptive skiing and riding skills, assisting with loading and unloading clients on lifts, and following clients on the slopes to help increase visibility and ensure student safety.
BOEC requires all skiers/snowboarders to be a confident level 5 skier or snowboarder, which means you must be able to ski or ride comfortably and confidently on all “green circle” and most groomed “blue square” terrain at Vail Resorts’ properties. You can link turns (mostly parallel for skiers) of varying sizes and use of speed control in all situations.
- A typical volunteer day runs from 8:45am to 3:45pm
- Volunteers receive an hour lunch break, typically from 12:00 – 1:00pm
- All volunteers must be a confident level 5 skier or snowboarder; Must ski or ride comfortably on all “green circle” and most groomed “blue square” terrain at Vail Resorts
- All volunteers must complete required documentation at the start of every season
“I volunteered over the holiday rush with BOEC at Keystone last winter and loved it. I am a ski instructor at my home mountain (which is super small) and was curious about the adaptive side that we do not have at our mountain. The staff was so welcoming and the clients were fantastic. I learned a bunch and caught the bug a bit. While I only got a couple days, the mission was clear and something I would love to support as best I can.”
“Hey BOEC, thank you for an amazing season! It was such a pleasure volunteering for the first time and I am so happy I got to experience a new way of snowboarding with incredible people.”
“Just wanted to extend my thanks to you and the entire BOEC for the past three weeks. All four of us were expecting a great and fun experience, but I don’t think any of us realized how impactful it would also be on each of us. So on behalf of the squad, just wanted to say how much we appreciate you taking us in, being so welcoming and showing us how to take part in such a special environment.”
“There is an endless variety of volunteer days at BOEC. No two days are the same. What is truly exciting are the days where a participant accomplishes something that he or she did not think was possible when the day started. Volunteering has provided me the opportunity to meet amazing participants, volunteers, and staff that I would not have not met without the BOEC. After many years of volunteering, I am still learning new things from the many people that I get to work with.”
