Terrain-Park Designer
Chris "Gunny" Gunnarson
32, Truckee, CA
Job Description: Founder and president of Snow Park Technologies, a 17-person company that designs high-quality ski-and-snowboard terrain parks for resorts and events like the X Games.
Why This Work Rules: The daily grind is pretty glorious. "I don't ever have to wear a tie," Gunnarson says. "I don't have to shave, and I get to surf, skate, and snowboard as a major part of my work." He also jet-sets across the country, building parks and surveying and maintaining others designed by his crew. His own stature as an industry celeb has found him riding with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Emilio Estevez, and Seal.
Turning Point: Growing up at the beaches and skate parks of Southern California, Gunnarson first tried snowboarding on his 13th birthday at Mountain High, a small resort in SoCal's San Gabriel Mountains. "That first weekend, I said, 'I want to do this for the rest of my life.' " Gunnarson recalls. His second job out of high school (his first was in a restaurant) was a ski-patrolling gig at Snow Summit, in Big Bear Lake, California, in 1992. By the 1994–95 season, he was competing as a pro snowboarder and pushing Snow Summit to improve its park—and thereby reduce the growing number of injuries—by making the jumps, ramps, and berms flow better through one continuous run. Snow Summit management thought that was a good idea; they put him in charge, and the X Games launched Winter X at the mountain the next year.
The Balanced Life: From December to April, Gunnarson's life is all about snow. And when it melts? He stays busy drawing up blueprints for next season's projects, improving terrain-sculpting hardware and equipment, and speaking (gratis) at conferences about snow-park operations. He also finds time for his nine-handicap golf game, rides on his Yamaha 426 dirt bike, surfing, and outings with his wife of six years.
Reality Check: As Gunnarson has become a bigger name, his managerial duties have carved away some playtime. "Sometimes it's dumping outside and I've got to return all these calls," he says. "But sometimes you do have to just say, 'Screw it,' and go anyway."
The Bottom Line: Park-designer salaries start out around $30,000, but those with top skills like Gunnarson can clear $100,000 annually. Other winter-resort work will range from minimum wage for, say, an entry-level lift-loader, up to the low six figures, for exec positions at larger resorts. CoolWorks.com is a clearinghouse for on-mountain jobs, and JobsInParadise.com lists openings at major U.S. resorts. Also, most resort areas host job fairs in October to hire staff for their upcoming season.
