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Housing shortage prompts Smugglers’ Notch Resort to ask for help from a nearby college

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A skier comes down a trail at Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Unable to find local housing for its international student workers this winter, Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville enlisted the help of Northern Vermont University-Johnson.

For years, Smugglers’ Notch has been hiring college students from other countries during their summer breaks. In the Vermont winter, the students come from the Southern Hemisphere and Costa Rica, which has a long college break that coincides with the Vermont ski season. 

In winter, the students work in food and beverage, and as ski instructors, lift attendants and housekeeping. This winter, the resort hired 75 international students. They make up about 10% of the total staff, said Sam McDowell, the resort’s human resources coordinator. 

“This program for us solves a labor need for seasonal positions,” McDowell said. ”That’s hard to accomplish in a town like Jeffersonville, even branching out to other towns. It also adds a lot to the exchange.”

The program that brings in international students is, at its core, a cultural exchange, McDowell said. Smugglers’ is not just an employer, but a host, he said. The resort provides rides to work and must provide cultural outings, he said. 

Except for the Chilean students, most of whom are ski instructors, he said, most of the students have never skied, and most will learn to ski or snowboard while at Smugglers’. Like other employees, the students have free access to all the amenities at the resort, including free skiing, free equipment rentals, free lessons, and pool access. 

This is Ariana Falconi’s first time in the United States. The student from Lima, Peru, said she wanted to travel. She studies translation and interpreting at the Peruvian University for Applied Sciences. Friends had worked at Smugglers’ Notch, she said, and recommended it. 

“People are so nice here and it’s a great experience so far,” Falconi said.

Falconi serves lunch to the ski camp children and counselors. She also works as a hostess at the Morse Mountain Grille and scoops ice cream at the Ben & Jerry’s shop at the resort. 

Recently, housing has been a big challenge for the international program, McDowell said. He said the resort used to be able to rent condominiums to house all the international students around Jeffersonville. But with the increase in short-term rentals, McDowell said, fewer condos and apartments became available for rent for an entire season. 

Housing is a problem at other ski resorts, too. Seven Days reported that Sugarbush Resort in Warren has applied for permits to build a four-story apartment building and three single-family homes to house its employees.

For its international students, Smugglers’ reached out to NVU-Johnson, which had a surplus of dorm rooms. The arrangement was first reported in the News & Citizen.

“We’ve seen a decline in college-age student enrollment that’s been happening for well over 10, 15 years,” said Michele Whitmore, dean of students at NVU-Johnson. “And certainly, Covid did not help with that.”

The students will stay at NVU-Johnson for Smugglers’ entire ski season, which ends in the beginning of April, McDowell said. Smugglers’ also employs two resident advisers on each of the three dorm floors it is renting to help with needs such as making medical appointments, setting up trips to Burlington outside of the regular shopping trips the resort offers, or if a student needs help with work schedules, McDowell said. 

Students have access to all amenities on campus, including dining halls, the center for the arts, and the athletic facilities, McDowell said.

One advantage of being in Johnson, McDowell said, is that students can walk to stores.

“Now that they have the college campus, they can meet tons of people their age that are studying in the U.S. and exchange ideas that way,” McDowell said. 

Whitmore said it remains to be seen how well the international students integrate into the campus because NVU-Johnson students don’t come back for the spring semester until Monday. She said the university plans a number of activities to include the international students, including a talent show and a dinner that will include the foods of Costa Rica, Chile and Peru, the three countries from which the exchange students come.

“It’s exciting,” Whitmore said. “I hope we can continue the partnership.”

Each student pays Smugglers’ $125 a week for room and board, McDowell said. The resort pays the university around $3,000 per student for the entire season, said Whitmore. 

The bus trip from the campus to the resort takes about half an hour. 

Falconi said the university is a little far from Smugglers’, but she likes it there. 

“I get to live the American college life,” she said. “People are super nice.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Housing shortage prompts Smugglers’ Notch Resort to ask for help from a nearby college.


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