Hi Mike and thanks for asking. The link that fv1989 will help with the instructor portion. Know that the instructors themselves get very very little of the ski school fees. Same as the drivers, they rely on tips to survive. Same as your wait staff in restaurants.

Shuttle driver get about a $1.00 a person more if they helped you with your bags. A family of 4 should give at least 5.00, same to the person at the hotel if they carry your bags.

Counter service like Starbucks Coffee usually gets the change or about 10%

Wait staff gets between 15 and 20% of the bill.

We don't usually tip the equipment rental folks unless they do something extra.

I find that a good tip and a good attitude often gets you more than good service.

Mike,

Kuddos to you for arranging private lessons for your family. I can't think of a better way to experience any resort. I agree that lessons are expensive but instructors see very little of that with hourly wages often near minimum wage. My advice would be to tip at the end of each day. Most folks tip between $40-100/day for a full day private lesson and perhaps a bit more on the last day if you've had the same instructor each day.

Wow. What a load of poo. Those poor instructors should revolt! I never would have guessed that they were paid that poorly and rely on tips. That is shocking and disappointing. $500 a day for lessons and 80 percent goes to the resort! That's ridiculous.

^^It's not that simple. At Aspen Ski Co. there are nearly 400 different pay grades for ski instructors. It's a graduated scale based on experience plus years of service. Some that I know do quite well during the season even without tips. However, apprentices, as they as called, don't see much but most of these younglings are doing children groups. They work hard for what they get which for them is in the 10% range, but most are young and they're really there for the ski pass and the parties.

Once you factor in liability insurance and other more minor costs like advertising and such, I don't think the resort winds up doing much better that the instructors when it comes to private lessons. To paraphrase Joe Pesci in Casino, "In the end, it's the lawyers and accountants who wind up with the money."

thanks for the help

<<<most are young and they're really there for the ski pass and the parties.>>>

Maybe in Aspen they are trust fund babies and don't care about the money that is NOT the case at my mountain, those kids are often working more than one job trying to piece together enough money to pay the high rents.

Anyone going on a ski vacation can well afford to tip!

Agreed allí,

I know a few retirees who teach private and small group lessons for additional income and there's a handful of full-time year-round employees that, along with a second income, seem able to support a family. The vast majority of instructors however work at least one (and often several) additional part time jobs in order to scrape by and afford to live in a ski town.

Hi, my ski instructor told me 20 percent was customary and that if I did not want to pay that others would. He told me this on the lift ride up around 10 am. Thus ruining my ski day and making me feel uncomfortable. I felt that this was tacky. I already pay more to ski school for my kids than a whole year at private school per kid. Ski school should address this. Incorporate the tip. Or even just let people know up front what is expected. I will never do privates again at Vail.