 Poster: A snowHead
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I was 46 when I did my first full season. It does get very addictive though. Mountain biking, fat biking on snow, ice climbing, winter camping, ski touring, snow shoe hiking... plenty to do when the snow conditions are not perfect 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| gorilla wrote: |
It really depends what you want. I was 30 when I did my first season. The worker's social scene is dominated by people 10 years younger than I was and there is no way I would have fitted in to that. I found people to ski with on Snowheads. Most of them were normal. |
I was 36 when I did my first season; the lads I lived with were 21, 22 and 27 and we all got on brilliantly. They're friends to this day. We had a resort team of 14 reps, none of the others older than the 27 year old I shared the flat with, but it was a really great group of people who all came together fantastically, the age difference didn't matter one jot in my experience. Saying that, I was single and I'm not sure travelling out as a couple would lend itself so well.
| gorilla wrote: |
| It also depends what you want from the skiing. If you are expecting to spend 4-5 hrs a day punting round on piste then I can see the work thing having some appeal. If on the other hand you are looking to ski off piste much of the time then being able to get out the door unencumbered is a massive benefit. You only get a handful of really good days in any season. |
This first bit is very true, and it does entirely comes down to personal choice. In the winter before my first full season I did just under 2 months in 3 different resorts, just skiing and no working. I found it was amazing for the first 2 or 3 weeks but after that I craved something else, something different to mix it up a bit. I found the working season (I was a rep) was ideal as it gave me 4 full days and 2 half days on the slopes a week, while also having a job and a big friends group to keep me occupied. And the social benefits were really what made it for me, I ended up knowing most of the bar owners and other staff around resort. The customers weren't even that much of a pain in the back bottom! If anything I think they valued that I was a bit older and the advice I could give them was based on years of being a customer myself, so I knew very well the types of thing that they'd want to find out about rather than just where the cheap drinks and cheaper women were to be found.
For couples going away chalet hosting does seem to be the popular choice. It seems like pretty hard work to me though, but well suited to people who are disciplined in their job and so maximise their time on the slope by being organised, hard-working and efficient.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I also rented out my house while I was away, so the cash I got for that meant that I came back with way more than I started with.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm not sure the 'get a loan' advice is THAT bad - if you save up, take a sabbatical, rent the house out and get a zero% credit card for the new touring skis you'll invariably want to buy... Why not if you are coming back to a good job?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Some great stories/advice from you all.
We are going to hold off doing it just at the moment and get plenty of money behind us. I am also planning to go for my Level 2 snowboard which will better my chances of getting some money coming in when we do finally take the plunge. Obviously with a Level 2 France is not so accommodating so between now and when we do go for it, gives us time to look into where we could do a season.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@chrisrawles, Do boarders pay for lessons much ?
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@rjs, Do you mean does it pay well? If so then i have no idea
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@chrisrawles, So no commitment on whether you are planning on shagging lots of chalet girls then? 
I suspect an English speaking L2 snowboard instructor could pick up plenty of work in Austria if you approach the right schools BTW - the issue is whether you really want to be teaching on pow days.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Dave of the Marmottes, Yes Pow days would be a test of my dedication to the job LOL.
Either way if a season is something we are going to do, we want to do it with plenty of planning for when the snowy dream ends!
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
@chrisrawles,
I suspect an English speaking L2 snowboard instructor could pick up plenty of work in Austria if you approach the right schools BTW -. |
Austrian schools will want a reasonable grasp of German and Anwarter.
My Daughter is L2 SB and L1 Ski and works for a ski school in Switzerland. She gets loads of work teaching tiny kids to ski, but not so much SB. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
@chrisrawles, So no commitment on whether you are planning on shagging lots of chalet girls then?
I suspect an English speaking L2 snowboard instructor could pick up plenty of work in Austria if you approach the right schools BTW - the issue is whether you really want to be teaching on pow days. |
Peak weeks, yes you could get plenty of work, outside of that? Quite unlikely I suspect. I know of one or two people who work in Austria with just a snowboard qualification (Anwaerter) and only really got work during peak weeks. The main ski school in St Anton won't take full season snowboard instructors unless they also have a ski quialification.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I'd have to say ski/ board instructor is at the end of my list of 'ski jobs I would like to do'. Teaching on a powder day? No thanks
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