 Poster: A snowHead
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After my A'Levels this year I am taking a gap year and intend to do a season, probably in europe. However in order to get a free lift pass, accommodatin etc, i will need to get a job. I am trying to find out if anyone has done something similar and what job would allow maximum time for skiing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I and some of my cousins have worked in resorts for seasons. General consensus amongst us is to avoid T.O.s; evening bar jobs seem to give maximum on-piste time if you don't party too hard as well; however they are generally reserved for pretty babes or experienced barmen so worth getting a job over the summer to get some experience.... although one of my cousins (a Brad Pit lookalike...b*stard) was hired more on his ability to pull in girls than his ability to pull pints.
Best bet is to ski-bum though, it is not as expensive as you might think; don't place too high a value on the accomodation and lift pass aspect offered by travel companies; the 'accomodation' will not be the Ritz I can assure you and a LP is around 500 quid. Remember that chalet staff rarely get an 'all area' pass and reps are generally too knackered to ski much. I've had a full time job the last 3 years and do as many days on skis as the reps I know in a season.
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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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Apologies davidof, I am interested in this subject but don't understand the lingo: what are T.O.s? And I am now unsure what a ski bum is: I thought they were casual workers, living form day-to-day, picking up jobs as they could get them, but you seem to suggest that they are anyone working for a travel company.
I am often asked about "ski-jobs" in gap year by friends and colleagues who think that a ski-nut must know everything about skiing. I refer them to ski companies. Lots of info please.
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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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TO = tour operator
Ski bum = one who does not work at all during winter
I have to disagree with Davidof. The right job with the right tour operator will pay ok, have decent working conditions and plenty of time to ski. Chalet staff, if motivated (to clean their chalet quickly), can ski most days from 10 until close, for example. Most barmen I know struggle to get up to ski in the mornings as they never leave work before two.
If you haven't lived in the Alps before I would definitelty go for a job with a TO. Most bars won't employ an 18 year old and won't look at you unless you speak the local language (unless you go somewhere very British) - you are more likely to get stuck working days in a café or mountain restaurant with only 1 day off.
There is a lot less to go wrong if you work for a tour operator. You are guaranteed a place to stay and won't run out of money and be up the creek mid-way through the season. Working for a bar you won't normally get accommodation, insurance, lift pass or free gear. It is a lot more to deal with, especially (not trying to be too patronising here) straight out of school in a foreign country. It'll also looks better on your UCAS form and CV than being a bum or barman as doing a job for a TO involves significant responsibilities for someone straight out of school (managing budgets, client care etc). Once you know a resort, how things work and are a bit more confident about it all yu might choose to go back as a bum and get on the slopes a bit earlier each morning.
If you are set on going to a particular resort plump for a job with a resort specialist - the others will tell you they'll send you to a particular place to get you to sign the contract then send you somewhere you've never heard of.
If you can cook get a chalet job; if not get a job as a housekeeper in a chalet - these have the best hours for both skiing and partying. These jobs pay ok (it's only for beer after all - everything else is covered) and put you in line for tips.
If you want to do a ski season a 1 month cooking course is a good thing to have done - quite pricey (about £1500) but great training for life too.
The best resource for this type of information is www.natives.co.uk. I worked in the Alps at 18 (chalet "boy") and had a great time. Even managed to save enough money to go on a 3 month backpacking trip afterwards - and that was after a lot of partying.
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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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| kurt von liebewitz wrote: |
| Most bars won't employ an 18 year old |
Good point about the age Kurt, most Tour Operators will want you to be 21 or older as well for jobs these days except for nannies.
Chalet staff generally have to be back at the chalet to prepare afternoon tea, although you can get away with just leaving this out when you leave mid-morning. Chalet staff generally get restricted lift passes so they don't stray too far.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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You can be 18 plus to do chalet stuff with most TO's - repping is usually min of 21yrs
The "handymen" seemed to have the easiest/nastiest jobs - sposed to go round fixing things etc but from what I heard they used to just "disappear" for hours every day!
Only do the chalet thing if you can put up with patronising/ annoying/ infuriating/ pervy/ drunk guests - if not ( and lets face it, you'd need the patience of a saint) make sure you're not in a "direct" role!
Im going repping this winter- see you out there!
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As kurt von liebewitz says, check out Natives. They have a forum where you can ask questions.....although it's still a bit quiet at this time of year (people still out in resort etc.) It'll get busier over the summer, as more people start thinking about next winter.
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I agree withdavidof, although never having "done a season" in this sense, I see a lot of it. There are a lot of jobs around in bars & hotels, some have reasonable hours.
What about working on the lifts? Often pays OK and you get to ski home every day - here they work 6 days on and 2 off - better than anyone else in resort. You'd need to speak the language though.
kurt von liebewitz, did a great job defending the indefensible. Perhaps we've met different TO's? I think Crystal are OK to work for, but they get the pick so are harder to get a job with.
If you're thinking of ski bumming, you can always get work on transfer days, and these normally pay enough for food for the week, so if you save hard to pay for lift pass and lodgings ...............
Good luck anyway 
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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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Try Val d'Isere. Got back last Friday and one company had a big sign in the window looking for a whole range of jobs in a ski shop company, including ski mechanics, sales assistants, drivers, mechanics etc.
Can't remember name, but try tourist board as the company is only 1 block up on same side. 
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Some other things I thought of:
- Jobs with tour operators are advertised in autumn in a women's weekly called "The Lady". I know it will be hard for you to go into a newsagent and ask for it but if you want to findout about those jobs it's the only way...
- If you work for a tour operator choose your employer very carefully. Aim high - for a company like Inghams, Simply Travel or a resort specialist (they work harder at looking after employees and generally attract better clients). Ski World are borderline but less desirable as are Thompson and Crystal. Avoid First Choice like the plague. All will employ 18 year olds last time I looked.
- Be very careful of companies who hold back 50% of your pay until the end of the season and satisfactory completion of your contract. Some have a habit of laying most of their staff off a few dsays before the contract is up to avoid paying it out. Hence avoid First Choice. 10% or 20% is reasonable to stop you walking if you get fed up (lots of spoilt public school girls decide they don't like having to work, leave and leave the company in the lurch) - holding back more is prolly a scam.
- Look for the companies that have bonus schemes in addition to normal pay. It is usually a sign they look after their staff. When I worked I got an automatic 10% loyalty bonus (for staying) plus a performance bonus of up to 40% of my earnings.
Although there are those here who doubt, I can't overstate chalet work as a very good way to ski lots if you work efficiently and want to ski. If you are working for the right company (and you are relatively suited to the work - ie you enjoy working with people) you are likely to actually enjoy the work too. I did the vast majority of the time I did it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Alot of TO's recruit in JUly/Autumn aswell - make sure you dont leave it too late!
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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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Hi David,
I worked 4 seasons in the French Alps - washed dishes, did hotel bar work and finished of as a ski tech/rep. Best job for skiing? Washing dishes!! Typically I worked a couple of hours early morning and then around 3-4 hours in the evening. So most days I skied from 10:30 till 4:30 and had a few hours drinking after work. And I didn't have to smile at clients
I managed a lot of skiing with all the jobs, as did everyone else I know. I'll second Nadenoodle's comment about applying early. It probably varies but I'm pretty sure I got offered one of my jobs in July.
Tour Operators? They were OK for me but this was a while back. Oh, and I'm sure the pay's still lousy.
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I may be on the spot, but I've no experience/knowledge whatsoever of the seasonal employment scene. Does anyone know if living 'out' is an advantage in finding a job, or whether providing live-in accommodation is part of the deal most of the time, a way of paying people next to nothing for work done? What chance of finding reasonably well-paid work for a 21 year old hard-worker with poor French and plenty of (behind the) bar experience?
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You know it makes sense.
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PG, you're never 21 
easiski, how easy is it to get a job working the lifts? I always assumed that these would go to locals....and very quickly.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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PG, normally accommodation is offered by multinational tour operators. If you work for a locally owned business you will normally need to find your own accommodation. There are exceptions to this (eg some of the big British owned bars) - in particular hotels. If you are working in most bars your own accommodation is likely to be a necessity rather than a bonus.
Live in accommodation is good if you can't get to the resort to sort it out or if accommodation in the resort is very expensive. Some places are nice - some are horrible. At one point I livied in a converted lift station with no windows, sharing a room. At another point I had my own room in a large apartment with a view for miles.
In plenty of the bigger (more expensive) resorts having your acommodation provided is worth an enormous amount. When I took into account my hours (about 25 - 35 per week), my pay (about £120 per week) and the value of the accommodation and lift pass from the days when I lived in Verbier I was getting a very good deal. There was no way on Earth I could have afforded to go there independently for a winter. In smaller, cheaper resorts the value would be more marginal. As I said, I left the winter with more savings than I have ever had and at the time I had more money in my pocket than at any other time (the tips were good too - about £150-£300 per week).
For this 21 year old... Most native people won't employ someone who doesn't speak the language. There are plenty of British bars in very British resorts who might employ him. Also there are lots of TOs who require barmen - Mark Warner is a good one to look at. That would involve a package and avoid needing to find accommodation etc.
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Poster: A snowHead
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kurt von liebewitz, Well the 'plan' (not mine, his) is for my son who's never made the slightest effort to learn any French (despite spending about 2 months a year here in France with me for the last ten years, surrounded by people jabbering away in French) to come to Bourg Saint Maurice and scrounge accommodation from us. This limits him either to BSM itself, or to Les Arcs, so I suppose he's in with a chance of bar work as Les Arcs is reasonably well populated with Brits, even if it's not Méribel....
Anyway thanks for all the insights....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| alan empty wrote: |
| Best job for skiing? Washing dishes!! |
You were a 'plongeur' or even an 'extreme plongeur'. :-). Yes not a bad job and would maybe suit a young man.
I did a season in Switzerland and one in Cham... but was not very successful in my second season as the job was too much for me. Also worked in the management side. As I said above Tour Operators prefer more mature staff these days... even in chalets. The days of spag bog for 8 are long gone.
The job of rep is often seen as an entry into the tour business rather than as a means to ski for a winter. At the firm I worked for there were senior reps who did not ski as they were too busy. Some reps go on to be the boss of the ski company they work for like Matthew Prior or Debbie Dray.
I have a pretty good knowledge of the main TOs and how they work. I think Equity Ski might be one of the better choices.
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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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Elizabeth B, I can't speak for all resorts, but here they employ people from all over on the lifts. Many of them arrive in the middle of the season (for February hols) and stay on. It's true that many of them are French, but not exclusively. It's just that you'd have to speak at least passable French to be able to communicate with your bosses and co-workers.
I think you'd have to be in resort and ask the lift company though. I don't think they advertise.
I once got offered a repping job: they wanted me to speak fluent German and some Italian, they were giving me an 8' x 8' room to share with 3 other girls, and they proposed to pay me £35 a week! It was about 20 years ago, but still ...............
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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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My sister got a job in Courmayeur with Mark Warner (when they still used the Hotel Telecabine in Dolonne). She was the only Italian speaker in the hotel, so got lots of contacts in the resort - being the main liaison with the locals (her official job was room cleaner, or whatever it's called).
She was offered a job in a locally run hotel for the following summer and took that up, but it was a poorly run hotel so managed to find another one, instead. She has lived there ever since.
Even a "crap" job can lead to better things.
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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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| easiski wrote: |
| they were giving me an 8' x 8' room to share with 3 other girls |
easiski, it's funny how you build up a mental picture of fellow posters and then something comes along to show that you've been way off the mark all along. I had assumed you were male!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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A friend of mine got a job as a plongeur, and then moved up to being a chef, in Ruby Murrey's, an English owned curry house in Les Deux Alpes (not sure if it is still open). He had no cooking abilities when he went out there and got free accommodation above the restaurant, all the curry he could eat and plenty of slope time.
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A curry house in Deux Alpes?!! Damn, I obviously worked there at the wrong time. 
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| Tony Lane wrote: |
| easiski, it's funny how you build up a mental picture of fellow posters and then something comes along to show that you've been way off the mark all along. I had assumed you were male! |
Tony, her signature is a bit of a giveaway
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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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| Elizabeth B wrote: |
| Tony, her signature is a bit of a giveaway |
With hindsight, I can see that it probably is!
If i had read it at all, i would have probably thought that "he" was simply quoting Charlotte Swift, possibly the sister of novelist Graham?!! That's my excuse, anyway!
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| Quote: |
kurt von liebewitz
- If you work for a tour operator choose your employer very carefully. Aim high - for a company like Inghams, Simply Travel or a resort specialist (they work harder at looking after employees and generally attract better clients).
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In 2002/3 season I went with Inghams twice and found that the reps were treated like dirt and one girl told us a tale of woe where she had only been paid once so far that season (And we were on holiday in Easter..). Maybe think twice about that one..
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Welcome to snowHeads, bonfire.
I've also used Inghams a couple of times with no complaints (except a screwed up transfer which wasn't really their fault). I've heard a similar story. They are seen as one of the better operators by the clients but not necessarily by the staff. I've also met some very young, very poor Crystal reps over the years. But on the up side, there are reps who do it year round so it can't all be bad.
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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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Tony Lane, you are still genius compared to me. I wouldn't even get into the Baldrick School for Beginners. I too thought easiski was a girl, despite, now I look back, a lot of obvious evidence to the contrary:
1. Signature: never noticed it
2. Picture from PG: I assumed Charlotte was Easiski's friend.
3. "they were giving me an 8' x 8' room to share with 3 other girls": I just assumed "he" was a very luck chap!
Isn't it amazing, if not downright worryng: I had a fixed an idea in my mind, and no amount of contrary evidence was going to change my opinion. I ignored or "explained" contradictory facts.
I'm turning into my father 
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I seem to remember you were recently assuming snowballs here was female, so you were obviously just ballancing up, Jonpim .
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