 Poster: A snowHead
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Okay, any of you done a ski season in Europe?
How much money do you think you need to set aside and what sort of jobs can you get in resort?
I imagine the competition is quite high...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes Many
| GordonFreeman wrote: |
| what sort of jobs can you get in resort? |
Normally the ones no one else wants to do 
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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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>>How much money do you think you need to set aside and what sort of jobs can you get in resort?
Depends on the resort, how far down the valley you stay, and the type of accommodation you choose.
This Winter I did 4 months in the Spanish Pyrenees with my wife and I think the total bill came to around £8.5k - That included accommodation (a lovely 3 bed apartment) lift passes, food and eating out. The apartment was £4.5k on it's own, but property prices in the Valley are crazy. We were about 7km down the valley.
It was a one off and if I did it again then we'd have to find cheaper accommodation. It's fair to say my instructing didn't cover the costs
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I've done two ski seasons in Europe - rented an apartment myself and worked as a transfer rep the first year and did various things the second including a bit of translation work, radio work and transfer repping.
Apartment, travel to and from and lift pass were probably my biggest expenses plus all the kit I bought (skis, avalanche stuff etc..). If you can't afford all this upfront then a job with a Tour Operator is your best option.
I have apartments I rent out in 2 European ski resorts and am happy to PM you details of how much I charge for them to help you get an idea of the sort of cost you're looking at. I'm not trying to pimp them hence not posting details of location or cost here.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Don't work. It sucks. Wages are gash and time whizzes by.
Do a whole season without working.
Buy now, pay later.
Save or borrow £10k / E15k / US$20k before you go. Make friends with Captain Credit.
Take the dolly or some chums and fill out a self-catering apartment.
Head for a high megaresort, above roughly 1800 meters. This will ensure a proper white season, not a green one. Val Thorens and Val d'Isere are good examples.
If you must go solo, then take a job.
Pick an upmarket firm with upscale clients. The work will still suck, but atleast you should avoid the Majorca crowd and pick up some peachy wot-wots along the way.
Evening work is best. You can ski during the day. In-chalet or in-hotel barjobs are notably useful -- you can give away free drinks in exchange for favors. The chefs will load your plate up with extra nosh, while nannies will love all that bs of flipping bottles in the air and giving sad names to drinks.
Enjoy. Good luck.
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Sounds good...
if going solo are there other accommodation options like staying in a chalet for whole time that people move in and out of?
I'm keen not to be left on my own for the whole season!
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If you are working in a decent, large chalet or hotel-chalet, you will often be housed in accommodation onsite, usually sharing some or many to a room.
If you are going as non-working punter, then you can easily block-book a chalet or hotel room for an entire month or season.
But non-workers doing a solo season in a chalet always look like losers. Billie Nomates etc. Much better to get a job and pretend to be a winner.
Alternatively, you can dig around sites like Natives. You will find that self-catering apartment-sharing with hardup strangers is readily available. This is a handy option to consider, but can be a bit of gamble.
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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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are you a winner or are you a loser...
to be honest, the only fun thing I reckon would be a bar job. Haven't done that in a while. You get paid f all though.
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GordonFreeman, rule 1: pay absolutely no attention whatsoever to anything Whitegold says.
Jobs in resort: hotel/bar/catering at all levels for TOs or local businesses, repping for TOs, instructing if you're qualified, lift op (more available in the US than Europe), ski tech for TOs or resort shops, retail.
Best site for jobhunting would be www.natives.co.uk
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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next set of questions then:
1. Better to do a season in the US or in Europe?
2. How decent at skiing do you have to be before qualifying as an instructor (I'm thinking long term here!  ) - reason I ask is that every ski instructor I've ever had either gre up in the mountains, was a youth racer, or some equivalent hard ass !
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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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GordonFreeman, there are loads of threads here about how good you have to be to be an instructor and the answer is "very". One for the future. For the time being, it is perfectly possible to get a job which will give you enough ski time, accommodation (almost certainly pretty crummy, and shared unless you are v fortunate), a free lift pass and probably some free equipment too. Expect it to be hard work. My son has done quite a bit in Val D'Isere, best part of two seasons. He's a very good chef and after falling out with the firm he originally signed up with (one of the flash ones which Whitegold talks about) because they were cr*p employers, he freelanced the first season and was head hunted back for the second. But his girlfriend (they met in Val D) went out as a chalet maid, with no particularly relevant qualifications except an ability to work hard. My niece is working a season in New Zealand at the moment, living in a damp caravan, but she's tough. We met a number of chalet staff in our years staying in (mainly cheap) chalets and most were working hard, doing a good job, and enjoying themselves. And our fellow guests were generally perfectly well behaved and good company. But get first hand advice about which of the tour operators are best to work for. Despite what Whitegold says, the most expensive don't necessarily make the best employers, and some of their guests have money but no manners.... It seems that Whitegold is over-impressed by people with money and the right labels. I spent some years chairing selection boards for the civil service fast stream and I met many applicants who had spent seasons working in the Alps. Their experience made a useful quarry for evidence (positive and negative) about their personal and inter-personal skills. It can be very well worth doing, apart from the skiing, if you go into it with the right attitude.
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GordonFreeman, Most people can get to be good enough skiers to become ski teachers, but it requires more hard work than most people are willing to put into it! 
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You know it makes sense.
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There is loads of decent ski jobs out there...
However most of them pay in ski time rather than cash.
Pick the right job and you'll be skiing 6 days a week.
Bumming a season could be done by saving up circa £4/5K.
However there is nothing wrong with working hard and playing hard.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Sun 8-07-07 20:41; edited 1 time in total
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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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i may be missing something but did Whitegold slag off your mothers or something .... he is only voicing an opinion ...!
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Poster: A snowHead
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some opinions are more offensive than others....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| Despite what Whitegold says, the most expensive don't necessarily make the best employers, and some of their guests have money but no manners.... |
This is wrong.
My original posting clearly says almost all jobs will suck, whether they are with a low-, mid- or high-tier employer.
Most guests, rich or poor, will sneer or look down on you. It comes with the territory. They all know saisonnaires make 3p an hour and work like a dog.
But by picking a posh firm, atleast you will get a better class of rudeness.
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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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| GordonFreeman wrote: |
| 1. Better to do a season in the US or in Europe? |
Do Western Europe.
The US is too much hassle after 7-11 (tic).
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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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| Quote: |
Most guests, rich or poor, will sneer or look down on you. It comes with the territory. They all know saisonnaires make 3p an hour and work like a dog.
But by picking a posh firm, atleast you will get a better class of rudeness.
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Good grief, you do talk some complete b0llocks. I'm beginning to think you've never actually been to a ski resort or even spoken to anyone who has.
GordonFreeman, ignore this berk.
Planet Subzero are OK but a tad pricey - you'd be better off finding your own place.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Used them the season before last. Wouldn't do it again, personally, especially as I believe they have changed hands since.
If bumming a season, some approximate prices, based on last two seasons in Tignes:-
4 person self-catering £5-6k.
What you spend whilst there depends on you, but lift-pass £700, insurance £150, food, drink & living £120/week.
Also cost in travel there & back, often difficult and/or expensive due to being outside main season, & purchase of skis/boots etc if you don't already have them, and remember you may/probably will have to replace some if not all of these - a season really tests kit to the limit, especially if you ski all season & don't work!!!
If looking for work in resort, get there early - certainly before the season starts, as jobs are snapped up quickly.
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This is something I'm seriously considering too; I quit work a couple of months back as I decided I needed to make some changes in my life, and am not currently looking for work so I figure I might as well extend my career break to include a season. Would be happy enough to do some work in a resort if it didn't interfere with skiing too much; is it usually possible to pick up work just by turning up in a resort rather than getting it organised in advance from the UK?
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johnnyboy, you can get work in resort but remember that there's competition from lots of other bums, especially in bigger resorts. You need to get there early. Usually the options are bar jobs, glass collecting, transfer rep, retail. If you want to work for a local employer you will have to speak the language reasonably well.
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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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| Quote: |
is it usually possible to pick up work just by turning up in a resort rather than getting it organised in advance from the UK?
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easier in busy periods (ie in the school hols, NOT during the dead January weeks). But then those are good weeks for skiing, with few people on the slopes. Some people who start working before Christmas have got sick/fed up/whatever and quit by mid February despite the incentives for making people stay for the season, so maybe if you skied during January and early February and also spent time getting to know people who run chalets, restaurants, bars etc, you'd be in a good position to pick up some work during the school holidays. Especially if you were independent accommodation-wise.
I think, by the way, you will find that people will not "sneer and look down on you", unless you give them a good reason to do so.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
| GordonFreeman wrote: |
| 1. Better to do a season in the US or in Europe? |
Do Western Europe.
The US is too much hassle after 7-11 (tic). |
er u what 6 months in europe .... lame, do a season in canada, work 2 months in whistler, 1 month in red, 2 months in lake louise 2 weeks in kicking horse etc etc
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You'll be hard pushed to find a work visa for Canada for the upcoming season..
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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 have just had an email from my niece, in New Zealand for the season. I think it nicely illustrates the kind of attitude which is likely to make for a successful experience. The asterisks are mine.
"Haven't really stopped since I arrived- the first few days I got
here, whilst waiting for my job to start I spent househunting with a
mission. Tom (falied, I like to rub in) to find a house in the 6
weeks here was here, and in 6 days Argyle marched round town until
success was finally reached! Rock on.
We are staying in a hostel (sorry, did I say freezing, overpriced
ghettos?) until we move in this weekend, into the town centre
(hooray!).
The snowboarding is good as there was a good dump of snow last week.
Its the kids' school holidays though so there are a million smaller
people than me in my way and ice a plenty...so I cannot wait until
next week when the f***** go back to school, dodging 3 year olds
makes stressful skiing! Tom has a good group of mates here and so we
can get lifts to the mountain. Its very different from the European
resorts us Brits are used to, but its the most amazing scenery I
have ever seen and the drive up the mountain is a hairy, but
adrenalin fuelled morning ritual.
My new board is mega fast...and I have trouble not to run over
everyone in my path! I have avoided the First Aid as of
yet...although a friend decked it the other day and I wrestled my
way to the front so that I could get a piece of the action and see
some broken limbs in there!! Nerd.
Tom set me up with a job so I walked straight to work when I got
here- no rest for the wicked!
Im working at a mental pizza restaurant in town. Its one of the
oldest restaurants in Qtown, renouned for good food and surly
service. Its a concept that would never work in England- and I found
it hard to be "rude" to customers, but Im sure I will get used to it!
Its fun as I work with our mates, I get to eat dough and get drunk
on the job- the only thing to cope with the fact we do 200 covers
with only 8 tables in around 5 hours.
Its great to be here...but absolutely freezing! A shock to the
system from sunny England. The kiwis do not appear to ecompass
'central heating' itno their vocab. Im sleeping in pjs, a tracksuit,
2 pairs of socks and a beanie- it would replace the Pill in the
modern world as the most popular form of contraception if only the
UK was this anal about heating!
So no pressing news, got a briused back bottom, a stinking cold but a
massive grin on my face. Attempting to dodge alcohol, save money
(living off tom until paypacket arrives) kiss back bottom to keep this job,
stay warm and become a boarding chick within the week!
BIg Love to you all- hope the English Summer is off to a good start.
Gemski xx"
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