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Ski guiding season jobs

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hello all,

I was hoping some of you might be able to help me out alittle given your collective experience. I am hoping to secure a Ski guiding job (TO not off piste variety) for the 09/10 season, partly to get out of the stimulating world of IT consulting and potentially to see if a life in the mountains is for me (considering BASI but understand I wouldn't be allowed to teach while guiding, esp as I am not qualified).

I've applied to the two dedicated guiding jobs on natives, both of which have said no (one as the positions were filled).

Does anyone know of any other TOs that have job roles that are predominatly guiding rather than rep work with some guiding on the side?

Not sure my experience will help at all but here it is incase you need to know:
Forgotten how many weeks on snow but would imagine 30+ weeks.
Customer facing sales/retail experience.
Raced slalom and giant slalom at university.
I would like to think I was fairly outgoing, customer focussed and relaxed.

Having drawled website after website I'm begining to get alittle disheartened so if anyone could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Cheers!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The Vitruvian, try Ski Miquel - they advertise a guiding service.
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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?
I was a snowcoach ski guide last season. The position also covers running a ski rental shop though which i don't know if thats your thing. any old chump could do it though if they have vague idea of how to service skis (they don't do boards, you might get guests asking for services though). snowcoach put you on a very basic salomon course for a day (actually like 2 hours) and you get a qualification once you've passed the multiple guess test. That only really covers setting up bindings though really. You'd want to a have a rough idea of what you were doing with the servicing side.

Basically involved saturdays in the ski shop all day for returns and giving out new kit to guests (i didn't handle any money or anything, literally just servicing and hiring kit) Weekdays would be 30mins in the shop and then guiding from 9.15 to whenver guests got tired, usually about 4ish. Evening would be 45mins in the ski shop and then on and off sitting with the guests serving them dinner and going over the same conversation that you had with last weeks guests over and over again. Can get a little tedious but if you like chatting to strangers then it won't be a problem. The only problem with it is that Snowcoach were pretty dodgey. It was pretty interesting to see how blissfully unaware the guests were to how close we came to complete and utter failure on a number of occasions. Not having any money to pay suppliers causes a lot of problems.

I think ski olympic do ski host as a specific role if you haven't already checked them out, and maybe ski morzine (i think thats a company, i applied to some place in morzine that did guide roles, i think thats what they were called)

Warning: You do have to put up with some very poor skiers sometimes. We had a minimum requirement of competent red run skiers but people still came along that struggled on blues. Also other staff got time to themselves to ski between about 10 or 10:30 to about 4 or 4:30 everyday (excluding saturdays) whereas i only had my day off and the odd occasion when nobody wanted to go guiding. I wouldn't do it again over other jobs i don't think. i was lucky to get that though as i applied in about september/october time.

If you're not defintiely set on guiding, our maintenance guy probably had the easiest job. change a few light bulbs here and there, help with dinner (everyone had to do this, not really meant to but we were understaffed) and for any major jobs, we'd just get a professional in.

Hope that is of some help. give us a shout if you want to know anything else
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for a keen and competent skier I can imagine guiding being pretty frustrating. Why not get a bar job, then you can ski all day?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Or you might consider being a Ski Cub of Great Britain Rep (which is entirely guiding - some of it off-piste). The standard of the skiers would probably be better. See details on here. You have to do a one week training course in France at the start of the season (Snowcraft, guiding, first aid etc) which is fun in itself but you have to pay for. You can do anything from a 3 week stint per season, to a whole season( or several seasons!).
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Don't think you get paid for being a SCGB rep? Not entirely sure. Also think you now have to pass one of their courses to qualify which costs ££s but then again i'm not sure of my facts so someone who does know will put you right.

As already posted......think about what you want from the job. I would also apply for other positions aswell.

Good luck Very Happy
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Snowline had staff that were predominantly Ski Hosts. Their other duties included driving guests around resort (chalet to lifts and back again), and repping on transfer days.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

and repping on transfer days.

it's usually "all hands to the pump" on transfer days, isn't it? When we stayed in chalets the ski guide told us he did chalet cleaning on Saturdays.
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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.
Equity / rocket ski also offer guiding, bu tthe guide did the ski hire and servicing too, like el nombre
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
GreyCat wrote:
Don't think you get paid for being a SCGB rep? Not entirely sure.
As detailed on the page I gave: no pay but travel, accommodation and basic food and lift pass payed for.
GreyCat wrote:
Also think you now have to pass one of their courses to qualify which costs ££s but then again i'm not sure of my facts so someone who does know will put you right.

Correct - as I stated. It is a sort of ski holiday with instruction - ending with a race and an entertainment put on by teams of all the aspiring reps (to see if you can "perform" a bit).
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Mark Warner also have ski hosts. At their chalethotels they run hosted groups at three levels and the hosts rotate - so every third week they get to take the 'fast' group, who'd be covering all the on piste terrain. They also do the transfers on changeover day, but hosting is their main role.
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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.
Lots more companies employing ski hosts this season can be found at www.ski-jobs.co.uk/skihost.aspx.. This page also has a video on what it's like to be a ski host with Mark Warner which is quite a laugh..especially when he starts moonwalking!
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Thanks all,

Looks like there are still more than a few possibilities out there (phew)!

I understand the posts about guiding might not be the best way of getting as much snow time as possible, but I suspect if I find guiding to be a pain in the backside then instructing might be a similar experience. I would rather find that out earlier and before I spend alot of money on it than do the quals and realise it wasn't for me.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
The Vitruvian, I think there's a massive difference between instructing and guiding, and just because you don't like one doesn't mean you won't like the other. People who like teaching skiing get huge pleasure and satisfaction from helping someone else to improve. Even if as an inexperienced instructor you might spend a lot of time at slow speeds, you don't get bored because you're teaching.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
The Vitruvian, Silverski have ski hosts, they have to help out in the chalet but go out 3 or so times a week with guests all day.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Nadenoodlee, are you sure I was under the impression that Silverski were just chalet maid jobs?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Surfsuperstar, I think Nadenoodlee used to work for them.
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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?
I can confirm that Silverski employ ski hosts.....
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
The Vitruvian, I did 3 seasons as a "guide", back in the day. If i was to do a season again, and could self finance it without working, that's what I'd do. (At the time I couldn't). You don't really get paid well enough as a guide, IMHO, to justify all the skiing you don't get to do for yourself. I enjoyed skiing with my guests, allowed me to refine my own skills at slow speed, but I know that not everyone did.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I was close to getting a job as a guide but turned it down for the reasons under a new name's post suggests. The guy who interviewed me (the boss of a smallish operator) said he didn't want guides to be *too* good because they would be likely to get bored (he did want them to be comfortably better than most of the punters who would be using the service though)
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Vitruvian, work out how many days/hours it will tie you up for...and the work out whether the benefits outway the drawbacks...


If you get free accom and a bit more stuff for a about 3 days work and you can wangle a pretty early start for the rest of the days...then it may be worth doing...

That way all you should need is a bit of spending money and some money for a few must-haves along the way..

Nothing is for nothing so as long as the deal works out to suit both parties ...then it might be a goer...

From my POV... I wouldn't want to work.... but that season set-up might cost you quite a bit....

I can recall our guide making well over £100 a week out of us in tips... he put a bit of time in and was very helpful...so we tipped him. He didn't ski with us everyday either...
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
JT, I did a £50 quid week once (1989), some weeks I got £0. I always put in the same effort (a lot). Your points very valid though.

The Vitruvian, the folks that I saw having most (by a long way) fun in resort were blondes. no, really truly.

Actually, they were IT consultants who could work May-December and ski the rest of the time or oil/service related folks who were on a 4/5/6 week rotation. money to burn, time to spend...

The blondes didn't seem to do too badly either...
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
under a new name, must be inflation then...early to mid 90's I guess... IIRC

Now, if I get a package offered by next winter...where will I go..???? Laughing
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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.
JT, I have three lovely apartments that you could clean, one day a week, free accom (no don't worry, 1. not serious and 2. have very good friends taking care,,,)
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