 Poster: A snowHead
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Peter Leuzzi, My wife and I have recently done a couple of seasons with my wife. Last Winter in Italy, and the 06/07 season in the Spanish Pyrenees. I reckon both cost us around the £10k mark, with us staying Jan > April inc. beer, food etc. The Italian season worked out about the same price despite the exchange rate being a lot worse, and this was offset by cheaper season passes and not as much eating out & local beer (except from the supermarket!).
Luckily I was able to off set the cost with Instructing work during the day, and running my UK business over the internet.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Kenzie, whats the script with the free car parks they sounds sweet. Do they fill up quick? how close to the slopes?
Me and the mrs are primarily thinking staying an hours commute to the alps not ideal but it cuts down rent and when I drive to ski up North (scotland) its 2 hours drive. Comprimise it she aint much of a skier and theres work for her in Lyon so we stay between the 2. I will commute to work in my plan as I work on an oil rig and have a 2weeks on 3weeks off rota.
Out of interest depending how much you have saved up theres studio flats outside chamberey selling 20,000 euros cheapest i think?
anti hijacking device
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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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Annie,  made worse by the fact I met you.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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just a quick point, and I guess its maybe instinctive of you all because of the age gap between you all and myself...
however - at what stage did I ask for advice on how to budget???.... I've lived on my own for 4 years, in a nice new place, earning varying amounts, done all of the things I've wanted to so far - through saving for it et al. so it's interesting that several of you have felt the need to mention budget advice?
I never took the topic down that avenue, I simply asked - as an outsider looking in - how so many people do it. 
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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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Swirly, Did you? 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| aldoyle wrote: |
just a quick point, and I guess its maybe instinctive of you all because of the age gap between you all and myself...
however - at what stage did I ask for advice on how to budget???.... I've lived on my own for 4 years, in a nice new place, earning varying amounts, done all of the things I've wanted to so far - through saving for it et al. so it's interesting that several of you have felt the need to mention budget advice?
I never took the topic down that avenue, I simply asked - as an outsider looking in - how so many people do it. |
I think it was when you asked how people managed to save £14k becuase you just couldn't see it on your salary of £50k...
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aldoyle, say your a subbie working for a reasonable £150 per day (construction, IT, locum, supply, etc) and you work for 8 months and ski for 4 months. in 8 months you earn c £24k, your tax & NI shold be c £4k (using a full years allowance), so your left with c £20k net. If you can (and anyone who wants to can) live for £1500pcm in the UK (or wherever you earn your living) then you've got £6k for your season and a £2k contingency.
This model works well for a constuction worker in the UK as you'ld be about for the busy summer period and away for the quiet winter one (not too many silver spoons on building sites). Though as far as 2009 goes you would have been lucky to find a full 8 months work.
FWIW I can read from your posts that you understand that you personally chose not to do a season rather than claim that you couldn't, so no budgetary advice from me.
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It might be a push to save £14k from £50k pa salary pro rata'd over 7 months if you wanted more than the most basic lifestyle during the 7 months (and you were living independantly) but I reckon you could do it. But the point is you don't need £14k even for a 5 month season unless you want to keep paying a UK mortgage on a house you leave empty in the UK.
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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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Alastair, Pm'd you
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kill_reign,
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Me and the mrs are primarily thinking staying an hours commute to the alps not ideal but it cuts down rent and when I drive to ski up North (scotland) its 2 hours drive. Comprimise it she aint much of a skier and theres work for her in Lyon so we stay between the 2. I will commute to work in my plan as I work on an oil rig and have a 2weeks on 3weeks off rota.
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If there is work in Lyon you may save money. I would be suprised if the money you saved in somewhere cheaper to stay is not eaten up by travel costs though if you have to drive an hour each way to get to the slopes. Plus you might miss the best powder mornings with closed roads.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
how so many people do it.
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Do many people do a season without working? I'ld love to, but I'm lazy at heart. My impression has always been that most people 'in resort' (just for firebug that) for the season do some kind of work, certainly my friends who've done it have worked, but maybe that's a self selecting sample, so i could well be wrong.
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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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Even people I know who don't intend to work usually do some casual bar or cleaning work.
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Helen Beaumont, so do you know a quite afew people who came out intending not to work (even if they inadvertently did)?
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You know it makes sense.
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midgetbiker, depends on the resort, in L2A we were definitely the small minority who weren't working, other than the four of us I can only think of one other true ski bum there. However, in La Grave the majority weren't working there's probably some limited correlation between aims, ability and ambition there but I can't be bothered to speculate. I will say that you would be hard pushed finding chalet girls to chase in La Grave though.
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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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midgetbiker, most of them are people with their own places who spend most of every winter out in Serre Che. Naturally after several winters, they usually have a few friends with bars, and apartments that need cleaning, and will help them out in peak season.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Swirly, i can see that resort would make a difference both in the two examples you've given and also places like Vd'I or Courcheval having well healed gap year types.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Helen Beaumont, yes, i can see that. I don't thing inactivity comes too naturally to most folks (though given the chance I'ld give it a go).
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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 don't thing inactivity comes too naturally to most folks (though given the chance I'ld give it a go).
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midgetbiker,  There's nothing very inactive about my seasons in the Alps. Quite a lot of visitors - usually needing picking up in Geneva or (worse) the airport optimistically labelled "Grenoble". Shopping, cooking, waxing skis. Not to mention thrashing around in the snow, getting lost in the fog and occasionally pottering up something on snowshoes. I just don't get paid for it. But also, as Helen Beaumont says, I do some end of let cleaning for friends.
I can quite understand how swirly never had time to service his snowboard properly. the weeks just flash past (and I come home to the UK for the crowded February weeks).
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midgetbiker, Economically, assuming you're not immediately post school/uni, unless you're really on bare bones of savings there is little incentive to work a day job as it directly cuts into snow time. I met Aussies who were "doing a season" in Canada who averaged less than 1-2 days a week on the slopes as they were working 2 jobs - 1 to pay the rent, the other for a pass and spending money. While no doubt they were still having fun it just seemed stupid to me.
Evening jobs on the other hand can have a utility above mere cash e.g. social benfits and cost/boredom avoidance. Better to be paid to stand behind a bar or DJ etc than mope around in a cramped apartment or be getting ratted the other side of the bar every night. Unsurprisingly these jobs will always be most in demand in a ski resort.
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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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| T Bar wrote: |
| kill_reign, Plus you might miss the best powder mornings with closed roads. |
0.o never thought of that.
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pam w, yep i can imagine that, did 50ish days in Chamonix last season and at the time of arranging flights about half those days were on my own, but by the end of the season I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times I'ld skiied alone or spent a night in the apartment alone (and on those occasions i had so much to catch up on i could have done with more).
Still roll on doing it all again this season 
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 16-11-09 18:41; edited 1 time in total
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fatbob, oh i can well see the sense of not working, but still my personal impression has always been that most people there for the season do some work.
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fatbob, yes if you're going to work to pay for travel there are better places to do it than in a ski resort. Good point about the social side of working though I'd have got some sort of job if I'd travelled out alone just for that aspect. That said some bar jobs involve crazy hours, I know of people who worked a bar job for almost 60 hours a week you don't get much ski time then.
midgetbiker, yes they were opposite ends of the spectrum, I'd imagine places like Val d'I are more in the middle too.
As pam w says there isn't that much downtime provided you keep active: I went ice climbing, touring and spent a while planning adventures on top of ski time, sleep time, shopping time etc. The main thing is that with not working you can always get first lift on the days that count.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I spent just over 4.5k in Tignes for 5 months of skibumming.
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| Spikyhedgehog wrote: |
I spent just over 4.5k in Tignes for 5 months of skibumming.
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I've heard tales of La grave ski bums spending significantly less than that! You won't find your typical seasonaire there though!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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surely the whole point of being a bum is to get other people to pay for stuff? I suspect some people who describe themselves as "skibums" are actually rather well heeled tourists on a longer-than-average holiday.
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| surely the whole point of being a bum is to get other people to pay for stuff? I suspect some people who describe themselves as "skibums" are actually rather well heeled tourists on a longer-than-average holiday. |
I'll take that as the compliment it's intended to be... 
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You know it makes sense.
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snowcrazy, what do you do to fund your seasons?
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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its a dream to do a season,hopefully one day when i get out the ratrace.
in the meantime maybe Billy M could do a blog we could all follow,i for one would love to track your progress and follow your adventure,and live the dream through you and your mates.
also where you going? maybe other snowheads could meet up when nearby,
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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aldoyle, I've just read through this and I'm kind of with you on it. Pro-rata I can see you'd struggle with saving £14k. I also think that the SH patronising filter has once again been set to zero, so you got the full taste of SH!
I can see that doing a season for some people is not just about finding the cash but also about squaring the commitments, whether they be partners, jobs, careers, mortgages. In my experience these get more complicated over time reaching a peak somewhere in the middle, after which they get a little simpler again. Of course personal health might counter balance the second round of simplicity. For those reasons doing the season when younger seems to make sense - except for the money which is probably why aldoyle was still wondering how it could be done; and I would agree. I didn't have £5k-£10k savings when I was in my twenties so are those younger people doing a season funding it through parents or through savings made over a lengthy period of time.
I do think the good advice on this thread was about finding a way, somehow, through sacrifice and through creative thinking. Having the place to get to, the dream, the destination, whatever, is for many the hardest bit. Once you have that, working out the way to achieve it is really a case of working backwards and keeping focused on the goal.
My biggest worry would be not being healthy enough to do it, once I have the financials in place and once the domestic situation allows for it (finishing school for the children etc) I might be too old to appreciate it.
Still an interesting thread though. Interesting to piece together everyone's lives from the one or two details posted and for those who have gone and followed their dream...
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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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once I have the financials in place and once the domestic situation allows for it (finishing school for the children etc) I might be too old to appreciate it.
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johnnyh, don't you believe it! Life's choices open up again once your kids are no longer dependent (though they never quite go away..... thankfully) and unless you're unlucky, or fail to look after yourself, no problem having the energy to appreciate it. And if you're out for many weeks you don't actually have to ski dawn till dusk, or whatever the state of the snow/weather.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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pam w, fingers crossed I'll have the energy to do as much as I want to do when and if I get there.
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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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Just move.
Go live in
Zurich
Geneva
Vancouver
Milan
Turin
Luzern
Denver
SLC
Washington SE
What's really stopping you?
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£15k for a season, including UK mortgage seems a bargain - I just checked the price on a week in Club Med Chamonix for a family of 5 at New Year- £13,875- and Russian hookers not included- I asked.
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johnnyh, that's my big concern. That by the time I'm in a financial position to ditch the job, sell the house and move to somewhere mountainous mortgage-free and become self-employed, I'm not in a physical state to do any of those things. I used to take my health for granted, I certainly don't any more. Problem is, the back-up plan is not very appealing.
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| nixmap wrote: |
Just move.
Go live in
Zurich
Geneva
Vancouver
Milan
Turin
Luzern
Denver
SLC
Washington SE
What's really stopping you? |
Agreed
add in
Bern
Munich
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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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and salzburg, innsbruck,
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Reno
Calgary
Lyon
Munich
Christchurch
Santiago
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FAQ
