 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
A little about me - im 24 yrs old, am travelling around europe atm and am a keen snowboarder of moderate skilll. Im planning on doing a season over the winter but am having trouble deciding on a location. Like any 24yr old male my interests lie in hitting the slopes by day, playing up at night and squeezing work somewhere in between.
I recently spent some time in scandinavia and really enjoyed the place and the people, so am seriously considering doing the season up in norway. Problem is i havent been able to find much relavent information on the resorts as well as working, living etc. What i know is that its expensive and the average wages will just cover week to week living. But from what ive gathered wages arnt much chop anywhere so this doesnt really bother me...
The next option was the french alps, mainly because i can speak passable french. Am still in the process of researching all the different locations/ resorts, though its getting a bit mind numbing sifting through all the information out there on the www. Whats turning me off about the french alps (keeping it rather general i know) is that it sounds too "touristy" for my liking, i dont even know if that makes sense, but i never really liked hanging out at tourist haunts.
Anyway, any advice you can throw my way to help make my decision easier would be much appreciated.
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Samjangs, welcome to Snowheads.  Are you planning to try to get a job in a ski resort? If so, the natives.co.uk website might be more help.
As far as "touristy" is concerned, then any ski resort which doesn't attract tourists is going to be a pretty major failure, and certainly won't be offering much in the way of jobs!
Your French would be a big help in getting a job in France, but you will find a lot of competition - and the "recruitment season" is well under way. What is your nationality? Would you have work permit problems?
Good luck - there are plenty of people on Snowheads with lots of experience of working in a range of Alpine countries.
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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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At this stage you should probably be looking at what jobs are available, rather than where you want to go. If you're planning on working that is - UK TO chalet job, local bar, scrounge some cleaning every couple of weeks?. You could apply for a 'normal' season job with a Brit company (normal application procedure), or head out and ask around, but either way you should get a move on - go to www.natives.co.uk for waaaaay more info.
But what sort of boarding are you after, and what sort of drinking? Do you have/need a visa, or are you British?
Anywhere with jobs will be touristy to some degree, although you can go to places off the Brit radar to at least avoid to much English language (Ischgl, to some degree Saalbach, Fiss/Serfaus in Austria). I wouldn't worry about it too much though, you can get a bit in the 'seasonnaires' bubble' a lot of the time.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Chamonix is a good option for a season. Cheap accommodation, work, lots to go at, and quite a few scandies. Good luck. Natives is a good source of info. Some acc. and job info at
www.cham74.com
Cheapish season pass if you get it early, if you have a contract cheap pass anytime.
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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'm not understanding how the word "cheap" is getting into this conversation at all!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Samjangs, ski resorts are, by definition, touristy.
If you're interested in Norway, try Woody's Bar in Haffell - http://www.woodysbar6677.co.uk/8560/index.html
For alpine jobs try www.natives.co.uk for TOs and www.pole-emploi.fr for local employers. There are also recruitment fairs going on in Bourg d'Oisans on Oct 10 and Albertville on Oct 11 - a lot of employers look to recruit the bulk of their staff at these events.
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There are cheap studios in many resorts.... around the €4500 for the season is easily done in/near Meribel, Les Arc, Chamonix, Courchevel, Morzine... Samjangs if you need any help!
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Thanks guys! i realise touristy was a bad choice of words. I think i more so meant 'common' (clark999's on the right track), in that id rather be somewhere good but a little less popular with my fellow english speakers (Aussies & brits), which is what i found enticing about norway and was turning me away from the french alps...
My abilities fairly limited atm, would be starting off with the intermediate runs with a little beginner park action, leaving the off piste for only when im lost...
I realise its getting a bit late for most jobs through the tour companies, but im gonna circulate my resume to a few tomorrow anyway. Ive read the odd comment of people turning up to the areas pre-season, around november, and sourcing jobs that way. Any advice on whether this is a wise alternative?
cheers
Ps im australian with a euro passport
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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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You're lucky you have an Eu passport.
Get in resort early enough, there will be bar jobs (etc) available - especially local owned bars/companies.
Saalbach should fit both this, what I think you want skiing-wise from your season, and the cosmopolitan/euro scene you (seem to be) are after.
Let me know if you end up there - I'll be working there over Christmas, and a beer or skiing would be good!
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While certain French resorts (Val d'Isere comes to mind) have loads of english speakers, others have far fewer. I lived in Bourg St Maurice for a year- definitely some Brits around, but few Americans/Aussies and lots of French (but maybe not if you hang out at the Chill Chalet which seems to have gone from 40 Euro to 65£ a night, but catered which I think is new). But you have a bit of a Catch-22 as your passable French language skills will be most useful in an business that has a decent amount of English traffic like a Brit resto up in Arc 1800, Chalets that cater to UK market or something similar.
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