Ski/snowboard Seasons

[arw_86]

hello everyone.

last wednesday i arrived back from a 5 month holiday in australia basically, and am really keen to now plan my next adventure. I have always wanted to do a ski season, and have a friend who is keen too. (i searched about this on the forum but came up with a bitching session about how to spell chalet or some TF crap.)

We were thinking of somewhere in europe. Obviously keeping cost down is a must, ive just done months of work at both a cattle ranch and a surf school, doing a few hours a day in return for all food, accom and a few other bonuses. I am more than happy to do this again, however earning money would be a bonus.

So id just like to know if anyone has done a season anywhere?

how did you go about it?

wheres the best place to look for jobs?

best place to buy kit? or can i get cheap kit with a job?

best place to do a season?

any help would be appreciated.

cheers adam

[rocktrials]

One of my friends is curently doing a ski season in Austria. Signed up through some online place and got the job as like a ski warden or something (basically i cant remember)

I think she left end of November and it's for 5/6months.

Edit: Where were you in Oz?

Edited February 22, 2011 by rocktrials

[rhythm_101]

if you want cheap, try Andorra, right between france and spain, the good thing about Andorra is that you don't have to pay tax on anything, so all the gear and stuff is usually 20% cheaper than anywhere alse, and you have a large variety of slopes.

you can also visit the french alps from there and if you wish, drive to spain! i'm living in Barcelona and it's only a 3hr drive from here!

[Tomm]

There's no way I'd do a season in Andorra. Think of it this way: Your season is going to cost you £5-6000, and you can either pay that by working beforehand and dossing while you're out there, or work whilst you're there. Doesn't really matter. BUT if you're spending £6000, the extra £2-300 for a flight to Canada (as opposed to France or something) is soooo worth it. If you're feeling dead exotic, go to Japan. Plenty of snow there.

This is based on no real factual evidence about accommodation costs/job prospects etc. Just the fact that snowboarding in France involves 1 day in 7 in fresh snow - the rest of time on icy groomers - whilst Whistler got over 2m of snow last week.

[Elliot]

So id just like to know if anyone has done a season anywhere?

Yep, St. Anton in Austria, Whistler in Canada, Perisher in Australia and currently in Val d'Isere in France

how did you go about it?

for the European stuff I sent out my cv to all the uk tour operators I could find and picked the job/resort I liked the most. Helps if you have some kind of hospitality experience before hand.

wheres the best place to look for jobs?

Internet. Most uk tour operators will have a website with a recruitment/jobs section. Hit up as many of those as you can. The large Canadian resorts will also have recruitment fairs in London, and Canada is epic, I want to immigrate there at some point!

best place to buy kit? or can i get cheap kit with a job?

Most jobs will let you have rental gear for free. For the most part it is shite but if you are learning it does not make much of a difference. The Canada resorts tend to have staff sales so you can pick up gear cheap, but the European resorts are expensive so I hit up ebay.

best place to do a season?

Whistler in Canada has been my favorite, wicked tree runs, steep and deep, plus a proper party town. I worked as a lifty there and would absolutely recommend it! My next season is going to be Niseko in Japan which is supposed to have some of the best snow in the world.