Any Aussies have any tips on park jobs down under?

rockersteez

rockersteez

Member
Been something I've wanted to do for a while. Didn't have the funds to try it this year. I should have looked around earlier when the mountains were hiring to see how everything was looking regardless.

I've checked out a bunch of stuff on 6 of the places, found out a lot about their parks but I have no idea what else is out there or how often they hire outsiders.

Planning on getting my passport and applying for a work and holiday visa if things are looking good.

From what I've read it doesn't sound too bad for getting a job down there and getting the visa. I have absolutely no idea about park jobs though. Any info or advice would be massively helpful.
 
Thredbo, Falls Creek, Perisher Blue, Mt. Buller, Mount Hotham, and Selwyn Snowfields are the ones I was just checking out most recently.

If anyone knows of other good places to check out that would help as well, as I'm really not familiar with the mountains down there. As long as it has a park I'm down to check it out.
 
Head to snowpark

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But really, it sucks that it's not opening.
 
I believe they plan on opening next year though which is when I'm talking about. Way too late to try and get down there this year and don't have the funds to pull it off even if everything else was set.
 
Perisher has the best park. I would aim for perisher, thredbo or falls. There is only really an opportunity in park jobs in those resorts. Hotham is also good... But dude, you won't be making much ;) being in the park crew down here is not like the park crew like anywhere else in the US
 
I mean I never planned to get rich from it. Instead of sitting around thinking of next season all summer I'd like to keep winter flowing for an extra season in the year. Especially after some injuries where I couldn't ride or build for a while.

How much is not much. Like +/- sweat shop laborer? Will I be able to live in something with a roof and eat ramen on the pay? I just want to go build because I love it and I'm way too obsessed to wait 5 or 6 months to get back to it.

What are some of the differences in terms of the park crews? I honestly know nothing about working outside of the US so I'm down for any knowledge.
 
Wages are pretty high in Australia compared to the US. Minimum wage here for an 18 year old is $16.37 basic rate for menial jobs. Although, I'm not sure what wage park crew get. At Buller I believe they're under the category of Mountain Operations but I could be wrong. The best park in Australia are at Perisher, Falls and Thredbo but there is an alright park at Hotham and Buller. Rule out Selwyn, Mt Bawbaw also has a good park from what I've heard but I haven't been there in winter.

The problem with Perisher and Thredbo are there's very little on mountain accommodation so you're looking at a commute each day. Correct if I'm wrong but I don't think they have staff accommodation so you have source your own place to live.

I don't know anything about the arrangement at Falls in regards to work or living, but they have a sick park every year. Although as a snowboarder Falls is an extremely flat mountain.

The easiest mountains to get accommodation as staff are Hotham and Buller as they both provide relatively inexpensive accommodation for staff with the added bonus of you living on the hill or at least having free transport to the hill.

If you're looking for a social aspect Buller has the best partying as majority of people live on mountain, Hotham is kind of close behind and Jindabyne (The base of Thredbo and Perisher) also has good partiest. Although they often breathalise people on the drive up to Thredbo and Perisher and our legal limit is only .05.

With a job that gives you staff accom as long as you don't spend all your money at the pub or on drugs living cheaply you can sustain yourself pretty easily.

Here park crews get very little cat time and not as much snow so jumps are harder to shape. Although you coming from a little hill will probably be quite familiar with how our parks run.

Hit me up if you have any other questions, I'm happy to help :)
 
Thanks. This is very helpful. Anything with housing or reasonably priced housing nearby is a massive plus as I won't have a car. Commutes generally don't bother me but I don't want to constantly hassle people for rides.

I'm down to party. Damn that legal limit is low as fuck. I won't have a car though so I can rage.

I def don't waste my money. I'd much rather buy beer and drink it at a house than pay somebody 5 times as much to open it for me. Unless the scene is really happening then I'm down to waste some money every once in a while.

I've worked the east coast in the states through some pretty weak winters. Also half my years park crew were small mountains where cat time was a struggle. As long as they have a few features, the other people are passionate about it, and we can build some nice setups I'm fine. It doesn't have to be the worlds sickest park. I just want to build stuff, ride, and kick it with good people.
 
Found a site with some more info on buller employment. Apparently staff lodging is automatically offered if you get a job. $250 a week so just over $1k a month but breakfast lunch dinner are cooked for you and offered at no extra charge.

Min is $18 which is legit as hell. And the currencies are pretty similar. Might be like 17 USD but that's better than our min of $7 ish.

" When the snow is good, this can mean 5 days a week work. But when the snow isn't good, this drops to perhaps 3 days. Some people only get the call-up to work once the season is halfway through."

I guess the snow is hit or miss there but the better hourly rate could still cover the cost of living on the slow spots.

Hopefully everything works out and I can score a job, get a visa and make this happen next spring.
 
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