Any ski job experience?

A

anderstoftbraun

New member
Hi,

My friends and I have been wondering in a while to ski in a season after we have graduated our high school in Denmark. We want to travel to Norway, Sweden, France, Italy or just anything in Europe.

But there is a problem. Do some of you have any experience with how to find a ski job on a ski destination? How should I handle this? And what about an apartment?

I really hope that you can help me guys!
 
I've got a good bit of experience with this, and I'm Danish, so I know a bit about how it works from that point of view. I'll reply in English in case someone else might want some advice.

First of all, from my own experience, there are some places and countries to avoid, and some jobs as well. However it depends what you want to get out of your ski season, my goal was always to ski as much as possible.

With that in mind do not become a ski instructor or rep (we call it guide in Danish). Those jobs leave little to no time for skiing on your own. In general I would also stay away from France, it's crappy pay and crappy living conditions. A general list of jobs to go for could be:

Bartender

Waiter

Dishwasher

cleaning jobs

Nightwatch at hotels

Shaper in a snowpark

Especially the last job is pretty cool, it's how I got started in the snowbusiness. If you want to work in Austria, Italy or Switzerland as a shaper, some good companies to apply with are either Qparks or Schneestern.

In norway the resorts tend to take care of their own parks, some good places to look at would be Hemsedal, Trysil, Geilo, Hafjell and Kvitfjell. All of those Places also hire people for a number of other things, like cleaning, waiting tables, working in a kitchen etc.

I think the best way to do it is make a shortlist of places you'd like to go, and then narrow the search down to those places. Questions to ask yourself when it comes to finding good places are:

What kind of skiing do you like, is it mostly park, mostly off piste or maybe a mix?

How important are things like night life, accomodation, other things to do besides skiing?

Are you on a budget, or is money not a problem?

This is just off the top of my head, feel free to PM me with any questions. My areas of expertise are mostly Austria and Norway, so if you wanna go somewhere in one of those places, I can definitely help you out.

Cheers.
 
13485507:cdip said:
Bus at a restaurant after ski hours.
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Basically this. Don't get a job at the mountain or at a ski shop if you're there to ski. You wont be able to ski nearly as much as you think you would.
 
13485829:Mingg said:
Basically this. Don't get a job at the mountain or at a ski shop if you're there to ski. You wont be able to ski nearly as much as you think you would.
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Do this if you wanna get the most skiing. Of course this means you will be the definition of a ski bum instead of being a traveler or whatever you would like to call it
 
If you're looking for a job at the resort look on their website for the employment section. Will usually be a button at the bottom of the page of larger places that says "Employment" "Careers" or "jobs". Also sometimes under the mountain tap, or about us/contact us.

That should show what jobs are available, how to apply, and when the deadlines are.

The other option is jobs in town like restaurants, hotels etc, but I'm not sure the best way to go about that.
 
Also it's very important to look at the work visa situation for that country coming from yours. I'm not sure what the deal is with europe and scandinavia. I wouldn't be surprised if people can work easily at different countries within the EU.

But I really don't know. That's important though because maybe you can get a job but if you need a work visa and don't get one, that's going to be a big problem. Also sometimes work visas are limited so you have to apply before they're gone. Sometimes there is a cutoff date as well.

Best of luck. Working in the ski industry as a way to live and ski in another country is rad.
 
13485879:theabortionator said:
Also it's very important to look at the work visa situation for that country coming from yours. I'm not sure what the deal is with europe and scandinavia. I wouldn't be surprised if people can work easily at different countries within the EU.

But I really don't know. That's important though because maybe you can get a job but if you need a work visa and don't get one, that's going to be a big problem. Also sometimes work visas are limited so you have to apply before they're gone. Sometimes there is a cutoff date as well.

Best of luck. Working in the ski industry as a way to live and ski in another country is rad.
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As long as it is within the EU and you hold an EU passport, you're free to go where ever you want, no restrictions. Norway is not in the EU, but have pretty much the same rules if you come from an EU country.
 
Lived at sugarloaf for part of last winter.

I would recommend avoiding the ski school for your day gig, unless you're instructing at a higher level or coaching freestyle.

Bus tables/wash dishes at night.
 
If any of the mountains are open for night skiing instructing is a pretty good gig. I've been working as an instructor for 2 years during the day on weekends and have gotten to ski for free on wednesday nights, friday nights, and saturday nights for the last 2 years, while still in highschool.
 
I work as a ski instructor and really like it, sure I may not get to ski as much for myself as I would working at a restaurant or some other after ski hours job but I still get allot of skiing in and I'm often able to do some park laps and whatever in the breaks even on work days. Also I would say being outside teaching kids how to get stoked on skiing is allot more rewarding and fun than bussing tables. I'm Norwegian and work here but allot of the other instructors are Danish/Swedish so that shouldn't be a problem. If your gonna be working full time I think most resorts will be able to help you out with finding a place to live, at least thats the case where I work. Apply to all the places you think you may want to work and see where it takes you.
 
13486644:Mar-O said:
I work as a ski instructor and really like it, sure I may not get to ski as much for myself as I would working at a restaurant or some other after ski hours job but I still get allot of skiing in and I'm often able to do some park laps and whatever in the breaks even on work days. Also I would say being outside teaching kids how to get stoked on skiing is allot more rewarding and fun than bussing tables. I'm Norwegian and work here but allot of the other instructors are Danish/Swedish so that shouldn't be a problem. If your gonna be working full time I think most resorts will be able to help you out with finding a place to live, at least thats the case where I work. Apply to all the places you think you may want to work and see where it takes you.
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This is all true, but if one's focus is on really improving one's skiing, this type of work isn't ideal. And as you mention, 90 % of the time you'll be teaching kids, so make sure you can handle that.

Where do you work in Norway?
 
13487579:Jibberino said:
This is all true, but if one's focus is on really improving one's skiing, this type of work isn't ideal. And as you mention, 90 % of the time you'll be teaching kids, so make sure you can handle that.

Where do you work in Norway?
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I work at Hafjell and this is pretty much what it comes down to in my mind at least. If you'r goal is to get good at park then choose something after ski hours, but to me I will much rather have a job I enjoy even if it means sacrificing some park skiing. And for sure I last year I mostly had groups 4-6 years old since it was my first year instructing, I found that to be pretty fun but you need to be patient, next season it will probably be a bit more mixed with more older students though.

And I should say that my skiing outside the park has actually improved allot after I started instructing and paying more attention to my own technique and going to clinics etc.
 
Lie so you don't end up doing LAME ASS SHIT.

Say your dad was a ski patroller in the alps and youve done everything at some small ass mountain even driving the snow cat. You can learn on the job. Only losers feel the need to be 100% honest on job applications just remember like in scarface 'always tell the truth even when I lie.'
 
13488090:PeppermillReno said:
Lie so you don't end up doing LAME ASS SHIT.

Say your dad was a ski patroller in the alps and youve done everything at some small ass mountain even driving the snow cat. You can learn on the job. Only losers feel the need to be 100% honest on job applications just remember like in scarface 'always tell the truth even when I lie.'
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I'm just quickly gonna point out that thread is mostly about working in Europe, which tends to be very different from the states. Most mountain operations jobs are taken by locals who do it as a career, alongside a different summer career. Jobs that are available for "outsiders" i.e people not from the immediate vicinity of said resort, are mostly service jobs or instructing.
 
13488092:Jibberino said:
I'm just quickly gonna point out that thread is mostly about working in Europe, which tends to be very different from the states. Most mountain operations jobs are taken by locals who do it as a career, alongside a different summer career. Jobs that are available for "outsiders" i.e people not from the immediate vicinity of said resort, are mostly service jobs or instructing.
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Good jobs are hard to get across all walks of life but if the job is high paying it is probably not that easy to fill when vacant due to requiring certain qualifications.

You just said most mountain op jobs are treated careers....so again you have to lie about your parents having a really good ski career. Fuck it man say they were part owners or something.

Lots of people got there jobs by lying.
 
On-mountain jobs like running lifts, scanning tickets (which blows), resort host (mostly for old people retirees too damn cheap to buy a senior pass), working in the shops, lodges, hotels at the base. Keep in mind these aren't well-paying and most people I know in those fields pay their bills on time but don't have much to work with, but it is worth it in the end run when you're skiing 5+ days out of the week getting paid for it.

Instructing is brutal from what I hear when you start off. Its fulfilling eventually but good luck making decent livable wages if you haven't already been teaching for a few years and don't have any certifications. Not to mention, these big name resorts fucking stiff instructors hardcore and give you a measly fraction of what you really should be earning, but on the other side of the coin, some of those high-end ski destination areas do pay decently for instructing. One of my co-workers in past years taught at Deer Valley and was making around $12-13/hr+ without and major prior experience/certs and her leads/managers were making like $15+ with tips as well. It pays off but its tough work.

Line cooks, dishwashing, bussing tables/waiting, restaurant gigs are always almost needing people for the PM dinner rush hours allowing you to get a full day of shred in before going to work which is always a plus.
 
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