Living in Banff! help

T

teebs-jr

Member
So some friends and I are planning on moving to Banff in september to live and work until probably May. A couple of them did this 2 years ago in whistler and it would be sick to go back.. buuuut the olympics sort of fucked that up. So banff is our second choice. In whistler it was different because they knew some people to crash with until jobs and a house came up, Really dont want to go out there with no idea on what to expect so if you guys could help us out. Any help with places to live (near mountain), jobs, housing prices, where to find houses online, mountain passes or maybe even better mountains instead of banff etc. There are 4-5 of us and it would be sick if you guys could help us out.
Thanks
 
my suggestion is come early. dont fuck around and wait for that one last guy to break up with his gf or some shit, just set a date now, and fucking leave that day.

if you do that, you will get house.

look into getting a skibig3 pass so you can tour all the moutnains (sunshine, louise, and norquay) its like 500 more than a pass to sunshine or louise and itd be worth it if you got a whip.
 
yeah, if you come out here....look RIGHT NOW.... and post adds looking for a place.

For ski passes ( if your not into working at a hill), then you can boot pack ( pretty much working with trail crew for 9 days). They give you a seasons pass for free that way. ( I think only at sunshine though).

 
no housing close to the mountain really, banff is as close as you get and it's a 15-20min drive to sunshine, another 20 to lake louise, you can't really live in lake louise unless you're working there

when you first get there you'll probably have to stay in the hostal, HI is super nice but farther from dowtown, Samesun is closer to town but not as nice, there's also a sketchy house across from the employment office on bear street that you can rent beds by the week, it used to be $100/week like 3 years ago i have no clue what it is now. that's where i first stayed when i get there start of season in 2005 and met my whole crew there that stayed together for the whole season

housing is super tough to find, the paper only runs like 3 adds a week and they're pretty much rented out that same day, it might be easier in september, and probably easier to get a whole house than just a room, lots of people end up staying in canmore, cheaper and way more available and nicer

for work, just walk around i guess, and check out the employment office for free internet, printer, photocopier, fax, etc., also there is a temp agency if you want quick cash. keep in mind its gonna be super slow in september or pretty much dead until the season starts and then not really busy untill christmas. try to score a big3 pass, there's like a locals discount if you sit through a presentation, it ends up costing pretty much the same as an early season i think, have fun if you have any specific questions feel free to ask,

peace
 
nah, i work park crew....but yeah i work super close with Trail crew. Its alright.....shit work but it gets you a pass. Well if you have the gear, and skiing skills apply for trail crew. Its a pretty good gig.
 
Thanks for all the help guys.. to the guy above were looking for powder, lots of backcountry but I guess at the same time we want park. Put a couple ads up in the canmore area which seems to be the hotspot as far as houses for rent..any other areas I could search near the mountains in that area.. and also the trail crew you said you only work for 9 days? or what is the deal with that, sounds like a foolish deal if so. Again thanks for the help, wasn't expecting such good feedback
 
nope.....my roomie didn't even have a beacon before he came out here. You just have to be able to rip some steep lines, and carry heavy shit while you ski. Pretty much it.

Yeah i live in Canmore. It is cheeper to live out here for sure. Its doesn't have that city vibe at all, and there are not as many tourists ( and most of them are just poor skiing dirtbags anyways). Plus if you want to party you can just go to to Banff and come back and its quiet.

Ohh and the 9 days thing is called bootpacking. If you don't have the money to buy a seasons pass ( 1000+ dollars) and have a few spare days its a pretty good deal.
 
Another quick question, I heard jobs are becoming tougher to get in Alberta. Is there any validity behind this? Should I be worried about not being able to find a job? I was thinking of finding a job at one of the mountains, a shop, construction, restaurant.. anything really. Any feedback is appreciated
 
Plus you can keep using the staff bus pass all year if you don't have a car and avoid buying a bus pass which is $400+
 
Honestly, it's pretty damn hard to find a job in town right now. If you've got some skills and an affable personality it shouldn't be too hard but places are definitely scaling back due to the recession.
 
wrong in the highest level.......the section of the hill that got the most cuts this year was Instructors, and food services. You want ops jobs, thats your best bet. As much as it sucks....lifty is a super safe job, with great ride time, and sort of good pay ( depending on where you work). Ops is always good because the hill doesn't run with no ops staff.
 
Hmmm, where I coach the team is overstaffed, but still not laying off. Anyways, listen to this guy, he knows more about said resort than I do lol, I just coach at Panorama.
 
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