Anyone here ever..

Lived in a (So to speak) Skiing country e.g Austria, France ect...
And lived out there for a while working and skiing 'n' such. Just wondering if anyone has and is there any good way to approach it,
a few of my mates and me have talked about it but we wouldn't know where to start and how to go about it...

Thanks.

You are in luck, quite a few of the j2ski lot still live in the land of the snowy mountains including Scotland, Austria and Switzerland! 8)

If you want any info on Scotland then I will help you out but I suspect you will want to hang around for the Austrian/Swiss crew!

5 seasons in Meribel and a summer and autumn in La Plagne, having worked for Silver Ski and Out of the Blue.

Depends on what age you are, but a great way to experience it is to get a job with a tour operator. The chalet companies need lots of staff and not just cooks. The independent operators (rather than the big boys) will have better staff to guest ratios, in some ways making life easier (with OOTB we had 2 chalet staff in chalets of 8 and 10 guests).

You should draw up a list of resorts you'd like to work in, the find out which operators go there. Make initial contact with the to see what jobs they offer, and when you should apply. Also obtain their brochures.

Expect to work hard, be paid a pittance and live in a shoe box, but you'll have a blast.

Several seasons in Niederau early seventies. Just went, lived for £0.30 b&b, and found bits and pieces of work, as long as I could ski all day. Then started working for the ski school.

In theory, it should be easier now than then. Good ideas from Dorset boy. As I see it, the strength of chalet stuff is that after breakfast, you work like crazy to clean the place, get the food organised for the evening, then take off skiing.

It's important to choose the resort first, then go for the jobs.

Do I count? 8) I live in Ohio and work at a tiny resort :shock: :lol: I realize how funny this is. We've got a lot of really cool people on here that hail from skiing heavens. A little birdy told me about Crystal Vactions, Euro LTD. If you want to find a job in these areas shoot me a PM and hop in my boat. I've been working my rear off trying to find a job in Austria. Maybe I can help..and I do mean working hard

I did 6 seasons over 10 years, best thing I ever did, if I wasn't tied up with life here I'd be back there now.

I worked for a small tour operator, first 2 seasons in Chamonix I was paid 30 quid a week, got my lift pass, insurance, accommoation, food all paid for and at the time (late 80s early 90s) £30 went a long way!

Don't remeber being given the choice of which resort I went to when I first started out, I worked for a different tour operator in the other 4 seasons I did and was able to chose after a while where I went.

I think the TO route is better given that you will get fed, watered, supplied with that all important lift pass, insured etc and travel to and from resort. September is a good time to start looking.

You will have an amazing time )

Yeah thanks guys, a friend of my friend is actually in Austria right now, i think my mate said something like he works in a bar at night ? But surely that couldn't get him his ski pass and all that !? Could it ?

From what I remember, the people I knew that worked in the bars had to buy their own passes, make their own way there, get their own insurance, usually find their own shoe box to live in, saying that there are plenty of TOs that have bars in their hotels.