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Gap Year: DING DING DING! (help me out)
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so i am in grade 11 right now (17) and plan on moving out west for the 07/08 season. (not this one but next.) This is for my year off.. the main idea is to get some sick skiing done, while working full time, which is quite due able. Now.. ill tell you the places of which i wnat to/can work, and could you guys please tell me whats best (mountain wise), remembering i am going to need to stay at the moutain or some town very close by that i can bus to the mountain everyday:
-Resterant Server
-[idealy] Ski Instructor (level 2)
-resort maintenace
- anything really thats full time and decent pay
so help a brother out. Thanks Guys
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go to staff housing(cheap).. get a job with WB(free pass).. id reccommend becoming a night cleaner, you work 5-330am 4 days a week, and ski every day.. get paid 10 bones per hour...
i think that covers the basics
thats what i did minus the staff housing and i had the best season of my life
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you will not be able to be a ski instructor and get some sick skiing in.. you're best off working in a restaurant at night so you can ski every day with other skiers, not teaching 5 year olds..
getting a lot of sick days in is not "due able" if you are working during the day...
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Fuck Intrawest, there are other jobs you know.
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so you guys are saying work at night.. so i can ride at day>?
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If you can get a job as a rental tech or something with one of the mountain stores...pay sucks, but there is opportunity to make a bonus if you can sell skis. You'd get a free pass, and be elligible for staff housing. And the hours are pretty decent (split shifts to go skiing, or work nights, the odd days)...and fucking awesome people to work with.
Just get out there early (either the end of your school year, or by Sept). Get a job lined up and miss the rush of people out on WHV's.
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99% of jobs will give you a pass, dont work for intrawest just for that. DO NOT INSTRUCT. that is the worst way to try and go ski, you will teach everyday and ski for 2 hours.
staff housing is shitty and not very cheap. talk to some people before you get out here so you don't get suckered into renting an aussie closet for $500 like margetts is doing.
there are some really good paying jobs here. search around, make sure you differentiate yourself from all the aussies coming here (whether it be a good resume or the ability to speak english properly), you will be able to score a good job. if you need any gear, get a job with hook ups, lots have them and it makes shit cheap.
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i herd that staff housing can be really gay... im leaning towards big white..
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i heard big white can be gay
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working in the winter is for losers. isn't that why they invented summer (and E.I. so you can actually save money in the winter - without working... i've said too much...
ya go work some full time day job for intrawest, have fun with that.
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I instructed in Whistler this last season and lived in Staff.
Despite what others have said, instructing is the best deal in town, AS LONG AS you get into a good pod. I was in Blackcomb Base Pod teaching adults up to parrallel. I was in the schedule to work 5 days a week, so two days off. Except for the busy periods, there was not enough work to go around so if you didn't want to work it was easy to duck out and go free ski. Ok this free skiing is in uniform, but all it means you cant go out of bounds. You can still go to the park, go drop cliffs watever, and GET PAYED to do so!! Also, you get to go on session (you go up before lifts open to public and get the best snow and clear runs). This season I got in 150 days, i would say I was only teaching for 70 of them.
Staff housing is awesome. I lived half a season in a house and half in staff. Staff was more fun if you are ok with the noise and grubiness. The social was much better. And its so much better value, while still being in a good location, ski in ski out. (I was in Glacier).
I had an awesome season, wouldnt have done it any other way.
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If you want a job serving, you should get some experience first. Most places won't hire and 18 year old kid to serve when they can hire hot girls or people with actual experience.
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that means you only skied 80 days, and you live in whistler, i dunno working on the hill just aint for me
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Many of those days working were half days so ski in the morning, teach in the afternoon.
To be fair, by the end of the season I was begining to get bored of skiing, the snow was crap and I was ready for some sun.
In Whistler you have to get a well payed job to survive. Ski instructing is probably the best payed job a 18yo can get. At times i was on $20 an hour plus tips. You can get tipped $100+ for a couple of days work.
The guys I lived with worked in the resturants on the hill, they worked 5 days a week and were barely scraping by with the money they had. With me I was able to live off the tips and my pay from WB went to rent and the rest was saved. Through the season I had enough money to buy 3 new pairs of skis, and new ski outfit, and plenty of going out money.
Working nights you are gonna get too tired to ski everyday real quick. I found skiing everyday for 2 weeks made me very tired. Plus you are probably not going to earn enough money. I think its best to get a job with intrawest cos then you can get a place in staff also
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or get the most awesome job ever...park ranger. even if its vollie, apply late in the season before. im doing that and TMC in the village. gunna be good
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I hear living in staff is worse than sleeping in the dumpster behind the abortion clinic.
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I'm not going to lie, its not the nicest place to stay in Whistler, but for under $300 a month what do you expect?
A lot of it comes down to whether you get good flat mates or not. As long as you are all vaguely tidy it works out ok. And lets be honest, while in Whistler are you really going to spend that much time in your flat? Most of the time your either skiing or partying.
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look around and for $350 each you can get a house, and there are no dead fetuses everywhere.
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You can't get a house anywhere near the slopes in Whistler for $350, the best you are going to get is like $450, for ski in ski out your looking at $600+
I saw no dead fetuses during my stay
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Who wants to live ski in ski out anyways? As long as you're walking distance to a bus stop you're fine.
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So by the time I get out there to live, I'll have worked in a restaurant for 4 years and a ski shop(tuning, waxing, mounting, and selling) for 6.....I can get a job, right?
Haha.
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be a liftie and get some sick sking in on the weekends like every other dinglberry. fag
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weekends are fucking crowded most of the time at whistler, the best time to ski is during the weekdays, the other guy who is an instructor just got lucky, he got a good pod. at 18 its unlikely your going to be teaching adults but you can try... if i were you i would work at a club/bar/restaurant waiting tables or something because like others said work at night ski all day, weekends suck
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