Working at a resort next year? Ill be 21 looking for advice

I did a season in Canada as a lifty last year, currently working part time and just riding this year but I have a free place to live now. Last year I made minimum wage for Alberta that's $9.40 Accoms where like 300 a month provided through the hill mostly all in a massive log building that was basically like a college dorm without homework.

I'm not sure how it works elsewhere but hear and some other places like Revelstoke, lifty's get ride breaks and where I was working we were paid for them. They say you can only ride green runs on your breaks since you are still punched in but it is barley enforced and where I worked it was a huge mountain so to get caught you basically had to be skiing a lift line in uniform and have somewhere who cared ride up(very few people cared) Perks where discounts at several other ski resorts, Full time was free at kimberly nakiska,sunshine,fernie,norquay,  half off at revelstoke kicking horse, castle, red mountain, white water. We also got 40% off food in the cafeteria which was ridiculously expensive so it basically just made it regular price but if you knew the right people you could get stuff real cheap.

For all the basic entry level jobs at a hill(rentals,retail,food n bev, ticket checkers,Dishwasher) Only lifty's got paid ride breaks and always got them no matter how busy it was so on x-mas when everyone is working overtime inside and hearing about all the good snow, ur day just goes faster because your working hard and your getting to ski still and getting paid for it. Liftys rule period. That said i'm not sure of the policies in Colorado or anywhere other then hear so this is just an idea.

 If you get a job in town instead you have to factor in buying pass, shuttle to the hill, in this town its free but i no in revelstoke unless you work for the hill you have to pay to take the shuttle unless you have your own car. If your job doesn't provide staff accom's it will most likely be more expensive, like 500bucks a month whistler from what i saw its like 700 and your in a house with a shared room.

Groceries and what not are always expensive in resort towns but if you get a friend with a car or some places even offer buss trips for a small cost to bigger cities/towns where food and stuff is cheaper so you can buy a shit ton and then live off that for a while.

Beer/Liquor, Obviously your going to want to chill out n crunk some brews after a nice day on the slopes beer is marked up in the town I'm at from what it is in the city and the bars are fairly expensive. I live in a small ass town and the only local bar will have specials like $3 Jagers but most things are even more expensive some restaurants charge 6.50 a beer and its just a pub. Now those booze prices are probably fairly different then that in the states cause you guys pay less taxes(WOOO HEALTHCARE) but still expensive.

Again if you don't get a job at the hill try and find somewhere that you can get more days off or at least some later or earlier shifts that would allow you to ride the maximum amount.

Anyways I hope that at least helps you a bit and I guarantee as long as you don't get fired, arrested you will have one of the most epic years of your life. I still hear from people riding the lifts every day about the years they worked at a ski hill and how they remember them being the most fun ever. I plan on staying in a ski town for the rest of my life!:) 

I was not expecting to have that legit of advice from anyone. Thank you so much for taking the time out to write that dude! I'm excited I know that the money i'll be making will be enough to survive and all that jazz along with booze and other fun things. But from everyone i have heard they just say its the most fun they've had. Again thank you its much appreciated! Lifty is sounding like where I want to end up.

Hopefully it will be a good season when you work, I'm working at a resort right now and due to lack of snow all my hours have been cut.

You in colorado? or is everywhere just not getting snow? Were having a poopy season. Obviously still fun but the snow is just not cutting it. hoping for a snowy spring i guess.

Snowmaking. You have to work some shifts at night but i have skied pretty much everyday this season, plus nothing beats taking the work sled for pow laps round the mountain at 3am.

best job on the mountain compared to your peers?

bartending.

nuff said

Is the kid in CBs name Davis by any chance?! haha

hahahahaha yeah as a matter of fact it is. Davis Collins you know him?

cougar orgasm achievement specialist

heres a little break down of jobs

lifty=outside rain/snow/shine, no prodeals

server/bartender=hard work, but you can make a killing $$$ if you work hard and are good at it.... Plus if you get the afternoon shifts, you can ski all day :)

retail=more money than liftys but less than food/beverage position, prodeals up the ass, get to work in a nice warm building. and a lot of times, get to try out all the new gear for freeeee...

Definitely accurate. To add to the retail part, you'll most likely be working days unless you find a shop that's open at night and score those shifts, which means you'll probably be riding less.

I'm running a kids rental shop in Breck this winter for the ski and ride school. I make decent money, but in a resort town I'm just getting by. If you don't have any bills to pay besides rent you'll be fine, unfortunately that isn't the case for me so I'm doing everything I can just to keep my head above water. A lot of my friends out here have picked up second jobs at night and they're doing just fine. Most of them are instructors, lifties, shop techs, that kind of thing. My hours can get pretty whacky during busy times so I haven't been able to do that myself, and hell I didn't come out here to work the entire time...

Another downfall of working a day job for the resort is a lack of ride time. I have two days off a week and I can take a ride break every now and then, maybe getting on the mountain 4 times a week max, normally 2 times a week on average. My roommates are instructors and they're on snow practically every day. Given they may be working, but if you're just looking to be outside, instructing is the ticket. Another awesome job as far as ride time goes is snowmaking, as mentioned above. If you can get on the 2nd or 3rd shifts you'll be working either later afternoon/evening or nights. It's tough work, and you're outside in some really terrible weather quite often, but you'll be able to ride as much as you want. Also, as mentioned above working off the resort at a restaurant is a great way to make good money and ride a ton. The one downfall is that you won't get the perks of working at the resort...

As a Vail Resorts employee you get a lot of perks. The first and most important one is the free pass, that's the reason you get a job at the resort. You also get access to a ton of deals on gear, whether it be discounts for yourself personally or just the ability to order equipment through reps who work at the mountain. Food is half priced at all on mountain dining facilities, which really just makes the prices normal as opposed to incredibly over-priced. Cheap housing if you have a job that qualifies you for employee housing.

All in all, I've been out here for just over two months after working at a ski area in NY for a few years, and it's quite possibly the best decision I've ever made. Sure I'm broke, I won't be going on the trips that I'm used to going on, but I'm having a lot of fun living out here. You live out here already so it may not be quite the change that it's been for me, but living in the mountains of CO has been pretty incredible so far. I highly recommend working out here at least for a season, just be careful you don't get sucked into the lifestyle and blow off school completely. I was pretty sure it would happen to me so I waited until after graduation to make the move. Good luck though man, if you have any other questions hit me up!

At 21 I did the same, and now it's winter #2, no university, no homework, no studying, no stress! Only skiing and working valet. Powder road trips, multiple-resort pass, cheap staff accom. I can honestly say that for the time, for the winter, life is damned near perfect. It's seriously bliss and I really recommend it!

You guys are giving me great advice. I really really appreciate it! There are so many options and I'm getting good vibes from all of them. I definitely am going to do this next year and try to hop on whatever job I can. Definitely seems like working with the resorts is going to be the way to go. I mean bartending would bring in the tip money and all that jazz but I mean the perks of working the resorts are pretty sick. And Even If I worked nights at the bar I just don't think I'd be riding as much as I would Like to. Just working nights sleeping in later. I'd almost rather have a snow making or instructing job.

I was Lifty last year and got pro-deal on some k2 obsetheds with bindings for 600bucks. It is true you are outside but that also means your not stuck in a rental shop. Bartending is good but also usually harder to get into without any experience but if you can you will get alot of money. Snowmaking super hard work but super fun also a very good idea if you can get on it. At my resort they started in october and almost half of them are already put into other positions like lifty rental shop inside because we don't need nearly as much snow making later on in the season. Ski school if you get your level 1 is alright but a lot of instructors barely get any lessons and make like 25bucks a day so wind up having to work other jobs but if you have money saved free pass/subsidized accoms you will ski a shitload.

Also another awesome job that I will probably be trying for next year is trail crew. Hard ass work digging in and out snow fences, carrying shit just basically doing all the labor on the hill that can't be done with machines so most of it. You have to be a pretty damn good skier but if your up to it you are constantly skiing around the mountain, you work hard so you get in killer shape and working hard makes time go fast. and if theirs pow they definitely get their fill plus trail crew veterans are usually awesome skiers so you will learn from them and become even better. If you are a good park rider you could also apply for park crew which is also a pretty killer job testing jumps and what not. All depends what you want. Also at my resort, any of the good bar tending jobs required several years in food in bev before you would get them and in food and bev first year your just a cashier usually and you make same as a lifty but you get almost no ride breaks and work so much harder. Plus once you get into a certain job its very hard to get transferred it does happen but very rarely. O and in Canada your level 1 instructors is like a 4 day course and super easy as long as you pay attention from what i've heard