European looking for work for next season in N America.

Come to the U.S. just in time for the civil war.

Lmk if u get anything useful

JacobthesadskierOkay, so basically, I live in the UK with my parents, and up till now I've basically worked full time, saved up really aggressively over the summer, and go out to the alps for a few months every winter, and rinse and repeat, but I'm planning on moving out, and obviously I'm not going to have enough spare cash left over to go skiing anymore, plus I'm fucking sick of shitty European winters, and want to get some of that pacific snowfall i see so much, and I've wanted to break into the ski industry for a while now, as I've not done anything like it before and it looks like it could be really fun. Was wondering if anyone on NS had any advice about working in N America, coming from Europe, or any good places to work or tips in general, I hear it's a lot easier to be able to work in Canada than in the US. ideally would love to work park crew, but I'm pretty open to anything, anyways, sorry for the fucking block of text, cheers.

I met a couple dudes from Australia or new Zealand or sum who worked at a hostel at red mountain in BC Canada who also worked as lifties at the mountain, it was kinda of a small mountain but super chill and kinda off the beaten path, there were no lines on a pow day, or any day. I think they got to stay at the hostel for free bc they worked there and also got to ski for free because they were lifties. Pretty good skiing too. I dont know the details or anything

I recommend trying to work somewhere in the Alberta Rockies. Not as much snow as interior BC, but the snow is usually very dry. It's a bit cheaper living in Alberta as there's no provincial tax, which makes fuel, groceries, etc 7-10% cheaper than most other provinces. Check out Castle Mountain if you're looking for a more local, less busy vibe on a big mountain. Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin are the bigger resorts. All good options.
If you want to work in BC, apply to Red Mountain, Whitewater, Revelstoke, Fernie if you are looking for fun terrain and lots of snow.
Park crew is a good option, if that's what you want to do, apply! It would probably help your case if you can get on at a European park in the summer or even a fridge in the UK to get a bit of experience.

mcdondalds

cost of living is way higher in small mountain towns than living in the city like SLC, Denver or Boulder. harder to find housing because it’s more limited, food and commodities are more expensive bc of the remoteness of some towns, are you’re further away from potential careers or other important things like hospitals, schools etc.

I live in SLC and pay $500 in rent (got lucky with roommates) and buy groceries from the discount places. I bought a Brighton pass so no need for tickets, and I also work a shop so have access to Alta and Soli as well. It can be done on the cheaper end- of course it will be more expensive to visit.

My current roommate came from Big Sky and he is spending half of what he spent last year on food and rent, but of course it varies person to person.

Yeah it would be way cooler to live in Big Sky than SLC but it’s cheaper and more realistic life wise, especially if you’re coming from across the Atlantic.

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Start looking for work late summer/early fall, nearly all ski jobs are seasonal whether you’re working at the resort or in a shop. A lot of resorts offer employee housing too if that’s the route you’re looking to go down, but landing a job in the industry really isn’t that difficult imo.

My advice would be to start in an established city with plenty of housing like SLC, Bozeman, or boulder, meet some friends and try and figure out where you really want to spend time, and if you can have a career or just bum it in a low key ski town, go for it, bc the traffic in the cottonwoods can be fucking unreal.

**This post was edited on Apr 4th 2024 at 12:10:42am

skiP.E.I.I recommend trying to work somewhere in the Alberta Rockies. Not as much snow as interior BC, but the snow is usually very dry. It's a bit cheaper living in Alberta as there's no provincial tax, which makes fuel, groceries, etc 7-10% cheaper than most other provinces. Check out Castle Mountain if you're looking for a more local, less busy vibe on a big mountain. Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin are the bigger resorts. All good options.
If you want to work in BC, apply to Red Mountain, Whitewater, Revelstoke, Fernie if you are looking for fun terrain and lots of snow.
Park crew is a good option, if that's what you want to do, apply! It would probably help your case if you can get on at a European park in the summer or even a fridge in the UK to get a bit of experience.

++ for Fernie

Honestly what got me to randomly move to CO for a season were some websites like CoolWorks, Occupation Wild, etc. They all have mostly seasonal jobs that offer housing. J1's/Visa workers sometimes get grouped together in cheaper hostel-like settings but a lot of my co-workers lucked out on our own studio-style tiny home setups for the winter and it was great.

I've learned that its really hard to find a job in these areas without having proof of housing because its a super competitive market, so I suggest where ever you go (Huge bonus for BC if you do), bum it up in employee housing for a season that way you can have at least proof of employment should you want to stick around longer and find your own setup.

**This post was edited on Apr 4th 2024 at 10:50:36am