The ideal ski resort job involves plenty of snow time, a good wage and/or all your accommodation costs covered by the boss. Here’s my top 6 jobs in a ski town. Unfortunately they aren’t generally available for newbies. This is followed by the six worst jobs in a ski town.
1. Heli-skiing or cat-skiing guide.
The guests pay thousands of dollars to ski the same snow you ski every day. Sure you’re responsible for their safety and need to be a complete professional, but hey, any job that means you never make a turn in someone else’s tracks is top shelf work.
2. House manager for the mega rich.
A friend of mine was a house manager in Aspen. His “job” was to live in a section of a mansion, have others clean it, make sure toys like snow-mobiles and bikes were in good order and look after the family when they came to stay. The homeowners only came once in seven years.
3. Bartender.
Mixing fancy drinks at an upscale USA resort ticks a lot of boxes. You can ski everyday and the tips should allow you to rent something that is slightly larger than a bike box. Bar tenders tend to be much loved people in town who work the barter system well.
4. Concierge at a fancy hotel.
These people are the heart and soul of their establishments. Good pay for demanding work, but the reward is plenty of ski time.
5. Ski Patrol.
“Better do one more sweep of the bowl to make sure it’s safe for the general public”. Ski patrols get more powder than pretty much everyone else in town. The pay is lousy, but people stick with patrol for multiple seasons because the perks are sensational.
6. Highly experienced ski instructor at fancy resort.
If you been doing the ski instructor gig long enough, you will have built up a decent client base. On many occasions you’re skiing expert terrain with clients who are basically paying to skip the general public lift lines.
Snow Shoveller
If you’re shovelling snow in a ski town, you’ve made some serious mistakes in the fall. It must be soul-destroying if you’re shovelling powder so others can use the sidewalk to get to the mountain and ski your lines.
2. Breakfast waiters.
I did a stint as a breakfast waiter for a week. Hated it. Lousy tips because people aren’t loading up on booze, or dishes like steak and lobsters. And you don’t want to be working mornings ever in ski towns.
3. Lifties at an understaffed resort.
Being a liftie can be great fun at a great resort that values its’ staff. Sure the work is hard, the pay is meh, but you get ride breaks and days off to enjoy that pow. If you’re resort is chronically understaffed those ride breaks probably don’t exist, and the boss keeps bugging you to cover extra shifts.
4. Car park attendant.
It’s tough, un-glamorous work and you’re making sure others get to the slopes right when you want to be getting to the slopes.
5. Cashier at an on-mountain restaurant. Low pay and boring and the only time there’s work is when the lifts are running. There’s no chance of working night shift.
6. Housekeeping at a party lodge. You’re basically getting paid nothing to clean up after animals while others are skiing your powder runs