A love of skiing often inspires an unbeatable urge to leave the rat race behind, move to a ski town and work at a resort. Ski filmmaker Warren Miller would say, “If you don´t do it this year, you´ll be one year older when you do.”
People who have done this will tell you that they “came for the winters but stayed for the summers,” but once they have lived the dream for a while, they might advise you that “everyone who lives in a ski town is over-qualified and underpaid.”
Then, there´s the off-season dilemma. When the lifts stop turning, does your life take a turnabout for the worse? Does everything start going downhill, so to speak?
Some people find off-slope employment, including:
- Contracting and construction work
- Landscaping for businesses and residences
- Restaurant or fast food establishment employment
- Hotel jobs
- Real Estate sales
- Retail positions
- Selling ad time for newspapers or radio stations
- Bus driver
- Housekeeping
- UPS
- FedEx
- Teaching School
- Working at a bank
On the other hand, who´s to say that your professional life must follow a straight and narrow course? If skiing is truly your passion, take a few years, a year, or just a season and go off-piste with your career plans. In the long run, the memories alone make it worth your while. From time to time, we will post especially interesting ski resort jobs.
For example, a position at Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in Canada offers a passport to adventure, excitement and personal enrichment. The website features an extensive listing of on and off-mountain jobs, with a few year-round positions. The resort management complements the employee salary with discounted meals, housing and retail purchases, freeskiing and discounted rates at some Western Canada hotels.
Employees come from all corners of the globe, but you will need to obtain a Canadian visa and work permit. The Mike Wiegele website provides all of the details.
If you score a position, you will be traveling with at least a full season´s worth of luggage. Don´t risk losing your precious boards. Let shipskis.com ship your skis to their destination.