Subsidise Your Sport
Season 2006/07
Organise a trip for family & friends
The easiest way to make your skiing cheaper (or even free!) is to organise a trip for a group of people. If you take large numbers away it makes the accomodation cheaper (see "Where To Stay") and can also make travel cheaper (see "Getting There"), so everybody benefits. However if you want to make your trip totally free you can either build it into the above costs or take advantage of the numerous Holiday Companies that offer a free place for the organiser of large groups. Different companies make different offers, so check their brochures (normally in the front section). For example, last season,:-
Crystal & Neilson offered a free place for every 5 people booked in certain resorts. Inghams offered a free place for every 7 people booked.
Airtours offered 0.5 of a place free with every 10 people booked, so if you wanted a
full place free you need to book 20 people in.
Set up a Ski Club at your work, Pub, Sports Centre, etc.
The organisation of this is the same as for Family & Friends (above) but on a larger scale.
However, organising for 'strangers' can often result in unforseen problems, like:-
* People dropping out after promising to go
* Not paying deposits or final payment on time, or at all
* Being held responsible for their behaviour
* Having to attend hospital or doctors with them if they
have a problem, and then having to pay for the
treatment when they have no money !
(most of this will later be refunded by insurers)
After pointing out the possible pitfalls, you could find that this option runs very smoothly, and turns out to be very rewarding, but fore warned is fore armed !
Work in the Ski industry
There are numerous different jobs available in the skiing industry, not just working as a ski instructor, as most people think.
Besides this people can also find work as: Lift Operators, Snowmakers, Piste Bashers, Ski Guides, Resort Reps., Chalet Hosts, Chalet Chefs, Snowboard Hosts, First Aiders, Resort Managers, Hotel Managers, Kitchen Porters, Night Porters, Nannies, Maintenance Staff, Accounts Clerks, etc.
Listed below are some of the websites these jobs can be found on:-
www.crystaljobs.co.uk
www.skialpine.com www.owh.co.uk
www.payaway.co.uk www.globalchoices.co.uk
www.coachingvacancies.com
I am sure there will also be many other sites offering work, to find these simply type 'skiing jobs' into your internet search engine.
Also you can try any of the ski holiday companies websites, most of these require many of the above jobs on a regular basis, and details are normally at the bottom these companies home pages.
Ski Instructing
Courses to gain qualifications to be a ski instructor are organised by Crystal & Base Camp amongst others.
The Base Camp course is 11 weeks in either Meribel, Val d'Isere, Whistler, Banff or Kicking Horse and costs from £5,395 but at the end of it you come out as a qualified BASI (British Assoc. of Snowsports Instructors). Tel: 020 - 7243 6222.
Crystal run The International Academy ski and snowboard instructor training courses in partnership with the resident ski and snowboard schools in various resorts including Whistler, Blackcomb and Lake Louise. You need to phone 0870 060 1381 for further details or a brochure.
Interski are regularly recruiting British Instructors for their Italian resorts.
Some companies guarantee a job after qualifying, so make sure you check this out on applying!
Work close to, or associated with, Skiing
There are many other jobs available in ski resorts which, although not on the slopes, allow you to ski in your spare time. Mark Warner Ltd., for example, wanted Beauticians, Management, Accountants, Housekeepers, Bar Staff, Chefs, Sports Masseurs(eusses), Restaurant Staff, Laundry Staff, Chalet Staff, Maintenance Staff, Porters, Hotel Staff, Customer Service Personnel for last season.
Normally you need to apply for these jobs in early summer, although it is still worth enquiring during the season as they often need to fill jobs due to employees illness or other reasons.
There have also been several careers advertised this season which are not permanently in ski resorts but obviously give some scope to be there on a regular basis. Amongst these were:-
Snowsports Development Officer Scottish Highlands snowsportscotland.org
Head Assistant Ski Coach, Florida,USA coachingvacancies.com
Head Alpine Ski Coach, Maine, USA umfk.maine.edu