How Do You Take Your Ski Trips?

[abc]

In that case, the question would become, if you have such qualification, would you not be able to find a properly paying job that will give you more (offsetting season pass & lodging) in the end?

The interesting bits is, north America ski resorts also employs a large number of foreigner too. They would even apply proper visa for them so they don't have to hide from immigration! Don't know if their pay is reality any better than the chalet girls in the Alps though.

 

[Magnatude]

**In that case, the question would become, if you have such qualification, would you not be able to find a properly paying job that will give you more (offsetting season pass & lodging) in the end?** (quote)

Because most of them are uni students or recent graduates doing a part-gap year. Like all ski bums, they are there to have fun, and working a moderately undemanding job suits that aim better. From memory, we got around £20 a week, most of which would have ended up in local bars. But as I said, this was some 25 years ago. Things may have changed a lot since then. I believe the ski resort in question only employed French nationals or maybe EEC-residents (this was the pre-EU era) at that time, but it wasn't the ski resort that employed us: lots of non-French companies ran accommodation operations there. (BTW, I have heard of plenty of people who worked "informally" in US ski resorts too, just as I knew of Europeans and North Americans working informally here. It might be harder now, but I'd bet it still happens.)

 

[abc]

(BTW, I have heard of plenty of people who worked "informally" in US ski resorts too, just as I knew of Europeans and North Americans working informally here. It might be harder now, but I'd bet it still happens.)

I'm sure there're people who work "informally". But if they had any qualification, or at least a bit more organized (basically apply early enough), they have the chance to work "formally", in other words, legally.

Actually, getting caught by immigration officers in the US isn't so good if they have any desire to work here later on. Being deported means they can't come back within 5 (or maybe 10?) years. And it leaves a black mark under their name every time they apply for a visa. Because the employer also gets fined, so most would prefer not to hire illegals, atleast not for a good job that actually qualify for work visa. They'd just apply for a visa for the person instead (some would just shaft you with the processing fee also).

I also see a lot of east europeans in the service industry (cooks, maids). I know there're company that specialized in placing these people. They take care of the visa hassle. So I think these days, most hotels/B&Bs prefer to hire from these company isntead, legally.

 

[Magnatude]

I think everyone knows they shouldn't work without a work permit. The ramifications of being caught occur to some people, and are less compelling for others. The apparent likelihood or otherwise of being caught is one factor in people's decisions to do it.

You are probably unaware of this, but for young people from NZ and Australia (for whom a year or two of international travel and "informal" jobs has been almost a traditional rite of passage for many decades) it is (or at least was, and I can't see any reason why that might have changed) very difficult to obtain US work permits, particularly once they are in the country. The way many of us have traditionally travelled in our youth has involved a bit of ad hoc decision-making which is heavily dependent on funding, friends, timing, and possibly snow conditions in relevant cases.

Here's a hypothetical scenario for you. So, say you are hitching (OK, I wouldn't have but it probably happens) from California to Colorado, with the intention of sleeping on a mate's floor in Steamboat Springs for a day or two, then moving on to, say, Florida. Instead, you fall in love with the place, and decide then and there that you will stay and do a bit of skiing. After a day or two of paying for lift tickets and rental gear, it quickly becomes apparent that you will run out of money unless you get a job. It just so happens that Mr and Mrs Winterover's nanny has broken her leg during a nasty fall while accompanying the kids down a mogul field, and they need someone to replace her until her leg is healed. You have the necessary qualifications and experience (first aid certificate, half-way through a teachers' training course, or whatever) and for whatever reason, they're not overly concerned about the legal aspects. So you're sorted, and their dilemma is solved.

But anyway, this is a discussion about how we women take our ski holidays. I made a throwaway comment about something I did a long time ago which I didn't really intend to elaborate on. I will say though, that I got that job at the end of a week's holiday in a self-catering apartment with a friend and a bunch of other people we didn't know. It was partway through the season, and the girl I replaced had just broken her arm and gone home, unable to ski. The employer was short-staffed and desperate.

 

[Downunder Diva]

I take my ski holidays as inexpensively as I can as saving $$$ translates to many extra days on the slopes. I generally camp in huts or in an alpine tent and do all my own cooking etc. It works for me even though I do without many creature comforts. But if you have the right gear it's amazing how comfortable snow camping can be (I alternate 3 days snow camping subject to weather with one day overnight at our hut where I cook, bathe and dry gear etc before repeating the cycle) . I generally ski for at least 30+ days per season with a seasons pass using this method... I often wonder what it would be like staying at a condo but I've done it this way for so many years now it just feels right.

 

[abc]

Oh Magnatude, in that case, it's sort of a change of mind, going from 100% vacation to a job at a location you'd like to live (for a while)

Apart from the immigration aspect, it's not too different from what a couple of my co-worker did. One, after working in our head quarter at Santa Monica (a beautiful town by the beach at southern California), he decided to live there. He came back to New York, started looking for jobs remotely, moved there within 3 months. Another of my co-worker moved to Boulder, CO, following a week long vacation, after which he called Colorado "the land of milk and honey". He got permission to work remotely for the same company.

Well, come to think of it, I did something of that sort too. (though not exactly because I move to be with my partner at the time). I guess the difference being, as adults, we typically have other things back home that needs sorting out before actually moving there and settling down.

 

[cyn]

Oh Magnatude, in that case, it's sort of a change of mind, going from 100% vacation to a job at a location you'd like to live (for a while)

Apart from the immigration aspect, it's not too different from what a couple of my co-worker did. One, after working in our head quarter at Santa Monica (a beautiful town by the beach at southern California), he decided to live there. He came back to New York, started looking for jobs remotely, moved there within 3 months. Another of my co-worker moved to Boulder, CO, following a week long vacation, after which he called Colorado "the land of milk and honey". He got permission to work remotely for the same company.

Well, come to think of it, I did something of that sort too. (though not exactly because I move to be with my partner at the time). I guess the difference being, as adults, we typically have other things back home that needs sorting out before actually moving there and settling down.

We do day trips, overnights in VT and once a year, most years anyway, a week out west. We've stayed in hotels and condos, although in recent years I've preferred condos because you don't have to think about where you're going to eat every night. We also like having breakfast in the condo and making something to bring with us for lunch. We save tons of money that way and I think we eat better.

 

[Lilywhite]

Perty if you set up a chalet let me know, I'm a dab hand in the kitchen, great customer service skills and you won't find anyone more enthusiastic (unless other diva's apply!) I could do with swapping my pub for some mountain air too.
We always take a week, 2 if I can arrange holiday cover for that long. We have used hotels big and small, self catered apartments/cabins, pensions in Austria but never yet a chalet, that is about to change as I have just booked last minute for Are Sweden flying out on 25th March, we got a fully catered chalet for £499.
Really excited, will send in a trip report when we get back.