Working snow season for beginner

[GapYearSnow]

Hello,

Really pleased to find there's a dedicated snow and ski board :)

I'm looking for advice as we're not snowboard/skiers ourselves.

My son, just turned 19, has enjoyed snowboarding at a local indoor slope and would like to use his gap year to go snowboarding proper.
He understands that he would have to work during the trip/season and fund the whole thing and is happy to do so.
He has about £4000 in savings from P/T job and b'day money, so may or may not access that - perhaps depending on airfare needed
He was wondering about Canada/America. Failing that, Europe (obviously cheaper airfare)
I have looked online but finding it difficult- I'll find a lovely group for young people then realise it's holiday only- not working alongside.
I've read mixed opinions on visas needed for north America.
If it was Europe would there be language issues or are there lots of Brits that do this? Hope that doesn't sound too Little England!!
He's a quiet lad but he will put himself out there and I think this could be so good for him before university.
Any advice appreciated- thank you.

Could he work for a UK ski company as a rep for the winter season. All Brits doing it. They get to take out groups of holidaymakers on the slops.

Hi thanks for such a quick response! I will certainly look into that- I suppose I worry a bit about him being quiet- do you need to be quite extroverted to be a rep? Can you do that kind of thing as a real novice? Do you know of any reputable companies? Sorry lots of questions! I suspect I should read through this board a bit as likely to be full of info.

good to know that there are lots of Brits though.

Unless he has an EU passport he will have difficulties getting a job in the EU. Brexit put a stop to casual bar/hotel work and if a company wants to get you a work permit you have to have a skill they need and can not source locally.

It does not sound as if his ski/snowboarding skills are advanced enough for him to act as a teacher for a UK ski company. Can he cook? Though to be honest I think you are correct to assume that companies choose self confident extroverts as chalet hosts. Does he have baby sitting experience?

I think his best bet might be to look at working holiday options for young UK citizens in Canada, Aus and NZ - though obviously travel costs are much higher.

Nelson, Crystal, Ingham.
Check out what other jobs are on offer if he is a novice, sorry I missed that in initial reading - admin, chalet host etc
You don't really need to be an extrovert, just friendly.
Alternatively people find seasonal work in bars and ski hire shops for example in resorts, though accom more of a problem then than working for a holiday company. Lots of Brits in resorts in France, Italy, Austria, Andorra. Sure there must be fb groups and websites with ski season work.

My friend’s DS went to Canada and worked as a ski lift attendant. He had basic snowboarding skills when he went (learnt in a snow dome) but was really good by time he came home! He’s hoping to go back for this winter.

Europe is way more tricky post Brexit for those without EU passports.

This was the situation pre-Brexit, but since then the situation has completely changed. Look at the recruitment sites for these travel companies and it is clear that they are only recruiting people with EU passports. The only exceptions are experienced staff at levels such as Resort Manager, and even then, most of these staff are people who already have a history of working in the EU countries pre-Brexit.

For someone without a EU passport and with no experience, the chances of finding legal employment in Europe are now very close to zero. The "British" reps and staff that are working in European resorts almost all have Irish/Dutch/French/Scandinavian passports, or they moved permanently to the EU before 2021.

The obvious alternative is Canada, which requires a Working Holiday Visa. These are limited in number and they are released once a year through a specific scheme - anyone looking to work this winter is probably already too late as they are always over-subscribed.

Plan C would be to save money and go to Europe as a ski-bum, staying in a cheap room (which will be very hard to find) and not working.

Thanks for the update. I hadn't realised there had been such a dramatic change. My experience is obviously outdated by Brexit. It seems a real shame for young people not to be able to work in Europe. I'd wrongly assumed there were working visas you could apply for. My dd wants to do a year abroad as part of a degree so no idea how that will work. She has Irish ggps and Austrian gps but no access to a European passport via them.

agree with pp - unless he has an EU passport it’s all just a dream…bloody brexit…my DD wanted to do it as well but no luck at all. V sad.

Thanks so much, everyone, I honestly hadn't realised how much brexit would impact this area- bit naive, I guess.
Ah! So it's looking like UK/Canada more likely than Europe but still not a given with limited work visa situation- I do like the idea of lift attendant in Canada :)
Will also look into NZ
Then, as pp suggested there is the possibility of ski bum type thing working hard now to fund trip in Europe.
Bit of a wake up call but at least I know now!
No EU passport.
To be honest I now wish he'd take up a place at university this year- join their ski/snow club and go on their annual trip- at least he'd have a group to go with.

Details of the Canadian scheme here > International Experience Canada: Who can apply - Canada.ca

Re: the possibility of similar Visas for young Brits to work in Europe, the EU has always been open to this, but Starmer shits his pants every time someone mentions it as he's still afraid of the Brexit-backing media and the likes of Farage.

If your DD is going to an EU university/work placement with an EU firm as part of her degree course her university will advise on the bureaucracy. More complicated than pre Brexit but doable.

It is possible that the mooted young person‘s work experience visa (for EU nationals wanting to come to UK, and UK nationals wanting to go to the EU) will materialise at some stage. But it will be a hard sell politically for a government struggling with immigration numbers as the numbers would be disproportionate: people from 26 (Ireland not counted) EU states will want to come to UK v a relatively small number of UK nationals going in the opposite direction.

thank you @Havanananana I will check out his eligibility re Canada

looks like I won't hold my breath for young person working visa EU :)

My sibling lives and works in the Alps. They no longer employ UK citizens without dual EU citizenship for the season as post Brexit it is too complicated and too expensive to do so. They are not alone in making this choice.

Many many years ago I got a student visa via BUNAC walked into a job in a cafe on a ski hill in Canada crap pay but has staff housing and lift ticket. Second time I was a chalet host in USA but again I’d already secured a visa & the UK company “paid” me a stipend into a uk bank account so I wasn’t “earning” per sa but for free accommodation, car access and lift ticket this got round the visa issues but I doubt that happens now. My sister did similar in New Zealand on working holiday visa but found it a lot harder to get housing near Queenstown to make it pay.

I echo comments re the need for an EU passport but there are a few exceptions. A friends daughter who doesn’t have one but is a good cook is heading out to work in France with a well known company. She was interviewed a couple of months ago. Another friends daughter is looking at Canada. The people she’s going with (don’t know names) have filled whistler already and it’s only smaller places available. Do check visa situation as they have a limited number. And (from my experience with student visas - whole other thread 🤯) the IRCC can be a total nightmare.

Im sad it’s a different from the early 90s when I ski guided round the 3 Valleys. Bloody Brexit.

thanks Septleaves- I see BUNAC is still going so I'll check it out

@BridgetofKildare "It is possible that the mooted young person‘s work experience visa (for EU nationals wanting to come to UK, and UK nationals wanting to go to the EU) will materialise at some stage. But it will be a hard sell politically for a government struggling with immigration numbers as the numbers would be disproportionate: people from 26 (Ireland not counted) EU states will want to come to UK v a relatively small number of UK nationals going in the opposite direction."

I don't think people realise just how many young British seasonal workers there were in the EU pre-Brexit. At the ski school where I first worked there were 16 British instructors, and another dozen or so at the other schools in the village. All of the UK travel company reps were Brits, so probably another 20 people, as well as many of the bar and chalet staff, the "dancers" at the big hotel's nightclub (don't ask 😧) and various djs, band members, transfer drivers and a whole group of people who just bummed around and did odd jobs where they could find work for a day or two or who filled in when people got sick or sent home. I read somewhere that the travel companies alone employed something like 25,000 winter seasonal staff (and even more in the summer at the beach resorts) and that number would be doubled if all of the other British workers were added in. Add to that 14,000-15,000 Erasmus students, plus tens of thousands of Brits working on secondment in European companies or who had just simply chanced it and taken the ferry, Eurostar or Ryanair to Europe in search of work and an opportunity to experience something new. With the exception of the few study visas now available, these opportunities have now disappeared.

thanks Radiatorvalves good that your friend's daughter got in- my son does not have cooking in his skillset- unless you count gourmet burgers :)
So is Whistler the preferred place in Canada? Is Banff good- just looking on the map and realising how very big Canada is- over 700km between the 2 places.

That is true and not trying to downplay the numbers impacted by Brexit.

But there are 448 million people in the EU and c70 million in the UK so the impact of the mooted scheme would be unequal.

Havanananana- that's rather sad to read- a whole cultural scene what with DJs etc- I think my son would have loved that- he's into skateboarding which is that type of scene. what a shame.

What type of work is he thinking of and what experience does he have. Bar work, restaurant, cleaning, hotel facilities, shop assistant, ski lift attendant, ticket sales are common.

If he was thinking of Aus, he should look at a working holiday visa. Perisher is the largest ski resort in the southern hemisphere, so might have more opportunities than smaller places. Note though that their winter season will end soon, so he has missed it for 2025.
https://www.perisher.com.au/images/Perisher-jobs/Perisher-jobs-international-applicants.pdf
https://www.perisher.com.au/perisher-jobs

https://www.thredbo.com.au/about-thredbo/jobs/
www.fallscreek.com.au/employment/

yes, BridgeofKildare I can see the difficulties in brokering this sort of scheme.

Brexshit - Der Gift (it's german for poison) that just keeps giving. I feel so sorry for young people who have had their opportunities and dreams cut off because a guillible public believed the lies that were written on a bus.

Thanks, JDM625 -

my "at" key's stopped working so I can't use it but hope people know I'm seeing their responses.

Well, my son works in M and S food in large city store- so that's his work experience. I think he's quite a quick learner so all the jobs you mention sound viable- if they'd have him
To be honest it's not necessarily a problem that he'd have to wait for aus winter 2026- gives him a bit of time to investigate stuff.
thank you for all the links- that's my afternoon taken care of :)