9 Realities Of Working A Ski Season On Your Gap Year
You’ve decided that you want to take a gap year, and you’ve heard all about ski seasons, but you’re not sure if they are for you.
Perhaps you’ve already settled on working a ski season on your gap year, but you want to find out what you will gain from it?
Having worked a ski season in Lake Louise, we were fortunate enough to be at Lake Louise Ski Resort every other day, and as you can imagine, we absolutely loved it. Working a ski season is guaranteed to be one of the best years of your life.
So, with that in mind, we have created this list so that you can discover 9 things that you’re going to learn while working a ski season on your gap year.
Disclaimer - this blog post contains affiliate links where we can earn a commission if you make a purchase through them (at no extra cost to you).
Best way to work a ski season on your gap year
We know that there are plenty of you reading this article that might not have a clue of where to begin looking for ski season jobs on your gap year, but don’t worry, we have you covered.
Working a ski season as a couple was one of the highlights of our travel adventures together, and we know that the chance to work a ski season on a gap year, either after school, after university, or even as a career break, is the perfect way to escape the real world for a while and have some much-needed fun on the slopes.
While it is possible to find ski season jobs independently, sometimes real-life tasks can get in the way, and it can be hard to organise everything for yourself - particularly if you’re in the middle of studying for exams and have heaps of university coursework to complete.
That’s why we recommend going through a reputable travel company when considering working a ski season on your gap year. Step up - Global Work & Travel.
Global Work & Travel can help you organise visas and flights and assist you in finding jobs for anybody searching for a ski season opportunity during their gap year. They are the cheapest in the business, and you can guarantee that they will be there every step of the way to help you with your application!
Now that you’ve learned the best way to go about working a ski season on your gap year, it’s time to learn all about what to expect when you finally make it to the slopes on your gap year!
Now is the perfect time to work a ski season
We will start with the most effortless reality of them all - now is the perfect time to take a gap year and work a ski season.
We know it sounds cliche, but there is no better time to work a ski season than now. Perhaps you’ve been putting it off for ages? Or you’ve been watching with envy as your friend posts yet another Instagram story of them apres-skiing in the Alps?
Right now is the perfect time to begin researching ski season jobs for your gap year. Incidentally, working a ski season is one of our top gap year ideas for couples, but don’t think you need to be in a couple to work a ski season - they are great for everyone!
You’re going to learn how to fall over successfully
This is something you’re going to learn pretty sharpish.
Whether you’ve been riding since you were young or whether this will be your first time hitting the slopes, you’re going to be falling over a lot while working a ski season.
If you’re new to skiing or snowboarding, this is generally to be expected. It will take you a while before you successfully navigate the side hits on a black run, so be prepared to perfect your falling technique. It will even get to the stage where you somehow manage to look graceful as you descend head-first into the snow.
If you’re an experienced winter sportsman, though, don’t think you’ll be immune to falling. You may have been skiing since before you can remember, but you’ll never have been doing it as regularly as you will be during your ski season.
You’re always going to find that one feature or one run that will trip you up - literally and metaphorically. It is guaranteed that even a simple green run will be your undoing at one stage during the season.
You’re never going to want a real job ever again
You’re going to want to prepare for this one before you start your ski season.
You may be doing a gap year straight from school in anticipation of starting university or college in the new year. Or perhaps you’re doing your ski season on a gap year between University and the ‘real world’ of corporate jobs and mortgages.
Whenever you’re taking your gap year, be prepared for the inevitable - you’re never going to want to return to an everyday life again.
Before you know it, you’ll be spending your 3rd season in a row on the slopes with the promise of ‘next year I’ll go to university’ still ringing in your parent’s ears.
Alternatively, you’ll have already been to university and have all these glittering qualifications, with absolutely no intention to put them to good use. You are instead opting for a life of surfing in the summers and slopes in the winters.
As long as you know this before you head out for your gap year on the slopes, you’ll be more prepared to deal with the questions when you don’t return home for another 3 seasons.
Marmot Basin - Jasper - Canada
You don’t have to spend as much money on your winter gear as you think
This is something that you don’t want to learn the hard way.
The last thing you want is to have blown your entire gap year budget in the first 2 weeks of being on the slopes because you bought a pair of brand new BOA snowboard boots for $700 because you couldn’t face the prospect of lacing up your boots every morning.
Ski Season Tip: knowing what you need to buy before your first ski season is important so that you can start budgeting now and prioritising where you want to be spending the most money.
Trust us, you don’t need to spend as much as you think. Search the Facebook buy and sell groups for cheap deals. Go to second-hand fairs at the resort when you arrive to find some of your gear.
Hundreds of people buy brand-new gear each and every season, and that doesn’t mean their one-year-old ski jacket has suddenly become useless. It will still function brilliantly as your first ski season jacket for less than a quarter of the price.
Save that money and spend it elsewhere during your gap year. In our beginner’s guide to working a ski season in Canada we cover the best tactics for finding cheap, affordable winter gear.
You’re going to have a favourite between snowboarding and skiing - no, you can’t sit on the fence
Being asked ‘do you prefer skiing or snowboarding?’ during your ski season is as common as being asked ‘where are you from?’ in freshers week at university.
You might not have a favourite right now, but the second you step off the plane and arrive at the ski resort, you will have to make a decision.
Giving the answer ‘I quite like both actually’ will not cut it on the slopes anywhere in the world. You need to be in one camp or the other.
By the way, there is only one correct answer to this question - it’s snowboarding!
Orla’s full snowboarding set-up
A shotski is a very normal thing
There are lots of things you can do on skis - you can carve down the downside of a mountain, hit rails in the park and wind your way through devilishly tricky tree runs, but did you know you can also take a shot on skis?
No, this doesn’t mean you do a shot while wearing skis - though be prepared for that eventuality to happen at some point during your gap year, too.
A ski shot, or ‘shotski’ as they are typically known, involves several shots being placed on an old downhill ski, allowing several people to do a shot at the same time. The idea is that you’ve got to hold the ski as steady as possible, allowing everybody to take the shot together.
It might seem like a bizarre concept while reading this, but you’ll soon get used to it.
You’re now friends with people all over the world
It won’t take very long on your gap year to realise that you now have friends from every corner of the globe.
You’re soon going to be working alongside Kiwis and Australians, hitting the slopes with an American and a Canadian and partying with a pair of Swedes and a Dutchman.
It’s just the reality of working a ski season, and it’s what makes a ski season such a great idea for a gap year in the first place.
An Irishman, Englishman and 2 Canadians hitting the slopes together
Your friends back home are going to be insanely jealous
This certainly comes with working a ski season on your gap year. It doesn’t matter what your friends are doing, whether they’re starting university or have just landed their dream job in the city, they will still be very jealous of your adventure.
You’re going to be bombarded with messages on Instagram from friends back home saying how much they wished they were out there with you.
While they’re desperately trying to cram as much revision in as possible, ready for their final exams, you’re going to be wrapping up the winter season in style by perfecting your first rail hit in the park.
You’re going to want to live in the mountains for the rest of your life
It won’t take very long until you realise that you want to spend the rest of your life in the mountains.
All winter long, you can enjoy the freedom of the slopes, and even when the snow melts in the summer, your attention turns to mountain biking and hiking. Don’t think it is just the activities on offer that draw you to the mountains though.
Mountain towns function differently from ordinary towns and cities. People aren’t in a rush, and they’re not frantically running to catch a bus or to get home from work. Living in the mountains forces people to slow down, to relax. It’s rare that you find somebody living in the mountains without a smile on their face, and for good reason.
The mountains are a truly wonderful place to live, and you’re certainly not going to want to leave any time soon.
This could be your commute to work on your gap year
There we have it, our conclusive round-up of the realities of working a ski season on your gap year. We hope that this guide has inspired you to consider working a ski season on your gap year, it is a decision that you certainly won’t regret.
If we have genuinely managed to inspire you to work a ski season on your gap year, then we have plenty more ski season advice and resources for you to check out.
