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Hey all.

I signed up for WorkCanada program today, going to do the whole job fair thing, cause I really don't want to be going over there uncertain of having a job or not.

Anyways just wondering if anyone out there has done this program and if they have any good information, warnings, suggestions etc etc to share.

A few questions I would love to have answered are:

Which mountain has the best staff social scene?

Which on mountain jobs pay the best, and which jobs am I most likely to see tips working in?

How much did (staff) accomodation cost you per week? Or if you found a flat/ house how much did this cost you a week?

I guess at the moment the choices look like:

1) Whistler/ Blackcomb (kinda keen to stay away from here, but if it is awesome then let me know!).

2) Mt Panorama.

3) Grouse Mountain.

4) Kicking Horse.

So yeah any help will be majorly appreciated.

Hey bro,

Yea did kicking horse the last two seasons. That place is sick, mean backcountry just off the gondola, and crazy indounds stuff, get dumped on heaps as well... not much in the way of park tho if thats what your going for... And the town is pretty mellow but still fun!

Panorama mountain is average, but the have good staff accom and socail scene, kicking horse doesnt have staff accom but we just sorted a flat out in town which was about 60 bucks a week including power heating and water...
panos staff accom is right on the hill by the lifts and the town is about 20-30 mins drive down, kicking horse is bout 20 mins from town of golden where everone lives, not sure on the deal with next season tho, they might be trying to sus some accom out for staff..

I just been a liftie, pay is crap but enought to live off, 3 days on/3 off/4 on/4 off so heapsa time to ride, and you get to ride paid for a few runs a day if you got a good crew working!!

Groomers get good coin if you can get a job doin that the you stil get to ride in the day.. dont work in food and beverage! Shithouse...

Bar job at night is good coin in the way of tips, or try score a job at one of the lodges cleaning or whatever for tips also!!!

Havent been to grouse but hear its ok.. pretty crowded tho cuz its rite in van city!

Oh yea, and with kicking horse, its an hour away from panorama, 2 hours from banff and if you staff there you get free passes to pretty much every mountain in canada so its a pretty good deal, also revelstoke is about an hour and half away and that place gets sooo much snow it aint funny, it only opened last season so no crowds there at alll!

Hey man,

Cheers for the info, that helps heaps!

So Golden is obviously pretty close to Kicking Horse, how did you get to work everyday? Is there a staff bus? And how big is Golden, I mean does it have a supermarket and all that bizzo?

If you don't mind me asking how much did you earn for a 4 day working week at Kicking Horse? Obviously I'm not expecting to be making big money over there, but nice to have an idea just how poor I will be and how much savings I need to take over there :).

Peace!!

Yea bro, golden is at the bottom of the mountain road..

yea its not too small bout 4 pubs/bars, two supermarkets, 3 or 4 snowboard shops ect ect... Probably similar size to oakune,,,

i was on 8.50 an hour and usually worked 9 or 10 hour days.. maby made like 250 a week but i got screwed on tzx, wasnt sposd to be paying any but somehow i t got mucked up so who knows...

I needed to spend saving as well to live but that included booze money and what not!!

So you got $250 a week after tax or before? Yeah I didn't think you paid income tax under $30000 a year in Canada, what happened there?

Cheers for all the info dude, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.

That was after tax..

Yea canada is mean! You will have a sick time bro.. Debating wether to go back for my third time or to suss japan out!

golden hahahaha the best thing is the pub called taps. Impossible to get thrown out.

Okay that wasn't my post and I have no idea how someone managed to post as me, Oh well.

Yeah man, well if you do end up heading to Canada drop us a line, I'm going over there by myself so I'd be keen as to get rowdy with some fellow kiwis!!

john_mcaulaychch@yahoo.com

Peace!

Haha yea bro for sure, I went by myself and you will meet a whole bunch of maggots over there to get rowdy with.. Good times!
And yup, TAPS is impossible to get thrown out of, hands down!! Get loose

Hey Tomo you still lurking round these forums??

hey bro.. which job fair did you sign up to?
i think im going to go to Canada and do the same thing as you in my uni break.

Kicking horse is dope when it snows, blows when it dont. And yep Taps is off the hook. You never ever get thrown out haha.

Hey bro,

I did the IEP one, got a job at Kicking Horse, should be primo, apart from the pay!

How bout yourself?

Sick man. You will be hyped on kicking horse. Get yourself a peeps, probe and shovel and get your hike on!

no idea what my vibe is.

Yea still lurking, just been off working riding ahaha...

Mean about scoring the job at KH.. You guna try line up accomo before you go? Try get a house in town with a bunch of other people from the IEP thing.. Just ask them for a list of all the people who are working at KH, thats wat we did and it worked out mint! Jammed 12 of us into a 5 beddy place, was super cheapo!
Where you end up scoring a job at? Liftie?

Yea hilrise is rite, if you can get yaself a peeps probe and shovel cuz the backcountry is epic and super accessable from the gondola! Also take advantage of the $50 avalanche training course that the resort subsidises cuz you needa no that shit, the area is pertty gnarly for avis...

Yeah man can't wait eh!

Hope to line up accommodation first, or else things could get expensive.

Got a job as ticket cashier/validator... not the best job I've ever had but what can you do... I got offered way better job/money at Grouse, but not really that keen on that field so went for Kicking Horse.

Got a avo transceiver etc all sorted, will definitely do that course too.

How did you get to work in the morning is there a staff bus or anything?

yeah KH is better than grouse. Grouse is close to the ocean aka heavy wet snow. It does get some nice pow though sometimes. KH is sick man. Be prepared to be bored though so you better get there early and suss out some ladies like Tomo did!

Ahahah yea dont count on the local ladies being lookers aye!!!
yea bro, theres a staff bus, it was free the first time i was there but now its like a buck each way or something, super easy to hitch up the hill tho or chip in with some lads and buy a bomb thatl get ya up there!!
If you not keen on the job its pretty easy to change once your there, christine is the lady to sus out if you wana work lifts.. I could sus out her email addy if you wana flick her an email direct!!
Got a mate thats heading back over there this seas from christchurch, not sure what hes doing for accomo yet tho..

When does that place open?

Ladies may not be lookers but replace quality with quantity aye tomo haha.

That's cool bro, im going there to ride the powder not the women :p, a town full of ugly women, I'll be in my element!

I'll see how this ticket cashier job goes and maybe switch over to lifts if im hating on it too much. At least selling tickets I'll be inside half the time.

You should give your mate my email addy if he's still not got accom sorted. I'm keen to get onto it early as to avoid a blowout once I get there.

john (at) thegreenroom.org.nz

Cheers for all the help/ advice guys, I really appreciate it.

KHMR opens Dec 1 I believe, well that's when they want me there by.