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Hi anybody,
Some friends and I are planning on doing a season in Colorado for the 2010/2011 northern winter.
I have done a season in Canada before, we got visas and then managed to sort jobs out once we got there. I was wondering if the same sort of thing applied with USA? Is it relatively easy to find a job in a resort town like Breck once you arrive (mid-nov)? And are they picky with your visas? Any recommendations on what visa to go for? Any other advice?

Thanks

hey bro.
don't know anything bowt it but how did you get an american visa? i'm nearly 18 and keen to go over end of year but apparently america is super hard to get a visa?

peace

Hi,
Do you mean how did I get the Canadian visa? That was done through whp (whpcanada.org.au, it's for Australians and NZers). Super simple and you just find your job once you arrive.

Yeah people say that it's hard for the States, kind of puts me off the idea but I don't know what they mean by it, I mean tonnes of people go across each winter... Maybe they get sponsored over? I don't know.

Anyway I found two websites: iep.org.nz and workandtravelusa.co.nz if you want to look too.

Still looking for sweet tips if anyone has been to the States!

IEP is still your best bet for American Visa's, they provide good piece of mind when it comes to needing help when you are overseas, but they are expensive compared to a solo effort.

I was offered jobs at resorts in the states but never went so I can't really help you too much. I had two mates go last season, one through IEP and the other on a visa they got themself. They said it wasn't hard to get the visa (first time going to the states) but at the same time had one or two other mates denied a visa (both had worked there before so maybe they were after sponsored visas). I think it is the sponsored visa's which are actually getting harder, not the working holiday ones.

Hey!
Rad, thanks for that! Bummer you didn't end up going... Where abouts were your job offers for? Yeah I was looking at the iep site and it sounded the most straight forward, and they have open evenings to go to, so I think I'll roll with that :)
Sweeeeeet

One was mt hood in Oregon, but they weren't very helpful when it came to trying to find affordable accommodation or transport to work in the mornings. Nor did they provide a very competitive wage.
But that being said it looks like a sick mountain with a fun crew, and I would definitely go if I had the opportunity.
The other was Breckenridge I think, but they didn't make much effort to stay in contact and organise the whole deal. I think big bear mountain also had an interest. That was all 4 years ago now though.
The bigger resorts like it more if you go through the application process, the smaller more club like fields take an interest in personal emails. It also depends on the department, i.e snow schools head manager will take a bigger interest in emails than applications because they want to know the person and they don't have as many as lift ops. (although some mountains don't let their HoD hire, the resort does it for them.)
So yeah, it all depends on mountain to mountain.
What job are you looking for? what mountain jobs have you done before? previous experience working for resorts is a huge help as it shows competence and gives the employer trust that you will turn up on your start date and commit to the season.

Oh awesome, all very helpful info!

Yeah, worked in food and bev last time... and got lotsa retail and customer service exp. Pretty much don't care what job I do, just wanna snowboard heeeaps haha yuss.