Canada Mega Thread - Information and Advice
Hey finney looking forward to meeting you! When are you arriving/ starting work?
Cheers for the heads up about insurance, have you heard of any issues there with people using travel insurance direct?
Finney is currently in Whistler. He’s been living there for the past couple of years pretty much full time.
Hey Everyone,
Been offline since the end of Winter here in Whistler just getting out and making the most of summer so I’ve missed this thread completely but I figured I’d throw in my $0.02 on it all.
Firstly congrats to everyone who has locked down a job already for the upcoming season at your resort of choice. Anyone working in Lift ops in Whistler I’d say theres a high chance you’ll meet me as I’ll be helping out with the training of new staff for the upcoming Winter season.
I just skimmed through this thread but can see that at9 has pretty much summed it all up really well.
As for Lift ops jobs what I’ve noticed over the past few years is that they’ll have a few spots available closer to the start of the season but the majority of jobs go to return staff and people who have gone through the paid programs like the working holiday club etc etc. Don’t lose all hope in getting a job though as there are always a few times through the season that they rehire as people go home and others call it quits after realising what it’s actually like to work outside every day. Just be ready to compete with a lot of people to actually get the jobs.
As for days off in Lift ops - you’re guaranteed 3 days off in a row every week once everything is open but early season you’ll only have 2-3 days of work every week as not all lifts are open from the start. You do get to put down preferred days off which they will try and arrange for you but you may not get all the days off that you want.
Living in staff housing early season (October/November) is a great thing to do as you’ll meet a lot of people who will all work in different departments which will set you up for the season. I’m still friends with a lot of people who were the first people I met back in my first season in 08/09.
I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned but working for the mountain you do get some decent discounts on food - 20 or 25% off food at mountain owned bars (GLC and Dustys) and 50% off food at all mountain owned restaurants (Roundhouse, Rendezvous, EBCB, WIzard Grill, Glacier Creek etc etc). Another new WB staff benefit one that started this summer is that you also get 10% off food purchases at the Grocery store in the Village. $15 for burger combo at a bar is pretty much the norm as per TJ’s initial post but once you’ve been here a while you’ll find out where to go for the specials which generally include a burger/club combo with a pint for $13 incl tax. Also some places do half price meals on certain nights of the week (Dusty’s every tuesday). Another good place is Samurai Sushi - you can get a good feed there for $10 which will keep you more than happy.
Few other random points - Milo here isn’t the same as aus milo, it’s ok but not the greatest and it’s not cheap, same as vegemite, get ready to pay through the nose for it.
As for travel insurance - I’ve heard a few things along the lines that the medical centre here won’t accept world nomads anymore as they’re horrible with actually paying the bills back. I don’t know if this is true and it is something that I’ve only heard 2nd hand of so take it with a grain of salt. Personally though I’ve had no issues in the past making a dental claim through them but i’ve had some friends have some pretty poor experiences with them which has pushed me to go with another provider (1cover) but I haven’t had to make any claims with them yet so can’t comment on them just yet. I should also mention that I’ve been here long enough that I’ve got a benefits plan through work now which covers doctors, physio, dental etc so I’ve just got travel insurance to cover the other aspects like my belongings etc
Cheers,
Mike.p.s. as at9 said - “You will end up staying for summer don’t fight it.” - he’s telling the truth, just embrace it as it’s a hell of a lot of fun even if you aren’t even into mountainbiking.
Bumping to this page. Lots of good info in this post.
Finney is currently in Whistler. He’s been living there for the past couple of years pretty much full time.
Haha sick! Can’t wait to get to be able to say that! (planning to stay indefinitely)
Im gonna be in Vancouver 12-15 november for a stopover to europe. Is anyone gonna be there then? I’ll probably have my board with me as well. Will everyone here just be in Whistler? There is a small chance the mountains will be open.
Finney is currently in Whistler. He’s been living there for the past couple of years pretty much full time.
Haha sick! Can’t wait to get to be able to say that! (planning to stay indefinitely)
i would definitely like to stay for a few years then get back to reality 
So will anyone still be around in and about Whistler/Blackcomb in December?
p.s. as at9 said - “You will end up staying for summer don’t fight it.” - he’s telling the truth, just embrace it as it’s a hell of a lot of fun even if you aren’t even into mountainbiking.
haha I seem to remember meeting you to purchase that boardbag and you saying ´12/´13 would be your last winter season….loving that you are staying on! yeeewww!!
p.s. we’re going back to sweden for ´13/´14 too!
Finney is currently in Whistler. He’s been living there for the past couple of years pretty much full time.
Haha sick! Can’t wait to get to be able to say that! (planning to stay indefinitely)
i would definitely like to stay for a few years then get back to reality
Same goes for me! i’m already likely going to be staying for the summer then a decision might be made if i choose to do another season in whistler or another mountain or go home cause the winter doesn’t suit or to do my instructors course in Aus (im pretty sure its cheaper?)
Besides the canadian bbq championships are in august (pretty sure) so its a good reason to stick around :D
If you want to teach in Canada, I would suggest you get your certification through CASI. Plus, you will already be in Canada, so it’s easier to just get it out of the way. It’s also an advantage to pass your level 1 sooner rather than later, as you will have the rest of the season to practise the techniques and progress more. Sometimes what you learn in these courses takes a while to “sink in” and become automatic. The more time you have to allow the techniques and theory to click and become automatic, the better in my opinion.
Here are the two websites if you want to compare CASI vs APSI:
http://www.casi-acms.com/index.php/en/
http://www.apsi.net.au/
This may have changed, but it used to be a lot harder to get the APSI cert, and you had to teach all season in Australia before even being allowed to pass the course. As far as I remember, it was actually more expensive than CASI too.
Andy Aitken might know more about this as he has done both CASI and APSI (recently).
Also ads, upload an avatar here. 
Woo Hoo!
Dear TJ
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Awesome news!!!
Congrats TJ awesome news mate and I know how much you wanted it…
congrats TJ!
Congratulations TJ! 
Nice avatar, ads.