First time in Whistler
Hey guys,
Over the past 2 weeks I’ve been delving into research about have a working holiday full-season in Whistler. I’m only 19 (will be 20 by the time i go over there) and have a load of questions that some of you might be able to help me with.
I’m looking at going over to Whistler in mid November until mid April. My main concerns are money and accommodation.
I have 1 friend who seems slightly interested, but odds are i’ll be doing this alone. I’d love to live in the staff housing if I was able to get a job for the mountain so I am able to meet people and not be alone, paying too much for accommodation in some hotel room.
Based on all of your experiences, do you feel it’s better for myself to apply for one of these jobs on the mountain, with the benefits of free lift pass and cheap accommodation, or would it be better to try and get a bar or waiting job so I can get better money with tips and am able to ski during the day? At the moment I’m looking more towards working at a bar, seeing I have the experience and the better pay. I’m aiming to live almost solely off the money that I earn, with some extra money just in case.
Does anyone know where I would be able to find good accommodation, preferably in a shared house or condo so I get the full kind of backpacker experience, paying around 500-700 a month. I’ve looked on many websites such as craigslist and the Pique classifieds, but these listings seem to be almost all for the summer months and obviously I want to try and organise this all as soon as possible.
I looked at organisations like the working holiday club who organise a lot of it for you, but with all the fees that are charged, I’d be up for another $1000 and I’m trying to reduce the costs as much as I can.
I’d love to hear from any of you who are planning on heading over to Whistler for the season.
Cheers
Hey mate welcome to boardworld!
I think you need to check out the mountains and travel section of the snowboard forum. There are a few threads in there that will have all the info you could want.
There are heaps of tips and info in there that should set you on your way.
By the way I’m heading there this year too.
Dude, check the megathread… I made it for a reason.
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/13765/
Now onto your Whistler query. Whistler own 4 bars, wait until they put their ads out and then apply for an interview at the job fair. With experience, this shouldn’t end up causing you too many issues getting a job and since you are working for Whistler, then you can probably get into staff accom.
Check the other mountains listed as well since there is a massive range of mountains and putting your eggs in 1 basket is never a great idea.
If you end up going the other route and working at a non-Whistler owned place, then you will need accomodation. Don’t worry about it now since you can’t get winter rentals till closer to the season. Start looking in September / October when you arrive and stay in a hostel or cheap hotel until you find a place.
If you stay in a hostel while looking for work / accom then you might meet some cool people who will want to do it with you!
Yeah I had a good look through your thread earlier.
Because I wont be in Whistler for the Job Fair, do they tend to post their jobs online too? Or should I just send out some emails and make a few calls when its around about that time?
Not sure if you read the thread but if you check out: http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/employment/jobs-at-whistler-blackcomb/index.aspx
they have a section for current postings and they are always putting new positions up.
PS. what are you studying at UNSW, i would recognise a Z id anywhere 
these are the usual links rider posts and they pretty much cover everything you would imagine on a season in whistler:
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/352/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/5367/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/3409/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/4904/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/4048/
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/3053/
Also definitely check out the Whistler thread: https://www.boardworld.com.au/whistler
Your the same age I was when I did my first season.
Book in to the Hostel for the first week (you should have no probs extending week by week)
Door knock with copies of your CV - I don’t think you will have a problem finding a job.
Yes applying the traditional way (the job fair process) would be ideal but you can’t. However I don’t think you will struggle to get a job.
Stay the week in Whis, you will get a feel of if there will be an opportunity to stay or not (i think you will get a job offer the first week), go with your gut and don’t be afraid to move on if you aren’t feeling it in Whis.
If you decide to move on would jump on the bus to Kamloops/kelowna and repeat. and go to Banff after that.
You will also be surprised by how many employers have staff accom that aren’t Whistler Blackcomb.
You will be fine!!
The job fair is where they do most of their hiring… I’d be hitting up non-Whistler places if you can’t make the fair.
Other mountains do online applications. Look at places like Sun Peaks, Panorama, Revelstoke etc. which might give you a better chance.
Or go with a company and spend the cash to try and lock something in…
And Ozgirl’s tips are great. Do that stuff and you should be fine. As I said in another thread, when I got let go of my Jindy job, it took 24 hours to secure a hotel job on the mountain as a waiter / night watchman. I just sent emails to all the places and they called me back saying that someone was leaving in the next week or so and they’d train me up!
Yeah I’m deferred from UNSW at the moment, bumming around doing a bachelor of arts
So are these the bars that Whistler owns: http://www.whistler.com/bars/
And does that mean if I gain employment with these bars, that I’m entitled to the free ski pass and staff accommodation?
Yeah I’m deferred from UNSW at the moment, bumming around doing a bachelor of arts
So are these the bars that Whistler owns: http://www.whistler.com/bars/
And does that mean if I gain employment with these bars, that I’m entitled to the free ski pass and staff accommodation?
Yep. Remember that other places will probably pay more than these but it’s also likely that these will be the most popular which then means the most tips.
To any of you experienced travellers, do you think that if I were to go over there and rely solely on money made through working at one of the whistler owned bars/pubs, I’d be able to pay for all my accommodation and food? This would be with working say 20-40 hours a week.
Obviously I wont be going there entirely relying on that, I will have some money, I’m just curious if the money earned covers most expenses.
Yes you should be fine 
I went over with not much saved. I didn’t touch that for most of the season in the US (I saved it for when i moved to canada)
I didn’t manage to save in canada at all - but I survived.
You will be fine
Also if for some reason your parents are freaking out, please get in contact with me as my parents over the years have spoken to many a parent about how fine I was 
to touch on to the money issue, i think i read somewhere, if you havent booked return flights, you need to have at least 2500 canadian otherwise you will be denied entry.
my parents told me i was jumping out of the sauce pan into the fire going to canada after deferring semester 2. parents gonna parent
Haha!
Yeah something like that!
My parents never gave me money to support my ski bum lifestyle but the did ‘gift’ me money that sat in my bank acct until I was safely through immigration.
I think they did that when I moved to London too! I never had enough money technically for any of my overseas jaunts!
And I turned out just fine!
yep parents going to parent. Frequently running through all the worst case scenarios they can think of. LOL.
Haha my parents are the opposite. “They are like just do it before you get too old.”
But then again, they would happily help me out if I really needed it. (I have always paid them back in the past and would hope this would continue.)
There is a big difference between you and Joy’s ages… hence the different parental reaction!