Working Holiday in the USA

Hi all, I just want to start by saying that I love the forum and hope that I can get involved and learn more off of you all in the future. There’s some super info on here!

I also want to apologise in advance if this topic has been done before, though I used the search function and wasn’t able to find quite what I was looking for, so I hope I’m in the clear.

I’m 19 and in the midst of planning a working holiday to a ski resort in the US, using a J1 working Visa. I chose to take this route as eligibility criteria for the J1 Visa is really strict and I figured if I didn’t do it now I may never have the chance again. I’m incredibly excited about the prospect of travelling overseas (a first for me) alone and spending the entire Winter snowboarding, making mates and getting to know a mountain, but because I’m so pumped about it I want to try and make sure that the trip doesn’t disappoint.

At the moment I’m hoping to go to one of the bigger resorts in either Utah or Colorado due to the quality of snow and the allure of a big mountain with both awesome terrain and a little bit of a party vibe and a big enough village (preferably on the mountain) to offer some excitement when not riding. I’m hoping to fly out late November/early December and spend the entire Winter, and hopefully if the opportunity arises, stay through some of Summer also. I’m not super fussy about where I end up (because I can’t afford to be) but I’d ideally like to end up working for the mountain company for the perks, but particularly so that I can stay in staff accommodation and meet heaps of people. Though I have also heard that often jobs not with the mountain can make up for lacking some of the perks by being more flexible in terms of hours and offering better pay, so that’s absolutely something I’m open towards.

My biggest concern (besides the plummeting Aussie dollar) is finding a job that allows for as much riding time as possible. The primary purpose of the trip for me is to improve my riding out of sight and ride as large a variety of terrain as possible, so I fear that I may end up working a job that only gives me a couple of days off a week to do so. I’m not concerned with making money on the trip, I only want to make enough to pay for food and accommodation, but from a lot of what I’ve read, work that allows for a lot of riding time is scarce, particularly with the mountain companies. In addition to that, being only 20 by the time I arrive is going to completely ruin what little chance I had of doing bar work though that was probably never going to happen anyway being such high demand work.

My Visa application is almost complete, but before I bite the bullet and commit, and begin contacting resorts, I was hoping some of you on here might be able to offer me a bit of guidance as to what type of work I ought to be looking for and what resorts you think may suit me best (an ice-skating rink wouldn’t go astray hahah). If anyone has any experience at any big mountain in Utah or Colorado I’d love to hear from you and pick your brain, particularly if you have any connections with people over there!

Feel free to ask me anything else about my snowboarding or the trip, it’s all I can think about at the moment!

Thanks in advance and hope to hear from a few of you on the forum.

Shaun

Hi Shaun,

Welcome to Boardworld!

Well done on going the J1 visa route - I always recommend to people who qualify for this visa to get it while the can!

I worked at Heavenly in Lake Tahoe and then Winter Park in Colorado. (a LOOOONG time ago!)

I worked in Rentals and kids ski school.

The US resort seem to operate on a model of Long SKi breaks, so a split shift kind of model.

Being a lifty has it bonus They get ski breaks as well on a sort of rotation during the day. and you also get to ride to and from your lift every day.

Resorts know their crew are their for one reason only and thats to ski or board. They really like to make that happen.

All jobs have their pluses and minus.

I think you need to decide whats the most important to you - location or job.

Apply at every resort you are interested in and then when the job offers come in weigh up which best suits your needs.

Hi Shaun - welcome to Boardworld

Stoked to hear about your plans for your big adventure. It sounds sick!

If you want evening work and you can’t get a bar job, then cleaning is your best bet. Evening/Night cleaning in the public areas of big hotels and whatnot is a job I’ve done before through season work and it has been great for maximum riding time.

If you can get arvo/evening shifts - say 3-11pm then that is ideal…you can work 7 days a week if you want to and never have to miss a powder morning! I’ve also done night shifts (10pm-6am) and that works okay too. Just crash for a couple of hours after work, get up and go shred, come home and sleep and then start all over

Cleaning has a bit of a bad rep but I seriously don’t think it is that bad. I just cruised around with my little trolley emptying bins, wiping mirrors, vacuuming hotel room hallways, conference rooms and cleaning toilets, listening to music and not really having too many responsibilities….I came straight from teaching high school kids though so it seemed like a holiday!

If it sounds like something you might like to pursue, then I’d be contacting all the big hotels in whatever resort you end up deciding to go for, as well as googling all the cleaning companies in the area (sometimes the hotels and restaurants contract out their cleaning to other companies) and seeing what they might have to offer.

Whatever you do though, don’t end up cleaning hotel rooms and changing beds. Worst job!

Good luck and make sure you keep us up to date with your plans and adventure!

Thanks Ozgirl, it’s awesome to hear that about the attitude towards seasonal staff and maximising snow time, music to my ears! And yep, you’re probably spot on about deciding what I care about most…at this point I think it’s the hill I’m at, but then at the same time it’s about the riding time arrghh!

I’m gonna start contacting the resorts I’m most interested in now, hopefully I can make it happen

Wow, thanks for the suggestion Cords, I hadn’t really considered cleaning but that actually sounds like a good gig. Definitely something I’ll keep in mind and probably apply for soon! And thanks for the tip about contacting the different cleaning companies too, won’t miss anything!

I’ll keep everyone in the loop, and look forward to getting any more suggestions, particularly in relation to what mountains or work should be on my radar.

Cheers! 

Welcome to Boardworld, Shaun!

Hey Shaun,

I can’t really provide any specific tips or advice relating to the working side of things, but I did spend a semester on study abroad in Colorado (in a town an hour north of Denver) and had the chance to ride Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Keystone. All were great places to ride, and still relatively accessible to Denver as opposed to other resorts in different areas of the state.

In regards to the village/party vibes, I can’t say I experienced a whole lot at any of the resorts as all of my visits were day trips from where I was at school, but I have heard good things of Breck.

I haven’t been to Utah personally so can’t really comment, but of all the places I visited in the US I thoroughly enjoyed Colorado and can’t wait for the opportunity to head back over in the future - I’m a bit biased though.

Hope this helps!

Hi James!

Thanks for the insight, it really helps to affirm that Colorado is where I’d like to be, though if I’m honest any largish ski hill with like-minded people is going to be a blast.

Although it sounds as though you didn’t have heaps of time at each hill, did you prefer any of those three mountains from a terrain or snow quality perspective? And yes I’ve also heard that nights at Breck can get a little rowdy hahah.

Thanks again!

Hi Shaun,

I worked at Winter Park and had a great time.

I however love the terrain at Copper Mountain much more (although night live wise it is quieter).

I have never been to Breck so I can’t comment.

Honestly - Apply for jobs and wait and see what is offered and then make a pro’s and con’s list for each.

I wouldn’t get your heart set on a specific resort as it could impact your enjoyment of the experience if you end up working at a different resort…

Thanks Ozgirl!

Winter Park would have been amazing! It’s another I’ve added to the list along with Copper Mountain, I just need to start getting applications in everywhere as I’ve now got everything else organised.

I’m trying my best not to get to set on any particular resort, though it’s hard not to get excited about some once you read a good report hahah. I’ve also added Mammoth Mountain in California and Jackson Hole in Wyoming as I think both of these would definitely fit the bill for me.

Thanks again

I’ve just accepted a job offer at Mammoth Mountain for the season! Scarce on details at the moment, and still need to book flights, but it’s all becoming real.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and feedback, I’ll be sure to keep you posted

Congrats! Looking forward to pictures on here . I’ve heard Mammoth is awesome!

If you’re looking for flights, I find Kayak.com to be good for finding prices then go to the actual airline’s website to book (might be slightly more than what’s on Kayak but there is hidden fees on some of those flights. It’s generally the best through the airline.

Here are some dates I searched if you are interested. (Less than a thousand return.)

http://www.kayak.com.au/flights/SYD-LAX/2015-11-04-flexible/2016-05-12-flexible

Hahah, thanks TJ, I’ll try and keep everyone posted!

Far out, thanks a ton for that link too, it looks fantastic. Booking flights this week so hopefully I can save myself heaps!

No worries bud, there will be Canada threads which you can post in or create your own for us all to view!

Kayak is great but make sure you go to the actual website to book as it’s generally got less fees and stuff and therefore cheaper!

Mammoth is an awesome resort mate you will be stoked.  Gets a little crowded on weekends though as it’s the closest “big mountain” to LA.

Congrats Shaun!

Do keep us posted on your season ahead!

also check out this link

http://www.snowsbest.com/insider-guide-to-mammoth-glen-plake/