THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF A GREAT SEASON. 8 simple things you can do to have the best ski season

Yipeee! You’re about to start an incredibly exciting journey, I am so stoked to be able to share it with you!

In this article, I am going to share with you everything you need to know to make your first, second, third, or 100’th season, the best experience of your life. I remember my first ski season as if it were yesterday, well, I wish I could but, I have toffee vodka to thank for the holes in my memory! The good thing is, I remember the important bits. The things that will help you take your first steps in becoming a pro “seasonaire”.

You see, so many ski season workers get wrapped up in the gloriousness of the lifestyle, having friends around you all the time, the bars so close by, and the ability to go skiing every day, it can be really easy to forget your season dreams, goals of skiing every day go out the window, saving money for traveling post-season doesn’t amount to much, and suddenly the season is over and you’re left feeling like you could have and should have achieved so much more!

Don’t let this be you!

Let me tell you a little bit of background to this priceless advice I’m about to give you. My first season started in 2016 in Courchevel, France as a Chalet host with Scott Dunn. It was long hours of hard work, early mornings and late nights sandwiched around 5 hours of glorious ski time. The area is picturesque with peaks on all sides, great off-piste and it has plenty of fondue and tasty wines. I loved the season so much that I ended up continuing to work for the company as a Villa host in Mallorca, and a year later returned to the snow in Austria to do it all over again. Half a decade later, I’m still working ski seasons. I’m now a qualified ski instructor with NZSki and have completed seasons as an instructor in Japan and New Zealand.

Some of my ski seasons have been more fulfilling and fruitful than others, partly due to weather and snow conditions but mostly because of me and my laziness to get out of bed on a day off after a big night out or a previous big ski day. I have done seasons where I have shared my room with other employees in the company.

Click here to read more about hostel life and accommodation decisions.

I’ve lived in a shared house with other locals and I now live with my boyfriend. The people around you have a HUGE influence on the decisions that you will make throughout the season too.

I want to give you some sound advice on how to not only survive the season without going stir crazy but also enjoy every minute of the experience.

Set Pre Ski Season Goals

Working ski seasons is a career and like most other careers, in order to succeed you need to set yourself realistic, achievable, time managed goals. What does this mean for seasonaires?

Perhaps you want to save money, or you’d like to be able to do a 180 in the park, or you’d like to learn the local language, it could even be as simple as wanting to make the most of the snow and ski every day off that you get. Whatever your goal(s) may be, they’re important. It’s important to know where you want to go, how to get there, and then be able to gauge whether you’re making progress. Goals help you do that. They are the key to feeling like you have made the absolute most out of the ski season.

When it comes to improving your skiing throughout the season, I think the biggest mistake people make is remembering how and what they were skiing when they last skied and thinking they can just start right back at that place. Even if you do a lot of training and other athletics, there is a period o f readjustment for balance, strength and proprioception. Whether you train hard in the pre season or not, it is important that you start out slow at the beginning of the season and remember that it is never too late to add extra training/ conditioning into your routine.

Most of us will have more than one goal that we would like to achieve by the end of the season. It is important to record your progress. Take video or some pictures of your latest achievements and share them with friends and family. This will improve your motivation which is also key to achieving your goals.

Do your research and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Many seasonaires, myself included, often suffer from what I like to call “I can do it” syndrome in which we put off asking for help. Please remember that when in a ski resort, you are surrounded by like-minded people, some of whom will have decades of invaluable experience that they will be more than happy to share with you.

Always catch first lifts, never call last run

Buy the first-tracks pass and enjoy fresh corduroy carve runs and fresh pow before the hoards chop it all up. It will be the best money you spend all season. You might even be lucky enough to get a staff discount on it!

It may have been super difficult to drag your lazy bum out of bed but check out your reward! Fresh sparkly corduroy and powder! There’s also nobody here so you can really concentrate on what you’re doing. If you have a brilliant first hour, it will set you up for the day. My trainers have always told me that one well-focused high energy run is 100x more beneficial to your technique than 10 half-assed people dodging runs. Also, if you have made it to the top of the mountain, don’t ski back down into the resort. Stay high and you’ll be ahead of the crowd, and if you do get a bit tired, just finish a little bit earlier. Quality, not quantity.

Ski every bluebird

The early bird gets the worm- and the early skier gets the fresh snow. Sunny days, great snow, nothing beats it. Wherever you are in the world, bluebird powder days are heaven on earth and they don’t come around all that often. If you’re in bed lazy with a headache on your break or day off you’re missing valuable ski time that you’ll never get back!

Health first

Party after. Eat well, stay fit.

Taking care of yourself is paramount to enjoying the season to the very end. If you’re stuck in bed with a fever or over the toilet with a vomiting bug, you’ll miss out on the powder party! It’s totally avoidable so don’t let it be you! Click here for more ways to stay healthy this winter season.

Packed lunch

Make the most of your days in the snow. Mountain top cafes and restaurants can be gorgeous and some of them even have decks to sit at and enjoy the view, but they usually come with an attractive price tag or you end up there for 3 hours waiting for food and drinks etc which is all precious ski time! Instead save your $$, enjoy an exclusive mountain top or forest view in peace and ski off whenever you’re ready, all with the help of a little preparation.

Pack snacks and a baguette to eat on top of the mountain. Find a spot on a hill with a great view on a bluebird day or a shady sheltered secret spot in the forest. It’s not only cheaper but it's the best way to create memories you’ll never forget, plus more time to ski! What more could you want? Hit subscribe for access to my favorite mountain lunch recipes.

Cash budget

There are so many apps out there to help you stay on budget and save those extra pennies for some extra postseason fun or for that new ski jacket you’ve been dreaming about.

If you’re like me and know that deep down the idea of an app sounds great but when it comes down to it, you’ll probably forget to use it or it will become that extra faff you just don’t need in your life. Solution? Set yourself a Cash budget.

The majority of ski season workers work in the hospitality industry whereby they earn tips. If you’re planning to become a Chalet host like I did when I started out, you may end up earning substantial amounts in tips. For example while in Courchevel I was earning an average of 100 euros a week just in tips for myself! So if this is you, I recommend like many seasonaires that you spend your tips and save your salary earnings.

If you’re planning on becoming a ski instructor, or working in a non-tipping job, here’s what you should do:

Decide on your start of the week (align it with payday so you’re not broke) and head to the cashpoint at the start of the week and take out all the cash you’ll need for that week. Your mates will thank you for it too and so will hungover you when you wake up after a big night knowing that the only cash you spent was the wad you put in your bag at the beginning of the night!

Worried about having too much cash on you? If this is the case then you’re probably not budgeting cheap enough! Since you’re a seasonaire who more than likely gets fed by your company/chef or you (if you're an instructor and this isn't the case, you’ll budget your weekly food shop into this amount, it shouldn’t mean that you have a massive amount of cash on your person. This cash is for the occasional mountain lunch, après beers, gym/spa subscription, and any extraneous adventure costs that come with the awesome season lifestyle.

If the idea of carrying cash still makes you anxious I would still highly recommend using your different current and/or savings accounts to set yourself a strict spending budget.

If using your accounts is your budgeting style of choice and you earn your wages in a different currency to which the locals use, you'll want a quick and easy way to exchange your money without added costs. That's why I use Wise (formerly known as Transferwise). If you use this link you'll get a free international transfer of up to 500 pounds! Wise also offers free same currency transfers! Hit subscribe to stay tuned for more of my favorite ways to organize my money when living and travelling abroad.

Another fabulous idea that was suggested to me by a fellow seasonaire friend in Europe is to use gift cards instead of carrying cash. Now, this might sound a bit bizarre. These days many resorts offer gift cards that can be used for everything from equipment rentals to food and drinks. Gift cards don’t get soggy or unusable after being in your sweaty damp pockets all day long and are more convenient than credit cards because they don’t yield personal financial information if they get lost or stolen and you can still budget as if you were carrying cash!

New Zealand ski season budget guide is coming soon so hit subscribe to stay tuned! Click here to read my best tips to saving money on a ski season.

The dark side

Try out a second discipline. My parents always taught me to always open doors, never shut them. By this they mean don’t prevent yourself from being able to do new things! Don’t let your preconceptions get in the way of you trying something new! You never know you could be a cracking snowboarder!

It may seem surprising to you but in my experience, many skiers are stubborn and unwilling to try their hand at snowboarding! I mean, yes skiing is awesome and if you’ve already found something that you love, why start at the beginning with something new? I’ll tell you why! Because snowboarding is totally different, it uses different muscles, you’ll probably find what you love about skiing is totally different to what you love about snowboarding and therefore it opens up the whole mountain!

This also goes hand in hand with motivation to try your best and persevere! If you’re not the type to have the patience to learn something new, work harder to figure out what it is that you enjoy about the new sport! If you try your best and give it all you’ve got, if you still don’t enjoy it at least you can walk away feeling proud.

Never tried skiing or snowboarding and wondering which one to start with? Click here to find out what I think about the difference.

Be afraid but not too afraid

Avalanches and accidents kill but powder doesn’t stay forever.

Disclaimer: I’m not saying you should go rolling down a black run on your first day. But fear is the main reason people don’t accomplish their goals on the mountain. I know it’s certainly held me back in the past.

How do you get over the fear?

Do your research, stay informed. Get a lesson. Ski with experienced skiers. Remember the elements that affect the difficulty of skiing: slope steepness, the weather can you see?), the terrain (is it bumpy or narrow?), your skill level (are your skis in a wedge or are they parallel? Can you turn to control your speed?), confidence (stay within your positive radar).

The mountains are an unpredictable, challenging environment therefore it is crucial that you keep safety in mind. Beginners should take lessons before attempting any run on their own and regardless of skill level, nobody should try to get in another run when they are tired, sore, or the lighting or weather conditions are poor.

The same goes for nights out and working hours, you shouldn’t be accepting that “go on, last one” in the bar when you have to ski down afterward or walk home up the steep slippery hill. For a successful ski season, safety must remain paramount at all times.

On the flip side, research suggests that confidence improves memory and ability to perform new physical activities accurately and I see huge improvements in my students when they take a moment to realise just how awesome they are! The dangers of the sport and environment do not need to get in the way of your progress!

Click here to read more about overcoming the fears of moving abroad alone.

If you find it difficult to spend time by yourself. Click here to read about how it can help you and the things you can do to get started.

Take a lesson

Whether you’ve been skiing since you could walk, or you’re a total beginner, I urge you to take a lesson or two, or three or regularly throughout the season!

There is always someone who can do it better or can show you a more efficient or enjoyable way to do something on the mountain and a lesson with a qualified instructor is the perfect place to find this person! An instructor isn’t just for those who want to build confidence or learn the basics, we are also here to help push you out of your comfort zone and push your skills to the max.

I know, lessons can be really expensive. That’s why you’re working a season right? If you’re not training to be an instructor and lessons aren’t something that your company already offers, have a chat to them about it and I can guarantee that even if they can’t bag you a free lesson, they’ll more than likely be able to get a discount for a group of you at a similar level or they’ll point you in the direction of the best ski schools in town so that you’re not wasting your money.

If you’re a budding ski instructor like myself, lessons are important for you too and my favorite perk of the job. We love our jobs as teachers but it’s also seriously fun to be the student! Learning new tips, tricks and techniques to share with your students can take you from a mediocre teacher to one that everyone is asking for!

Click here to read more about why you should take a lesson.

FOMO Don’t let others’ plans get to you!

There are millions of season workers out there that regret not getting off of the sofa and out in the snow on the days the rest of the house wants to stay in and watch a movie because visibility could be better. If you’ve had a rest day already this week and you know you should, then what are you waiting for!? Get out there and enjoy it! (listen to weather warnings but don’t let a little snow day or low light stop you from having the best day ever!).

Pack light and pack well

It has taken me several seasons to realize that less is most definitely more. No-one wants to be encumbered with a bunch of suitcases as well as skis, poles, helmet, and boots, so pack light but well for your trip. Winter casual clothing is usually woolen, making it heavy and bulky, so choose your favourite 1 or two pieces and be willing to order more once you’re in resort if necessary.

When it comes to your ski gear, if you’re in this for the long haul, invest in your thermals, I can’t recommend it enough! The high tech materials that are used by companies such as Mons Royale and The North Face will not only keep you warmer and dryer for longer but you will be able to wear them for many more seasons than the cheaper alternatives. Merino wool is an absolute favourite of mine.

As for packing well, it’s a skill and one that I recommend you get on board with ASAP! My favourite trick to getting much more in my suitcase is packing cubes, the decompression ones are the best, but BE CAREFUL! You can easily pack more than your weight allowance by doing this so be sure to keep an eye on the scale before you start adding more than the essentials!

Are you umming and arrring about whether to buy ski or snowboard and boots this season click here for some guidance.

So to sum up, it’s really not that hard to have a seriously great season this winter. If you’re reading this you’re clearly committed to being the best season worker you can be. I’m so proud of you! Of course happiness is about much more than these few tips but they go a long way to helping you be in control of your own happiness.

Click here to read about how to get over the fears of moving abroad alone.

Please let me know what you think of these tips in the comments below and if you have any fab ideas to add!

TheSkiNomad