Ski season stages
Set up and the early season
When am I going to get out on my board!? The early stages of a working ski season can be tough, normally after the hype of a training course with sometimes hundreds of people doing the same as you. Reality kicks in and you start earning your keep. Definately the most important part of the season, get it right, make yourself indispensible and you are set!
Most of the time the early ski season is tough. Resorts need to be prepared to accept clients and deliver what they expect to get in return for their hard earned cash. This can quite often mean that specialist staff have to get involved in menial set up duties. This period is usually the makings of the rest of the ski season in terms of team morale and the relationships that will shape your experience. Setting up is quite often the first real work that younger staff have ever done and it can often be the first time your immediate boss has done his or her job as well; so give them a chance, it works both ways!
Whatever you are doing, we cannot stress enough the importance of working hard and showing a bit of grit at this stage. It always gets easier and you will be glad that you fought through it and did yourself proud. Being willing and enthusiastic will normally carry you through to the Spring whatever your experience and ability.
Be willing to learn from more experienced ski season workers and do your best to be indispensable to the team. If you see something that needs doing, it is usually appreciated if you just do it rather than wait to be told. Walking around like you mean business rather than sauntering between jobs will keep you engaged in the task in hand and be a lot more use to your probably frazzled boss.
Remember, the set up period is the hardest time for everyone, don't be worried if you are struggling a bit at first - everyone does. The test is in how you handle these early stages, handle it well and you will get a lot more out of the rest of the ski season.
The mid season Blues
Once you have learned all you need to know, and successfully got the hang of your new job it will soon be halftime and strange things start to happen. Around the end of January in winter seasons your motivation can start to slide and you can start feeling the pressure a bit.
Once you have learned all you need to know from training, and successfully got the hang of your new job it will soon be halftime and strange things start to happen. Approaching Easter in winter seasons your motivation can start to slide. This is perfectly normal and is fine as long as your work doesn't suffer. If you let your standards slip and start complaining to your peers you risk your motivation going into a nosedive and you will soon be sick of the sound of your own droning voice. This will not only be detrimental to the end product of your work, but will drastically reduce your own enjoyment, maybe to the point of an early dart.
How to get out of it - The trick is to go back to basics and look after yourself. Try to hold back a bit and not do things to excess, if you feel well physically then you generally are in a better mental state to deal with difficult situations. Try to get enough sleep and eat properly, this can be very difficult if you are repping or doing a job that involves working at night and long hours, but a few weeks of calm can just steady it all up. If you are a burned out resort manager, remember that the only person that can’t see stress doing you in is yourself.
If you do start struggling in the middle of a ski season you should talk to your boss or immediate supervisor. They will more than likely have experienced what you are feeling like. A rant to your parents or friends at home can help if you then leave it at that and try to push through. Once you are a few weeks past the halfway stage the blues wear off and you can start planning your summer season, or at least finishing with a sense of pride that you got through it.
Getting towards the end, what next?
Towards the end of a season abroad or in the UK you can start looking at what to do next. You basically have two choices, do another season or go home and get a lobotomy / proper job. You might be able to use the experience you gained to get a better job for the next season even if you are transferring between sumer and winter resort jobs; seasonal customer experience is very easily transferred and employers love it.
Here are some summer jobs to tempt you
You can use Season Worker's very own Reunion system to get reunited with old friends from the season. Registration to Season Workers Reunion takes a few minutes, is free and gives you access to more of the site. If you've worked abroad before why not give it a try and see who's out there?