But every year you see these shredders and ski bunnies, drawing the cleanest lines and riding with the smoothest styles, all because they are spending the season out on the mountain instead of watching vids and dreaming. The 60 million dollar question you should be asking is. “How can I do it”? This article may have come to late for this season but lets be honest you need some time to get
your stufftogether.
First thing you need cash, you may already own a board, boots and bindings,
but trust me there is a lot of other junk you need like, avalanche
equipment, kicker building shovels and snow tyres for your chaved up VW
Golf, you get the picture.
So where can you get some easy cash? Besides supplying your mates and
acquaintances with illicit substances, which puts you in the risk of
spending cold nights in jail, with a large dude named Bubba for a blanket,
the only way is to work. Your qualifications or ability to blag will
dictated what kind of job and pay you get.
Let’s say you have gained employment and are managing to pull in a few
hundred quid a week. How can you keep it, instead of pissing everything up
the wall, come Friday night? HAHA easily. Become a Muslim no drinking for
those folks. Ok so assuming you don’t want to do an in depth study of the
Koran just to save a few pounds, try setting up a secondary bank account 50-
100 pounds a weeks goes into this kitty and can’t be touched until a
specific target has been met. By the time next season rolls around you’ll
have a couple of grand to play with. Easier than an Essex girl on Friday
night.
There are loads of ways to make money in the Alps, to keep coin in your
pocket and beer in your belly, but still have enough time to satisfy your
boarding needs. A lot of these jobs can be arranged from home over the
Internet try looking at sites like www.thegumtree.com or
www.anyworkanywhere.com. Jobs from Russia to Rio get you Cv sorted and start
mailing.
You might ask, “What kind of job can a stooge like me get in France or
Austria”? Well truthfully if you can’t speak the language, your options are
slightly limited. However there are a lot of people running chalets who
cater for mainly English clients. They need Boys and Girls who can cook,
clean, and entertain guests of all different varieties. On top of that a lot
of the larger operations need handymen, people with construction or trade
backgrounds to fix taps, cars, squeaky beds and basically keep things
running smoothly.
“So how do the guests get from the airport to the alps”? Funny you should
mention that, In the days of cheap airlines offering flights for next to
nothing more and more people are arriving at airports as opposed to driving
or bussing it.
Due to this, there are heaps of opportunities to do transfers, basically you
hold up a sign and wait for Mr. and Mrs. Brown and there three fit daughters
to cruze through the arrivals gate. From there, you help with bags and
chauffeur them all into the frozen wonderland that’s is the mountains. IF
you’re smooth enough you could be keeping one or two of these fine brown
daughters warm on frosty nights hehe.
One other job, which is general over looked by us guys is, Au pair. There
are hundreds of English speaking families throughout the alpine regions of
Europe, who want proper well-spoken gents or ladies to care for their
bundles of joy. Generally the job gives you a place to stay, food, a car and
a few beer tickets a week. What more do you need. Guess what if the kids are
school aged that means you get to go boarding all day. Sound work.
Lets say you did French or German for A levels, with some quick revision and
a bit of extra study, I’m sure you could manage to score work in bars,
cafes, restaurants or hotels. Take your Cv with you because they tend to
hire on the spot. PS When you’re forced to speak the language, you learn
fucking fast. If all else fails, you can always become a dish bitch.
Somewhere to stay.
If you manage to get a chalet job, most of the time they hook you up some
accommodation. But beware; it’s not uncommon for your love shack, to be
about the size of a walk in closet. Sometimes it may actually be a walk in
closet. IMAGINE.
“Mind the fur coat and trousers on the way in Kylie”
“Ye babe I know it’s a bit stuffy”
“Anyway make yourself comfortable on my lylo of love, cause I’ve got fresh
powder in my pants and I’m gonna avalanche all over you”. GRRR
By some freak of nature you may have managed to stash enough cash for the
duration of the season. Then it’s just a case of boarding and enjoying the
après ski life style. Your best option is to share a larger chalet with a
few people. The number of crew in the house and the location, will obviously
dictate the rent price and how much fun you have. Also look a studio
apartments generally they have one large room, cooking area and bathroom.
In all alpine regions, there are numerous real estate agents, who deal with
these types of accommodation.
Although it’s possible to squeeze three or four people into a one-room
apartment, just remember to air it out occasionally, girls do not dig
stench.
On that note it’s bright and white outside I’m going to hit it. Enjoy your
vacations this year but plan for the next.
