Way to many Working in Aus/Nz'06 threads. It’s about time we have the one topic which has a collection of knowledge, from various members input from previous experience or research. While I can't help with New Zealand work, living options. I have done a bit of research on the Australian conditions. Jobs, Generally start appearing in February-March, either on the individual resort website or in the [url=http://www.ski.com.au/]www.ski.com.au[/url] classifieds... while on ski.com.au it will offer a lot more knowledge for Australia than any other website. It has a forum with over 1000+ regular posters.(Lots of them tossers, but they have knowledge) Basically we in Australia have 2 options, Victoria or New South Wales. Victoria: Living and Working will generally be combined on mountain. If you work for the lift company, they provide staff Accommodation, for around $100 or $160 full board per week. If you are working for a private business, they may offer special deals with the work. Eg. Working for Hotel Restaurant, you may be able to get free meals, cheap accommodation. I believe, If you are working on Mountain and more than 40hours a week, you are entitled to a free Season pass, no matter whether working for lift company or private business. Mountains are: Mt. Buller, closest major resort to Melbourne, Range rover Mecca. [url=http://www.mtbuller.com.au/]www.mtbuller.com.au[/url] Falls Creek, terrain park Mecca. [url=http://www.fallscreek.com.au/]www.fallscreek.com.au[/url] Mt Hotham, Powder Riding Mecca. [url=http://www.hotham.net.au/]www.hotham.net.au[/url] [url=http://www.mthotham.com.au/]www.mthotham.com.au[/url] New South Wales: In most cases living will be in Jindabyne, while you can work at Thredbo or Perisher Blue. I believe it is up to the staff to make their own way to their hill of choice, many carpool, while another many hitch rides from the roundabout. From what i have heard, offering petrol money (on a sign) works best Perisher offers the largest amount of ski able terrain, but lacks vertical. [url=http://www.perisherblue.com.au/]www.perisherblue.com.au[/url] Thredbo offers the most vertical in Australia [url=http://www.thredbo.com.au/]www.thredbo.com.au[/url] I hope this has helped any future '06 workers some information. Please Share your knowledge... or just voice your intentions of working in either country. [Edited on 1/16/2006]

Posted by: boyataris Mt. Buller...Range rover Mecca.

It's funny because it's true. I also have a tip. Do not bother applying if you have no prior job experience, apparantly this is frowned upon and you will not get the job. Go figure?

As Ben added in his postings, I'll kinda do a smaller version, & only add links www.mtruapehu.com www.nationalparkvillage.co.nz www.tukino.co.nz www.snow.co.nz www.nzski.com www.newzealand.com www.snowparknz.com www.cardrona.com [url=http://www.boarderzone.com]www.boarderzone.com[/url] There are also a lot of smaller club fields here in NZ, that are worth going to visit... North Island Taranaki Manganui (Mt Taranaki/Egmont) Central Plateau Tukino (Mt Ruapehu) Whakapapa (Mt Ruapehu) Turoa (Mt Ruapehu) South Island Nelson/Marlborough Mt Robert Rainbow Valley North Canterbury Amuri Mt Lyford Central Canterbury Broken River Craigieburn Valley Erewhon Mt Cheeseman Mt Hutt Mt Olympus Porter Heights Temple Basin South Canterbury/North Otago Awakino Fox Peak Mt Dobson Ohau Central Otago Cardrona Coronet Peak Snowpark The Remarkables Treble Cone Wairau Nordic Heliskiing/boarding North Island Snowrange Heliski/board South Island Boarder Patrol Heliboarding Fox Glacier Heliskiing/boarding Harris Mountains Heliskiing/boarding Heli Guides NZ Heliski/board Mt Cook Methven Heliski/board Mt Hutt Heliski/board Ski/Board The Tasman Southern Lakes Heliski/board I'm also playing "travel agent" for a few sb.comers' in August, so if there's numbers, maybe do a meet... I'll do Nth Island, & maybe Thommo, or someone else could meet them in the Sth Island...? Thanx Ben for the post...!!! [Edited on 3/15/2006]

Ha, I'd always thought about doing a thread like this, it should really be a sticky Ok, this is a bit of info on where to work or board in NZ I'll start at the top and work my way south. Mt Ruapehu is by far the biggest resort in the country with 2480acres of skiable terrain and gets the most snow. But it needs it as it is a very rocky base. They normally take on about 700 staff over the winter so thats probably your best chance of getting a job. But it does depend on what sort of job your looking for. Its split up into 2 areas, Turoa and Whakakpapa. Turoa is where a lot of snowboarders go as it has a good park and lots of natural jumps. Whakapapa is more the freeriding area of the mountain with heaps of natural jumps, cliffs and amphitheatres. It has a begginer park with the only halfpipe on the mountain. The mountain does tend to get icy and windy at times and it does have quite a few days when it is closed Check out [color=#dddddd][url=http://www.mtruapehu.com/jobs_info.asp]http://www.mtruapehu.com/jobs_info.asp[/url][/color]" or [color=#dddddd][url=http://www.mtruapehu.com/jobs.asp]http://www.mtruapehu.com/jobs.asp[/url][/color] As you get into the south island you come across Mt Hutt. It had a shocker of a season last year but normally its pretty good. It gets good snow and is the first resort to open in the southern hemipshere. Ive heard the park isnt that good there but it would be a pretty good place to work. Check out [color=#dddddd][url=http://www.nzski.com/]http://www.nzski.com/[/url][/color] Its got info on Mt Hutt, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak Then you get down to the main feilds of the South Island, Treble Cone, The Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Cardrona and Snowpark. TC would have to be the best freeriding mountain as it has good steep terrain and recieves some huge dumps of powder. The Remarks and Coronet Peak arent bad aswell. Cardrona is a more beginner-intermediate feild as far as I know with more gentle terrain. Then theres Snowpark. Its name basically describes itself, its one giant park with everything you can think of. The box run has boxes set up in all kinds of positions. The run is 800m long and consits of 8-10 boxes. The advanced rail line has kinks, straights and curves of all varieties. The beginner area consists of a nice assortment of simple but fun rails and boxes. There is also lines of booters ranging from 15-80 feet that you practice you trademark moves on. Perhaps the standout feature of Snowpark is the superpipe. Cut every single night by Frank Wells, the man who cuts the X games pipe and many other top international pipe events, makes it a world cup standard pipe everyday. With nice long transitions and laser straight walls its a feature that has to be ridden. Heres a pic of the pipe last year [color=#dddddd][url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/snowmelt_nz/halfpipe.jpg]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/snowmelt_nz/halfpipe.jpg[/url][/color] Getting a job at Snowpark is next to impossible though but check out there site [color=#dddddd][url=http://www.snowparknz.com/]http://www.snowparknz.com/[/url][/color] The South Island resorts have better snow, better parks and a good vibe going about them but getting a job on them is more difficult. [color=#dddddd][url=http://www.snow.co.nz]http://www.snow.co.nz[/url][/color] is worth checking out as it has links and info to most of the resorts Someone else might be able to add a bit more info on the south island feilds though [Edited on 1/17/2006]

I'm not so sure about at the other mountains, but at hotham: If you live in staff accom, it's $180 per week for board, this includes accomodation in either two-share (if you're a lifty) or six-share (if you're an instructor or admin or retail person), breakky and dinner. Lunches are your own, and on friday nights you buy your own dinner. You need to be careful if you're going to be there right from the very start of the season though, especially if you'e going to be an instructor, cos often you don't get much work right at the start, and you have to pay your $180 every week whether you've had enough work or not... so often the instructors actually end up OWING the mountain money after the first month or so... what is good though, is that if you only earn $200 in a week, they won't take all of that in your board, they will leave you with $100 or so to live for the week!!! Lifties however, will generally earn enough right away, cos not everyone is there at the start of the season, so you should get at least half day shifts each day if you want them. If you are planning on being an instructor, it might be wise to setup some other work in a bar or restaurant or something else as well...

Rainbow mountain - NZ South Island. http://www.skirainbow.co.nz/ From their website : The Southern Alps of New Zealand are host to a number of superb ski areas. One of the most beautiful is Rainbow Ski Area near St Arnaud, high in the north of this great mountain chain within the world famous Nelson / Marlborough lifestyle region. Reaching a height of over 1760 metres, Rainbow Ski Area captures regular winter snow, which is enhanced by its snowmaking and grooming throughout the night so you can have the best day's skiing and boarding. The facilitys are very basic.. only a T-bar + cafe...Lift tickets are $45 a day I wouldn't recommend getting any Rental gear from there as its shocking!!! The closest town is St Arnaurd..its very small town with a few pubs + shops there but its only about 30 mins to the top of the mountain..Closest major towns (lots of jobs + accomdation) are Blenheim and Nelson..Both take about 1 hour 1/2 drive to get to the mountain...if your planning on driving up make sure you have SNOW CHAINS!!! I seen wayyy to many close calls where people have nearly slid off the mountain...you can rent them at a petrol station in St Arnaud but they only stock standard sizes + dont carry many of them either!! so your best bet is to buy chains if you plan on going up there regulary.. Jobs: No shortage of Jobs in Blenheim but the majority of the jobs are outdoor Vineyard work ...Average pay is about $12 nz a hour but you can get contract work and earn shit loads (if your quick) Because during the winter the vines are dormant and they need pruning...There are plenty of contracting gangs out there who will take you abord and the best thing about this type of work is that you can take time off whenever you like..your not fixed...So if its a powder day then your gone!!! The field is always uncroweded and theres plenty of terrain to suit all abilitys...from gental slopes to cliff drops! The park scene is pretty none existant...im hopefully going to help design one for them...but last year it consisted of a few rails + small jumps...Locals build jumps all over the place so keep your eyes peeled! Hope this helps some people.

go to australia i hear it rocks hahahahahah

Posted by: stompin go to australia i hear it rocks hahahahahah

And that would not have any bearing on the number of kiwi's over here? hahahahaha

Americans note: Australian snow is not HOT, like the outback. Dress sensibly, in jeans and a flannelette shirt.

^^^^^ GOLD, Nick!!!!

or else a pair of stubbies... you'll fit right in... no. really.

HAHA, Nick gets silver now...Tams gets the gold for the stubbies comment!!!

when i went to falls i rode in jeans and a hoodie and was still too hot!

yeh i often ride in just shell pants with shorts underneath and a hoodie. but seriously,... JEANS????

Jeans are steezy!!! Especialy when your new to snowboarding!! say to someone whos never been snowboarding "Grab the most water proof pants you got" and they will wear Jeans 99% of the time....and by the end of the day they will never wear them again!!!HAHAHAH nothing worst that soaking wet pants that get so cold they freeze hard!

don't laugh - tight designer jeans are all the rage in some US board parks.

All the major resorts are now accepting applications [url=http://www.mtruapehu.com]http://www.mtruapehu.com[/url] for Mt Ruapehu [url=http://www.nzski.co.nz/]http://www.nzski.co.nz/[/url] for Mt Hutt, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak [url=http://www.treblecone.co.nz]http://www.treblecone.co.nz[/url] for Treble Cone

yeh i think often they think jeans are the warmest things they've got too... until theyr'e soaking wet and, as you said dobo, freeze solid!!!!! tight designer jeans in the snow... only the americans!!!!

Well Im leaving Whistler in May to fly to NZ for the season, I still cannot decide whether to work for a particular resort or to live and work in Queenstown and travel to mountains. I would definately go for the 'work for mountain' option if it was like here in Whistler and everything was on your doorstep but Im gathering that the mountains themselves are quite varied and that they dont have much of a town of their own per se ie lots of bars and clubs etc ??? Im really not sure what to do and need help/advice. I will probably rock into Queenstown and see how it goes from there ..... How far is queenstown from the good hills ? Which is the best all round hill... Im hearing Treblecone?? Is there a bus service from Queenstown ? Im also heearing that Lake Wanaka is a better base location ?? Time is ticking by for the job fares and I need to get some idea of the best approach. I basically wanna ride as much as poss but also like my nights out, guess Ive been spoiled in Whistler but looking for a similar experience in NZ .... Thanks for any help

Hey Darren, If you want a similar experience to Whistler you're not really going to get in NZ because everything is really spread out - the closest to whistler village you will get is Queenstown which is an awesome little tourist town with nightclubs and restaurants etc... Wanaka is smaller but also a cool town with some clubs and shops - i prefer Wanaka because it's close to Treble Cone and is a bit less touristy. You're going to need a mode of transport to drive up the windy dirt roads to the mountains every day. It's a unique experience the first few times. If you work for a resort it's not likely you'll be living up on the mountian. Treble Cone is more of a freeride mountain, but i hear they are working on their park for this season. Cardrona is between Queenstown and Wanaka, and if you like to ride parks then Snowpark is right across from Cardrona. If you are in Queenstown then you'll most probably hit Remarkables or Coronet Peak... In terms of size, the actual resorts are small in comparison to Whistler... but there are plenty of hiking opportunities if you can be bothered. I've probably repeated a lot of info that was explained above but i hope that helps. [Edited on 3/15/2006]

i'm looking to head down to NZ for the season and then tour around the country for a couple months afterwards. i'm thinking that wanaka is where i'll end up for the season. i've got a couple questions i hope you guys could help me with. 1- how hard will it be to find a place to live for the season if i come down in late may/early june? i can't see my finances falling into place much before then. 2 - any ideas as to what average rent would be? 3 - do you know of any sites where i can find a place to live or find people looking for room-mates? any info would be appreciated.

^^^ Check out [url=http://www.boarderzone.com]www.boarderzone.com[/url] [url=http://www.snow.co.nz]www.snow.co.nz[/url] [url=http://www.wanaka.com]www.wanaka.com[/url] & [url=http://www.queenstown.com]www.queenstown.com[/url] or just google Wanaka or Queenstown. The rent will be anywhere between NZ$110- NZ$150 per room, depending where you find a place, & I'd seriously start looking ASAP!!! There's a couple other guys on the site looking for roomies in NZ, so keep on looking...

Just like to inform anyone thats interested. Jobs have become available for aplication across all mountains. So look at websites of the desired hill.

Hey Thommo, I'm Dommo. Well, I am not the best boarder either but the more you ride the more you learn.... I swapped to the "dark side" two years ago and couldn't go boarding since. I lived in Ireland and was real busy with Uni. That's finished now and we are downunder for a year. Think we hit NZ in mid July for 4 weeks, I will find out when we will be on the south island, I think we will go north first. Not sure. But if you have info on cheap accommodation around the slopes and further stuff that is worth knowing please feel free to share. Or even on rental cars and stuff. There will be three of us but the girls have never been on snow so they won't come. It's only me who is snow crazy so if you are easy we might meet up and go for a ride? Cheers for your help in advance. Dom