Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

America, Amérique, America
Forumsregeln
Benutzeravatar
ThomasStendys
Meeresspiegel (0m)
Beiträge: 3
Registriert: 08.04.2014 - 22:24
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Ort: Aarhus, Denmark
Hat sich bedankt: 1 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 0

Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von ThomasStendys »

Hi,

I would like to tell about my experience in Canada, where I worked as a videographer/photographer for the winter season 2015/16. I worked at British Columbia’s (B.C.) third largest ski resort named Big White Ski Resort, 60kms from the city of Kelowna.

Getting the job:
The process of getting a job started in august 2015. I knew I wanted to work in a Canadian ski resort on the west coast – but I had no idea in which one. In july 2015 I was on vacation in Canada, where we drove all around B.C. for a month. On that trip we came across Whistler, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke and Lake Louise which are some of the largest and famous ski resorts in North America. I applied for various jobs at almost all the resorts I could find in B.C. and Alberta. I applied for jobs such as snow shoveller, lift operator, shaper etc. – jobs you can get without needing to have any special training or education. What I ended up with, was the position as a videographer/photographer that Big White offered me. I got offered other jobs from other resorts, but I found the job as a videographer most interesting. It gave me a lot of experiences what you normally wouldn’t get to experience.

The job:
As a videographer/photographer my job was to create promotional content for social media, their website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, posters, catalogues and magazines. I worked for the cable car company and got paid for 37,5 hours of work a week. Some weeks I worked all seven days, and in other weeks I only worked four days – I varied a lot. An important part of my job was to deliver fresh photos from the mountain to be posted on Facebook and Instagram in the morning, before the resort opened. The best thing about the job, was that it gave me access to all the departments and the whole mountain almost whenever I wanted.

The mountain and resort:
As written earlier, Big White Ski Resort is B.Cs third largest after Whistler and Sun Peaks. The mountain summit is at 2319 m and the village is in 1755 m above sea level. The vertical drop is 777m from top to bottom. I relies 100% on natural snow. Snow guns are only being use in the park for the features. Doing the winter season 2015/16 we had a snow base of 300cm most of the season, and received a total of 900cm of snow.

It is know for being Canada favorite family resort

Stats:
Lifts: 16 (1 T-bar, 10 chairlifts, 1 gondola and 4 magic carpets) Doppelmayr and Poma
Snow guns: 4
Snow groomers: 11 (3 Prinoths and 8 PistenBullys)

Direktlink


Direktlink


Direktlink


Direktlink


Helped out the grooming department with their submission for the PB video contest in north america
Direktlink
Dateianhänge
IMG_0006.jpg
363A7980.jpg
363A9366.jpg
12240433_10154340566768275_1551122076591684618_o.jpg
12247943_10154352832393275_6355142747423707606_o.jpg
12473730_10154455344398275_8272574469284346587_o.jpg
12487022_10154464104558275_3389547970150629537_o.jpg
20160330-363A8201.jpg
20160330-363A8260.jpg
20160330-363A8275.jpg
20160330-363A8305.jpg
20160330-363A8311.jpg
20160330-363A8324.jpg
20160330-363A8399.jpg
20160330-363A8405.jpg
20160330-363A8490.jpg
20160330-363A8491.jpg
20160330-363A8507.jpg
20160330-363A8511.jpg
20160330-363A8517.jpg
20160330-363A8590.jpg
20160330-363A8593.jpg
20160330-363A8617.jpg
20160330-363A8637.jpg
20160330-363A8642.jpg
20160330-363A8645.jpg
20160330-363A8647.jpg
20160330-363A8658.jpg
20160330-363A8699.jpg
20160330-363A8725.jpg
20160330-363A8737.jpg
20160330-363A8738.jpg
20160405-363A9723.jpg
20160405-363A9726.jpg
20160405-363A9733.jpg
20160405-363A9743.jpg
20160405-363A9746.jpg
IMG_0014.jpg
IMG_0017.jpg
IMG_0021.jpg
IMG_0045.jpg
IMG_0046.jpg
IMG_0047.jpg
IMG_0068.jpg
IMG_0070.jpg
IMG_0072.jpg
IMG_0073.jpg
IMG_0090.jpg
IMG_0106.jpg
IMG_0107.jpg
IMG_0110.jpg
IMG_0123.jpg
IMG_0130.jpg
IMG_0141.jpg
IMG_0142.jpg
IMG_0143.jpg
IMG_0150.jpg
IMG_0153.jpg
IMG_0157.jpg
IMG_0160.jpg
IMG_0178.jpg
IMG_0179.jpg
IMG_0195.jpg
IMG_0218.jpg
IMG_0221.jpg
IMG_0250.jpg
IMG_0251.jpg
IMG_0260.jpg
IMG_0263.jpg
IMG_0265.jpg
IMG_0277.jpg
IMG_0281.jpg
IMG_0285.jpg
IMG_0288.jpg
IMG_0295.jpg
IMG_0301.jpg
IMG_0306.jpg
IMG_0318.jpg
IMG_0388.jpg
IMG_0392.jpg
IMG_0395.jpg
IMG_0397.jpg
IMG_0399.jpg
IMG_0416.jpg
IMG_0418.jpg
IMG_0447.jpg
IMG_0448.jpg
IMG_0457.jpg
IMG_0466.jpg
IMG_0482.jpg
IMG_0483.jpg
IMG_0484.jpg
IMG_0486.jpg
IMG_0487.jpg
IMG_0495.jpg
IMG_0502.jpg
IMG_0503.jpg
IMG_0504.jpg

Benutzeravatar
wellblech
Vogelsberg (520m)
Beiträge: 608
Registriert: 23.04.2008 - 19:15
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Ort: 33415 Verl
Hat sich bedankt: 34 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 37 Mal

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von wellblech »

Congrats. What a great Job. Thank You for those lovely photographs.
Benutzeravatar
F. Feser
Administrator
Beiträge: 10306
Registriert: 27.03.2002 - 21:04
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Ort: Renningen
Hat sich bedankt: 430 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 967 Mal
Kontaktdaten:

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von F. Feser »

Amazing! Thank You!
:ja: Jetzt Neu - Werbefrei: Alpinforum PRO - ohne lästige Werbebanner - Ausprobieren für 3 € im Monat oder 33 € im Jahr! Mehr Infos hier - KLICK MICH :ja:
Ulmer
Großer Müggelberg (115m)
Beiträge: 193
Registriert: 29.08.2016 - 17:24
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Hat sich bedankt: 21 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 14 Mal

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von Ulmer »

I can only follow the others, thank you for the great pictures and the very interesting report!

I have a question: what would be your recommendation for an Austrian / German to apply for a seasonal job there? Any preconditions required?
Have you met Austrians / Germans working there ?
Latemar
Nebelhorn (2224m)
Beiträge: 2329
Registriert: 15.07.2008 - 12:11
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Hat sich bedankt: 419 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 295 Mal

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von Latemar »

Great pics.
Thank you.

Joe
16/17 47T Dolomiti
17/18 48T Dolomiti
18/19 44T Dolomiti
19/20 22T Dolomiti (leider dann Corona-Schließung)
20/21 0T Corona-Schließung
21/22 17T Carezza/Latemar
22/23 8T Sella Ronda, 17T Carezza, 3T Alpe Lusia/P. Pellegrino, 2T San Martino/Rolle, 6T Latemar, 1T Catinaccio, 1T Civetta
23/24 10 Tage rund um die Sella, 1T Carezza
↓ Mehr anzeigen... ↓
Benutzeravatar
br403
Jungfrau (4161m)
Beiträge: 4445
Registriert: 04.03.2005 - 09:24
Skitage 23/24: 8
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Ort: München
Hat sich bedankt: 773 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 361 Mal

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von br403 »

Very nice, thanks a lot!
Benutzeravatar
Mostviatla
Vogelsberg (520m)
Beiträge: 545
Registriert: 16.10.2015 - 16:29
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Hat sich bedankt: 201 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 124 Mal

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von Mostviatla »

Wow, thank you very much for these beautiful pictures!
Hope we can see some more in the future. :D
2023/24: 0 ~ 2022/23: 0~ 2021/22: 6 ~ 2020/21: 2 ~ 2019/20: 16 ~ 2018/19: 48 ~ 2017/18: 57 ~ 2016/17: 45 ~ 2015/16: 40
Benutzeravatar
ThomasStendys
Meeresspiegel (0m)
Beiträge: 3
Registriert: 08.04.2014 - 22:24
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Ort: Aarhus, Denmark
Hat sich bedankt: 1 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 0

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von ThomasStendys »

Ulmer hat geschrieben:I can only follow the others, thank you for the great pictures and the very interesting report!

I have a question: what would be your recommendation for an Austrian / German to apply for a seasonal job there? Any preconditions required?
Have you met Austrians / Germans working there ?
Of course if depends on the job, and what experience is required. But for a lot of the jobs, experience with guest service is the most important thing. For jobs like lift operator and shaper, you dont need any experience before hand. I expected before i got there, that fx lift operators would need to have some mechanical or technical knowledge, but thats not the case. And they barely expect you to be able to ski or board - of cause it depends on the job as well.

One things that is really important, is that you are fluent in english - written and spoken - since 90% of the guests are from english speaking countries.

Regarding getting a working permit, you should search via the "Working Holiday"-program found via this link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/index.asp

I met a couple of Germans there but no Austrians. The majority of the employees are either from Canada or Austrailia/New Zealand. 30% Canada, 50% Austrailia/New Zealand, 10% Europe and 10% rest of the world. Most of them are in there twenties.
I met up with my German friend from Canada in Ischgl this winter. He worked there as a shaper in the park. Now I got friends all over the world.

Canada is for sure the best thing I have ever done, and would at any time do more seasons there, or in any other resort in North America or Europe :-)
Ulmer
Großer Müggelberg (115m)
Beiträge: 193
Registriert: 29.08.2016 - 17:24
Skitage 23/24: 0
Ski: ja
Snowboard: nein
Hat sich bedankt: 21 Mal
Danksagung erhalten: 14 Mal

Re: Working a winter season at Big White Ski Resort in Canada

Beitrag von Ulmer »

Thanks a lot for the quick response which provides a good guidance. And I agree Canada but also the US part of the Rockies is a great experience!

Antworten

Zurück zu „Amerika“