Yesterday I wrote about becoming a skibum and dedicating months for skiing year after year. I would like to continue with this same topic, but this time the focus is in financing your “skibum project”. A while ago I read few skibum related threads in a skiing discussion forum. The topic was about working in a ski resort in order to pay a skibum/seasonnaire project. This article is exactly about this same topic.

Why to work in a ski resort? Why not skiing every single day and hanging around the rest of the time? Well, some people don’t have that luxury and they must work in order to get some money. Otherwise they just cannot continue as a seasonnaire. They need to receive a continuous flow of money so that they can pay the rent, ski pass, food, insurances, travel tickets, etc.

Being a skibum without working in a ski resort

There is another choice. Personally I prefer working before the project and saving money enough, and then focusing 100% in skiing. I have never worked in a ski resort (except as a teenager) and I have never wanted to. I usually work like crazy before the season and save money I need abroad. By that I am able to ski every day and go rock climbing and traveling a little bit in France and Switzerland. I have never been dependent on work as a seasonnaire. No work, no responsibilities. Just 100% freedom to do what ever I want.

So you can choose between working beforehand and working in a ski resort. If you decide to work beforehand, try to estimate how much you need to save. Estimate the costs in order to understand the budget you need. If you don’t know the parameters (various costs), ask people you know, or ask people in Internet discussion forums. As soon as you have the estimated budget, add 20% more to the budget as a “security fund”. You never know what will happen abroad. Now, what are the parameters? Which costs you should expect? Let’s define few of them as an example.

- rent (you probably share an apartment with 5-10 other skiers)
- food
- ski pass
- travel costs
o flight tickets
o gas
o train
o busses
o highway toll fees
o boats
- insurances
- miscellaneous
- night life

Try to imagine all possible costs of your skibum project. Next start finding out the figures of each cost. Call the ski resort to ask the prices of ski passes, call your dealer about the accommodation, check out the prices of airliners, buses, boats, trains and highway tolls in the Internet. That’s the way it goes. You just need to do some brainstorming. Remember to add at least 20% as a security fund. I have injured myself abroad and at those moments I really don’t want to be broke. You must have the money or some backup such as a credit card. Oh, by the way, make sure you have a credit card. It really is a must when traveling in Europe and US.

Prepare well for you skibum project

Preparing for your skibum project is important. When you know the budget you need, you can organize your work so that you will be able to save the money. If you decide to work in a resort, it is again important to understand the budget, because most probably you have to take a low-paid job and you must be sure if you can cover the expenses with that salary. Why a low-paid job? Because there are not too many choices and most of the jobs are low-paid. That is the reality. If you are a stock exchange broker, a software developer or a business analyst, you won’t get a job of your expertise. Instead if you are a waitress, a bartender, a cleaner or a barista, you will probably get a job pretty quickly. Ski resorts provide that kind of jobs and they are known as low-paid jobs.

What kind of jobs there are available for skibums? Basically there are three types of job categories, namely customer service, slope operations and ski skills. Customer service contains jobs in a cafeteria, ticket sales, parking lots and ski shops. Slope operations include a groomer, snow making, lift operations and loaders. Ski skills include ski patrol and ski school related jobs. Some of those jobs, such as skiing instructor, are not easy to get. You need to be good at skiing and you must have passed a skiing instructor course to get a job.

Defining the budget for your skibum year

All right, let’s continue. So far I have discussed about working before the project or working in a resort. Additionally I have discussed about the cost structure and various jobs in a ski resort. Now, you might have one question in your mind. How much the budget would be for your skibum year? It really depends on many things, but as an example I can tell you how much my budget has always been. I am one of those who were there with a rather small budget. My projects took usually 2-3 months and I never exceeded a budget of 2000 euros. With that money I was able to live two months in France and go skiing almost every day. It was enough to cover all those costs I listed above. I lived in pretty ascetic way, and not everybody likes it. A kind of rule of thumb is that if you will spend 1-2 month in a European ski resort, don’t go with a budget less than 2000 euros.

If you decide to work in a ski resort, apply early and send as many applications as possible. You will not be the only one looking for a job, so it is good to be in time and to apply to many jobs. Don’t just send applications, call them and promote and market yourself. Be active.

Hey, that’s it! This was pretty much all I wanted to say. I hope this helps you with your skiing project. If you have questions or would like to know more about something, just drop a comment.