Skiing in Australia, really? Little is know about skiing in Oz as the first thing people in Europe think of is surf and reefs and a bloody big desert in the middle. So how is it possible that there is a thriving Snowsports Industry as well? It’s a big country fella.
Places like Thredbo, Perisher, Mt Hotham Mt Buller and Falls Creek make up a group of highly competitive alpine resorts, which supply the Australian market and parts of the Asian market. Sydney and Melbourne help populate the resorts with plenty of guests so the infrastructure is modern and extensive to accommodate these larger cities.
Thredbo is a vibrant year round village with great skiing, the longest runs in Oz and the most extensive snowmaking in the southern hemisphere. Perisher is nearby and has 50 lifts making it the biggest resort in Australia by a long way, with heaps of terrain parks and a massive super pipe for the jibbers. High speed chairs, winch cat grooming and automated snowmaking systems make these resorts world class. Although the resorts in NSW have accommodation on the snow, most of Perisher’s and Thredbo’s staff live down the valley in Jindabyne, which makes for a rowdy nightlife during the winter with plenty going on. Jindabyne is your normal alpine support town with lots to do with excellent ski shops, bars, supermarkets, big pubs and nightclubs and staff accommodation works out pretty cheap down the valley. The drinking age in Australia is 18 and although drinking is not mandatory (just highly recommended), know your limits, as I have been in Whistler on Australia day and had to pretend I was Scottish more than once!
The Victorian resorts also have lots to offer but tend to have shorter working seasons. Buller is a monster on weekends with Melbourne only a short distance away, a busy working mountain with an awesome night life, can get some serious whiteouts but has plenty of trees to escape to. If you are travelling and working in Oz for the year, trips up from Melbourne for a ski are easy, but the weekends can be kind of crazy. Hotham is a great hill to free ski, plenty of steep skiing and bumps. It has an irritating lift system and has the resort at the top of the mountain. It can get pretty cold and windy at the top of the hill, wrap up warm when sampling the great nightlife. It's a tricky hill to teach on as it has very limited spots for beginners… Day one snowplough, Day two bumps and steeps. It has really good skiing, but not the greatest terrain parks. Falls is a great resort to work in with a great atmosphere and good skiing and good terrain parks and most of the staff live on the hill.
Australia is a big place so pack for the beaches as well as the mountains. The holiday working visa is a great way to get a start in the resorts and for the for the die hards who wish to keep doing back to back seasons then it is possible to get an extension on your visa for another year if you meet certain requirements. The resorts do also have the option of sponsoring individuals to work but this is usually only offered to experienced staff such as instructors, lifties, rental bar staff and groomers.
So if you are looking at working holidays in Australia look at how to extend your visa for a second year to understand the hurdles before you get here.
Unfortunately you can’t drive from one end of this country to the other in a day, but there are plenty of jobs in Oz across the country, so do a bar course, barista course, pool lifeguard course. This means you'll keep earning while you travel, and the Global Financial Crisis has made Oz a good place to work.
Training to become an instructor is always fun with plenty of skiing, snow parties lots of training and the hope of a job that will take you around the world while you indulge your passion. ELITE Instructor Training program is designed for people to get a start in one of the most rewarding and fun industries by gaining their APSI level one instructor qualification with ELITE and a job at the end of the program to gain experience and earn some cash.
APSI qualifications are highly regarded around the world with the ISIA member countries but the big benefit is the cost of the training. After the APSI level one you must be employed to do the APSI level 2. This makes it cheaper to enter the industry by allowing you to start earning a wage ASAP before moving on to an even higher level. All Snowsports schools have in-house training programs for their employees, so you train and work throughout the season for free. Attractive if your end goal is to work a few seasons before getting a real job.
"Snowsports schools have in-house training programs for their employees, so you train and work throughout the season"
Written by Matt Smith from ELITE Instructor Training, who run snowsport instructor courses in Thredbo Alpine Village, Australia.