If you’re reading this you already know you’re keen to do a ski season.
We could go on and on about all the reasons why you should, but the real qustion is, are you ready for it?
Ski seasons are intense; between balancing ski time with work hours and party time and making new friends – oh and that thing called sleep needs to fit in somewhere. No matter what job you have for the winter, or where you end up, there are some ski season skills that are required across the board.
4 Skills You Need to Survive a Ski Season
1. Stamina
Work, ski, party, sleep, repeat.
A ski season, amongst the many amazing things that it is, is also exhausting. It’s a work hard, play hard mentality which will at many times amazing and surreal, but at other times will wear you down. It best to know what you’re getting yourself into and show up in Decemeber totally healthy!
If you feel yourself starting to get exhausted and/or sick – take some down time. Let your body rest & recover as much as possible so you can make it all the way through the season. Hopefully you won’t have to miss out on any powder days.
2. Flexibility and adaptability
This is not your average 9-5 job and a ski resort is no average town. There will inevitably be incidents where you need to stay late at work, switch a shift, or just work odd hours in general. You also may have a roommate you’ve never met before, will work with new people, meet people from all different backgrounds,
Things won’t be like they were back home, and that’s a good thing. But it’s important to be able to adapt to your situations and be flexible when changes happen and when interacting with people who are different from you. Take the opportunity to learn how to become more flexible, learn how to adapt to differen’t people’s lifestyles and opinions. After all, it’s where the growth really happens.
3. The gift of gab
Whether you’re meeting and making new friends or shmoozing the clients at work (be it in a chalet, a bar, or a ski shop) having some good chat goes a long way. And to be fair there are so many interesting people to get to know and learn about, you’ll be keen to chat up new friend. And ski resorts are often small communities, so the more people you know, the more opportunities that may arise. You never know who you may meet!
4. Tolerance for difficult people
It’s bound to happen. There will be at least one difficult person that you’re going to run into.
Hopefully it’s not your roommate or coworker…but you never know. The key is to be understanding and empathetic of their point of view. Stay calm in the situation and at the end of the day, let it roll off your back. There are going to be many many more awesome and interesting people (re:above) than difficult ones. So let it pass and then head out on the hill to shred it off.
And if all else fails, fake it ’til you make it.
Fake how great of a skier you are, fake how friendly you are, and then it will start to come naturally. As we’ve said before, an open mind should be the #1 item on your ski season packing list. And if it is, you’re bound to have a ski season you won’t forget.
