Slip into a seasonal job

Working in an alpine environment provides physical, mental and emotional benefits. Picture / Tourism NZ

If there's something uplifting about standing on a snow-covered mountain on a cloudless day and breathing in alpine air, consider making a career of it.

"I turn up to work, the sun is not even over the horizon and I am standing on a huge mountain. There's isn't much that can beat that," says Henry Worsp, a ski patroller and safety-services employee of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL).

RAL operates the North Island's Whakapapa and Turoa ski areas, and employs around 740 people during each 20-week ski season. Around 70 staff are kept on for administration, maintenance and mountain-guiding jobs during the summer months.

Marion Ross, HR manager for RAL, says though 55 per cent of available seasonal positions are given to international workers on work visas, this is by necessity rather than design - low unemployment in New Zealand makes it difficult to employ Kiwis seasonally.

"We would love to employ more Kiwis. They have good local knowledge and great personalities, we're more likely to get them back from season to season, and our recruitment process is halved administratively because we don't have to arrange work visas for them," says Ross.

Limited training facilities may hamper local snow-industry recruitment, particularly in the North Island.

Though it's relatively easy for a skilful skier or snowboarder to become an instructor (see panel), more complex patrol and avalanche-control jobs like Worsp's require up to a year of training in pre-hospital emergency care, mountain safety, rescue techniques and avalanche control.

Although several New Zealand polytechnics provide qualifications in one or two of these areas, only one course ties everything together - the Certificate in Ski Patrol from Tai Poutini Polytechic in Wanaka. The seven-month course has only 16 positions available.

"The lack of a similar [comprehensive] North Island course is a real issue," says Ross.

So what attracts people to a career on the snow? Apart from the obvious opportunity to combine a recreational pursuit with an income, Worsp and Ross say the biggest attraction is the physical, mental and emotional benefit people get from working in an alpine environment. Put simply, standing on mountains makes people feel good, and there are no age or gender barriers to that.

"Our oldest employee on the snow is 65, but until recently we employed an instructor who was 75. Our youngest person is 16," says Ross.

"We just need people with the physical ability to do the job; a ski patroller has to be able to take a heavy person in a toboggan down the mountain," says Worsp.

He arrives on the ski area at first light, assesses the weather and snow stability and decides if avalanche control is needed. If it is, he and his team of 13 men and three women arm themselves with explosives and blast potential avalanches.

After the fields are opened, the patrol spends the rest of the day re-checking trails, ferrying the injured downhill, and speaking to people who use the slopes inconsiderately.

Though the snow industry has its share of injuries each season, Ross says impressions of danger are often misunderstood.

"Our OSH requirements are complex and we work very closely with ACC to reduce customer and staff accidents. There are a lot of internal and external audits," she says.

Ski patrollers or maintenance staff are not paid danger money.

"You cannot take away danger by paying people more money. You mitigate it by putting more safety measures in place. As a result, there is no occupation here that is hugely dangerous," Ross says.

So can a seasonal worker make a full-time living working in the snow industry? The short answer is no - one 20-week season does not pay enough to see a worker through the remaining 32 weeks of the year. However, seasonal snow workers have developed creative ways around this problem.

"A lot of my colleagues work in the Northern Hemisphere after the Southern Hemisphere season ends, and do the endless-winter thing," says Worsp.

Ross says other choices include work in summer tourism industries such as retail and hospitality; or sea kayaking, fishing, rafting and mountain guiding. Exchange programmes between international ski fields also provide work opportunities.

However, this transience is not always suited to people with young families, and ski area companies have to work hard to retain staff between seasons.

"We are always reviewing wage rates and we offer benefits that are worth a lot. But accommodation can be a problem and it can be hard for families travelling back and forward."

Many snow workers stop this type of work when their children start secondary school.

Worsp, who is married without children, hopes the nature of his work won't change with the arrival of children.

"I think it would be more challenging financially. But the responsibility you have is reflected in your pay rate and I just love this place and the team I work with."

When pressed for the downsides, Worsp says bad weather rates top of a very short list.

"Your extremities get very cold and it's unpleasant to have bad weather in your face. The early starts also get a bit tiring," he says.

However even when his work is tough, Worsp says it's exciting.

"We had a day last year when we had a huge avalanche hazard and we bombed the slopes all day. People often see the glory and fun in that but it does become scientific. It's about coming up with a theory about how the snow will react."

Which ever way you look at it, it seems working on the snow can be a blast.