1. How much money am I likely to need? I'm sort of expecting to have to work while I'm there but was going to save about £3k before I go to give me a good start. Would that be enough?

Depends where you go. I went to the other side of the world (New Zealand) with 1k and no job or accommodation. Scared, yes. However I had the back of Mum and Dad as back up but never came to it. So 1k was fine for me.


2. As for work, I'm not at an instructor level or anything so teaching is out. What work would we recommend as I dont have much experience at all. I've done shop work and now work as a surveyor so not sure they'd be much use. lol Was thinking of bar work though, would this be easy enough to find?

I had no experience in any hospitality, the only word for it, is BLAG. Write up a cracking CV, be polite and you'll get the job. Just go in every Hotel/Motel/Lodge/Resort/Shop etc and hand your CV in. All hospitality work is a piece of piss IMO, you do NOT need experience to do it, however on the flip side EVERYONE looks for experience when recruiting. Lie/blag, do whatever gets you the job, they're not going to ring up for references.


3. I was mainly thinking of working in Europe somewhere due to the lower costs getting out there (compared to America) and also not needing a visa. I don't speak any German though, but I speak a little French (basic phrases, e.g; do you speak English, I dont understand, can you say that in English, basic numbers, directions etc). Is it essential to be able to speak the language?

Nope. A lot (if not most) of the resorts in France are English speaking.

4. As for location, I visited Mayrhofen for the first time this year and loved it! Would love to season there, but I hear the accomodation is mainly out of town and I don't speak any German so wondered if there was anywhere in France which would be similar? What are Tignes and Meribel like? (I really want somewhere with a park to continue to further my skills on, and I know Meribel has a good park) but what are the atmosphere's here like. And how easy will it be to find work?

Personally I'd go 3 vallees area if your going to France, amazing place. However if I was to do a season again, which I'm planning for next year, I'd want to get as far away as possible. So USA/CANADA/JAPAN/NZ. At the end of the day, you can always go and do a week of riding in Europe, it's not quite so easy to do that anywhere else.

5. Would you recommend finding work before heading out there? If so where's the best place to start looking, and when?

Yes, google it and try and look for work before you go, especially on the Mountain Resorts it's a MUST to apply before you go. If nothing comes of it, then just rock up and do what I said previous. It does take a MASSIVE weight of your mind if you get work before you go, so try as hard as you can applying at every Resort, emailing shops etc and if not then not to worry.