Jobs in DH/bike parks America and Canada....

irvs

Hey everyone, I've been thinking of trying I get a job at a DH/bike park in America or Canada possibly as a guide etc. I'm wondering has anyone done anything like this before or has any info.

Also I don't want to start a debate but what would the the best parks be to go to I know whistler is probably the best.

Thanks Neil.

lbalony

Irvs wrote:

Hey everyone, I've been thinking of trying I get a job at a DH/bike park in America or Canada possibly as a guide etc. I'm wondering has anyone done anything like this before or has any info.

Also I don't want to start a debate but what would the the best parks be to go to I know whistler is probably the best.

Thanks Neil.

I would have thought your biggest obstacle is getting a working visa for USA unless you are a citizen. If you could pull it off i'd be looking at Moab. Loads to do and offer all natural rather than man made. Also its close to Flagstaff and Jerome which are other good natural biking places of the states. But depends on what you want.

Not sure about Canada as never been to aby or the country.

jairaj

I think Canada has some sort of working restrictions too don't think a standard tourist visa will allow you to work.

You might be better of sticking to the EU?

cooldad

I would assume they have some sort of temporary work scheme for under 25s or something.
I know OZ, NZ and the UK have an arrangement - you can work for a year.

paul.skibum

I have worked at Silver Star Bike Park in BC and also as a guide in the French Alps.

From the french alps point of view you need to know your way around and be a pretty decent rider - I probably wasnt riding at a high enough level to do myself and the terrain justice although I did get better and fitter during the season. These days bike guiding in the alps is a no go - you will get yourself arrested unless you have very high end mountain guide quallies which will take many years to earn. Bets bet would be to look at something like Neilson/Sunsail beach resorts who employ bike hire/guide/maintenance people for their fleets - pay is poor, hours are long but you ride a lot and it looks like fun - I was offfered jobs with them but to be honest the pay and living arrangements at my age put me off (basically 4 people to a shared room at the age of 38 wasnt working for me!)

BC bike parks - get a working holiday visa and you can apply to anywhere to get a job - as BC and US bike parks tend to be built on ski resorts they fill a lot of their jobs with winter staff who are staying for the summer as well. Numbers of summer jobs are way lower than in winter so they almost always have enough but you may be able to land something. Bike guiding isnt big in bike parks as they arent that big generally - Whistler does have guides but I cant imagine its a full time job.

At Silver Star I was a bike hire and bike tech with the idea that I would take beginners out for instruction periodically as needed - in the end as a reserve instructor I never actually taught despite taking a course in order to do so - again Whistler might offer more potential to teach and guide but I doubt any other BC park would.

There might be options to set up on your own to guide in areas outside bike parks but liability insurance and advertising and time would not be on your side unless you were committing to a future in it.

Best bet - apply to non French bike resorts if you have some form of UK guide/instructing qualification and see what comes up or apply to the Neilson/Sunsail operations. Otherwise apply to work in North America with a working holiday visa but be prepared to work any role in a bike park and simply make the most of being in the environment - dont expect to ride every day.

irvs

Hey chaps thanks for the heads up. Looks like its not going to happen working at a bike park etc. I'm currently in Australia and have been checking here for bike oriented work as there is a huge MTB culture here but most tracks are illegal and still impossible for a commercial DH/bike park to come about in the near future.

Cheers anyways lads.
Neil.

paul.skibum

The Aussie ski hills run bike parks in the summer (or at least they have uplift and trails not sure they are quite bike parks) - look at Buller and Hotham at the very least - think Falls Creek does some too.