Participants' Stories
When I was at Kirkwood I was working in tickets, guest services, ticket checking, lift attendant and general snow removal. Kirkwood is amazing; everyone I worked with was amazing, even the bosses were cool. I was living in staff accommodation that I shared a room with one person but the flat accommodated for 8 which was awesome. We all got along so well and partied together all the time and it was really cheap. I visited 3 states all up: California, Nevada and New York which was amazing. The longest road trip I had was driving from San Diego to San Francisco and then to Redding it was amazing. The whole 3.5 months was a massive memory but defiantly seeing snoop dog in South Lake Tahoe was amazing. Any recommendation I’d have for people going over would be to have as much fun as possible, never pass up any opportunity to travel anywhere and live it up.The whole time I had was amazing and I’ve defiantly made some friends I’ll keep in contact with for a life time.
Angus, RMIT Melbourne - Work Experience USA 2010
I just got back from my Work Experience USA Program and had a great time, it was my 4th winter on the program and I just love it. I worked at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia as a Ski and Snowboard Instructor. It is one of the only mountains where you can jump straight in with no experience or qualifications and become an Instructor, in fact, they actually pay you while they're giving you the training to become an Instructor. I had such a positive experience at snowshoe. Snowshoe is also a resort that relies on foreign workers during the winter months and so takes really good care of them with perks like ski in/ski out accommodation, up to 55% off retail and food, and staff nights every Tuesday. It’s also a smaller mountain than a lot CCUSA works with, so you really get a great little sense of community. Even after spending a year road tripping around the US, most of my memorable experiences were at snowshoe (including a chairlift crawl instead of a pub crawl, getting my level II snowboard instructing certification and having a hallway X-mas party with people, food and presents from 9 countries. Cheers
Ellen, Uni Melb – Work Experience 2007 - 2010 and Working Holiday USA 2011
I had an absolutely fabulous time in Aspen over the winter ski instructing, bar tending and living 3 blocks from the Ajax gondola. Living the high life!
Things are going along nicely in Lake Tahoe, my new home. I have been interning at a Sports media & distribution company. They are about to launch an action sports channel. Everything has gone extremely well and the CEO has offered me a full time position.
This is a great opportunity for a start to my career (never thought I’d be taking this avenue)! Johanna, Uni of Sydney - Working Holiday USA 2010/2011
Thank you so much for this great opportunity over here! I'm still working and living in Vail, Colorado. I leave here in about 4 weeks to start my month long journey around the united states. I'm going to Florida, New Jersery, Boston and NYC! I have loved every minute of my stay here and can't believe it's nearly over. I'll be back again FOR SURE! One of the best friends I made over here turned out to be on the same program and in fact lives 3 streets away from me in Sydney!
A special memory I have to share is this – Australia Day in Vail : This was just SO much fun! Vail officials were handing out stickers with boxing kangaroos saying "Australia Day in Vail 2011". It was great. We all met up at the top of the mountain at an area called Bell's Camp and made an Aussie BBQ and played cricket in the snow. Then we built a jump onto a table and took photos of everyone jumping off it doing silly things like holding the massive blow up roo that we carried around all day! At about 3pm we all headed back down the mountain in convoy wearing our aussie flags, VB Beanies and screaming "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" at the top of our lungs. Everyone in Vail loved to join in and learn how proud us Aussies truely are :) It was so incredible to be in a different country - in a small little town like Vail and to find THAT many Australians who were ready to party and have fun and celebrate us all being on this big adventure. It was truely like being at home away from home! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have been great!
Hannah, Uni Newcastle - Working Holiday USA 2010/2011
Living and working with such great people, and making lots of new friends from all around the world made my Work Experience USA trip magic! Jessie, Sierra at Tahoe
The 10 foot dump we had over the Christmas/New Years period meant my first White Christmas was extra special due to the fresh tracks! Hamish, Heavenly
My favourite memories of my trip was going snowmobiling (which was AWESOME!). I had the opportunity to travel away from Copper quite a bit as my boss was quite flexible, but traveling after my job had finished (to New York City and Florida) was just the best fun! I guess the clichéd answer of making all my new friends would have to be up there as well! Mel, Copper Mountain
I am having such a blast over here at the moment, one of the best decisions I've made. Shannon
I had wanted to go traveling and snowboard overseas for so long, and when I saw Work Experience USA advertised at uni, I realized this was the perfect way to do so. So I went along to the Work Experience USA Job Fair in Sydney and I was offered a job on the spot as a lift operator at Copper Mountain, Colorado. Before I knew it, I was boarding a plane for Los Angeles! I lived in the village at the base of the mountain, so I was only a minute’s walk from work. I worked as a lift operator, which meant I was able to go snowboarding every single day I was there. The people I worked with and met along the way were awesome, and I have come away from my trip with many strong friendships with people from all over the world. Traveling and working overseas taught me so much about myself and gave me so much confidence. I truly did have the time of my life. CCUSA were fantastic and helped me every step of the way. Ryan, Copper Mountain
Just wanted to thank you for assisting me in having such an amazing trip to the USA. I can't believe that from seeing a poster at uni, it led me to do the Work experience program with you. I decided to do your program so that I could have a break over the University holidays, but be able to work and travel at the same time, it worked out great. I was fortunate enough to go to Florida (love the warmer weather) and worked in a clothes store called Old Navy..........it was really busy over the holiday season, but it had lots of fantastic young staff to hang out with....I was able to do some travel and see some fantastic sights as well, it was really hard to come back to uni, but I am already saving and planning to go back at the end of this year, look out Florida..... Thanks again, I really appreciate all the help you gave me before and whilst I was in the USA. Nell
By the end of second year uni I was looking for something different to do in the summer holidays than my same old boring job in Australia. So I went along to a Work Experience USA Information meeting and realised that going overseas to live and work was the perfect way to break up uni. CCUSA found me a job as a ski school instructor at Mammoth Mountain, California. Mammoth was so huge that by the end of the season I still hadn’t skied every run! I shared a house in the town about ten minutes away from Mammoth with two Australians, an American and a Brazilian. We had an awesome season, the snow just kept on dumping. It was absolutely brilliant. My job was unreal, I couldn’t believe it – I was getting paid to do what I love. Teaching the kids was great - they were just adorable and so much fun. Everyone working over there is so laid back and friendly that it is impossible not to have a great time. I have come back with so many memories and so many friends that I will never forget. Caroline, Mammoth Mountain
Quotes from Employers
Most of our J1's have left the mountain and I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed them this year. They were a GREAT group who had lots of fun but worked very hard. It was a teary morning when they left us on the bus even though some were travelling a bit before heading back to school. We already really miss them and think many plan to return next year. So thank you for these great people and we hope to see you guys in August! Karen, Snowshoe Mountain