In small owner operated chalets, conditions, budget and pay tend to improve dramatically, so qualifications or a lot of experience are usually required. Damian Blanchard of Ice and Orange gave me their take on the chef’s role:

“For us it’s quite simple: work for three hours in the morning, to make sure the guests are plugged full of delicious energy food. Then go and ski or board for the rest of the day. Return to lay on canapés and dinner by the fire. Have a few drinks in Cham and repeat for four months”

For that unarduous sounding life, the remuneration package is €220 euros per week, all your food and drinks and a private, fully-serviced, one bedroom apartment.

Bar staff

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BACKGROUND

• 13 ski deals before Christmas

• London's 8 best ice skating rinks

• 10 guaranteed snow resorts

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• The ski season starts early

• Head to head: lunch or dinner?

• Budget skiing: the complete guide

If you’ve left it till the last minute you are very unlikely to walk into a position in the top après ski joint; indeed any pub or club jobs are highly sought after. Many bars actively recruit staff at the end of the previous season, to get the comeliest and most charismatic staff on their books.

The reason why bar tending is so scarce is quite simply because it’s one of the best jobs to have. A lot of places don’t open during the day at all, or with skeleton crews, which means plenty of time on the hill. Pay is usually better than with holiday companies, and with more consistent tips.

Be generous with the right people and you should be able to eat and drink around town for free on your nights off. There are also good prospects for pulling more than pints, being the only person sober enough to remain charming and witty in the evening mêlée.

The downside of this is a mirror of the up. Not working during the day means working late into the night. Give out a few gratuities and suddenly everyone wants them: the choice is offend them or really offend your boss. And being the only sober person in a dribbling orgy of indulgence is often not all it’s cracked up to be.

Ski rep/escort

Working as a Rep or a Ski Escort is another popular choice, but sadly here too you have probably missed the boat. Most of the solely ski escorting jobs will go to returning staff and the new Reps will be getting stuck into their training courses any day now. Repping is not for everyone in any case, you need an abundance of confidence and patience to even consider it; sales skills, diplomacy and bluff, to be a success.

Depending on the resort though, you should eat and drink entirely or mostly with wallet firmly pocketed. You’ll be paid a decent wage, in ski resort terms, with opportunities for commission. You get plenty of spare time if you’re organised, and you’ll party hard, whether you want to or not.

You’ll also miss perfect powder days whilst guiding the ‘Blue Cruise group’ - unless you can pre-arrange an ‘emergency’ call from the office - hear more moaning and swearing than a film censor; and eat more humble pie than the Buddhist Desperate Dan.

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