Every week a reader gets a chance to put a travel question to the Been there community and travel experts. How does this work?

The question:

A friend and I are looking to go snowboarding in the winter for at least a month, possibly up to three. We don't really want to work as we'd like all our time to be available for boarding, but have been shocked at the prices for long term accommodation and the fact that many places don't want to rent their apartments for the whole of the season.
We are flexible about where to go and when, but it would have to be somewhere cheap.
Martin


Reader replies:

If you want to either go now or wait till next July, New Zealand is quite cheap (once you've flown here.) Also, it can be quite dull to have a whole season with just boarding to do, since nearly everyone else doing a season will have a job.
Rich

If you want cheap with pretty good boarding go to Bansko Bulgaria. At night it's a party town and in the day it's one of the cheapest places in the world to ski. As the town has been overdeveloped there are literally hundreds of apartments empty during the ski season, especially during the recession, and you can snap one up for next to nothing. The terrain is surprisingly good too and although it's not really comparable to the French Alps in terms of ski-able area it has a good park and plenty of space to get expert.
Andrew Treagust

When you weigh it up it's not actually uber-expensive for rent in ski resorts. In London a basic month's rent on a one bedroom flat, you're looking at £900. If you don't mind sharing with others you can get good deals. In France most resorts have noticeboards outside the tourist office or town hall, or even in supermarkets with people advertising accommodation. A lot of the best deals can be sorted out once you're in the resort. In Europe it's the lift pass that will really hit your wallet but there can be brilliant lift pass deals in America if you book ahead. For example Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, A-Basin and Beaver Creek offer an Epic season pass for around $500 if you buy it before December. Considering your biggest problem will be getting a bit bored with no job to do, you're going to need a massive ski area and something like the Epic pass is perfect. Also American resorts tend to be a bit cheaper with regards to groceries and eating out. If you choose a resort which has more to it than just skiing – like Breckenridge which is a proper town – things are priced more reasonably.
Susan


What they experts say:

Betony Garner, Ski Club of Great Britain

Living in a ski resort is often one of life's highlights and if you are lucky enough not to have to work it can mean you can really perfect your skiing or boarding skills by getting hours and hours on the slopes. Cost of living in the Alps can be quite high especially now the Euro and the Swiss Franc are working against us. It can also be tricky finding somewhere to rent for a month or so, many apartment owners want to rent their property for the whole winter. There are companies who offer long term renting options such as the Dragon Lodge (dragonlodge.com) and Base Camp (basecampgroup.com), but as Martin points out these can be expensive. My first tip would be to look at resorts where the cost of living is lower than say Val d'Isere or Meribel. Italian resorts such as Sauze d"Oulx or Cervina are undoubtedly cheaper places to live - both in terms of rent and eating and drinking. Austria should also be explored. For keen boarders, Mayrhofen or Kaprun in Austria are both resorts with a good snowboarding scene and may offer better value for money. The Ski Club of Great Britain's website skiclub.co.uk has a comprehensive resort guide which can help with the decision making progress. Once they have narrowed their lists of resorts down, if they don't go down the organised long term accommodation route, it is worth calling the tourist offices who should have details of apartments that can be rented for a month or three. Otherwise if they are gamblers they could go out to resort late Nov or early Dec and try and find somewhere to stay before the other season workers arrive. If they think they really can't afford to do three months without working they could look at just working peak season (i.e. Feb half term). Many tour operators need more staff during the peak weeks. It is worth looking at Natives.co.uk for details of which tour operators are recruiting for peak season workers. Alternatively they could look at working 1 or 2 days a week. Tour operators often need people to be transfer reps which involves escorting transfer buses to and from the airport, normally on Saturdays and Sundays. It is good the pair are planning their winter now, as many people are out of work in the UK, the winter sports job market is going to be a competitive one in 2009/10.


Ben Simpson from seasonaires website Natives.co.uk

I would recommend Janaury or March if you're after one month, as it's cheaper and quieter on the hill. Recommended resorts would
be Tignes (massive ski area, great snow record), Morzine (great atmosphere
and very popular with ski bums/pro's or Meribel (largest ski area in the
world and cracking nightlife.) Natives offer accommodation from one month to a full season, in both shared accommodation, where you share an apartment or chalet with other seasonaires, or you can take your own apartment.

David Parr from accommodation website Seasonaires.com

Something to consider when planning this is that the actual cost of the holiday doesn't vary much between 1,2,3 or 6 months stays. So you get better value for money the longer you can stay. The season pass is the same price for one month or six, the travel is the same etc. What does vary is the spending money for the duration and the time you can get off work with out upsetting your boss.

There are two ways to go about what you want to achieve. The cheapest is to contact the local rental agencies in resorts or try the local newspapers.
You may have to rent for the full season but you should find that if you ask about a month you will get quoted 4 x weekly holiday prices, but if you ask about six month rentals you will get the monthly rates which will be much cheaper.

The second and much easier but slightly more expensive option, is to look at a tour operator that specialises in seasonal accommodation, like seasonaires.com. One month accommodation in Les Arcs would be 950 euros per person. We do a three-month trip to Les Arcs from January 31 2010 which includes season ski pass, travel, accommodation and insurance for 3995 euros per person.