Another season in the Snow | working in an Apreskibar in Warth, Austria

2 days ago

It was January, a cold, dark month in the Netherlands. I have never liked Dutch Januaries as the weather and darkness makes me feel like I just wanna stay inside. Maybe this feeling isn't a fair judgement as I haven't spent more than a week in the Netherlands in January in the last 10 years. I was supposed to stay all winter in the Netherlands, but one walk outdoors made me change my mind: gotta look for a job in an Austrian Ski Resort.

So a job interview later and I arrived in Warth am Arlberg, to work in WunderBAR, austria. The plan: New live experience, make some money and snowboard as much as I can. Enjoy the outdoors!

So i caught a bus, and arrived in my new home for the winter. The job included a cosy room, with shared bathroom and no kitchen. It was very cosy and I felt happy.

My very cosy room & the view

I went for a walk in the fairytale-like village. There was so much snow, and Warth is a very small village, which makes it even prettier in my opinion. I was pretty tired from the trip, so I slept early.

The next day I prepared for work. I had to wear a Dirndl as a work outfit, a traditional Austrian dress. I walked to work with my colleague, who lived just next door.

Me in my work outfit

When I arrived, I heard that the owner would be late. And she had the key, so we couldn't open the bar. Not exactly the best beginning, but it was a good opportunity to drink a coffee and chat a bit with my new colleague. But when the boss arrived, she wasn't amused that we hadn't opened the bar. Not exactly the best start of a first working day. We apologized to avoid further trouble, and started working.

The work was actually quite fun! Making Jagerbombs, beers and aperol spritz. People were all happy after a day of skiing, and when we went after work to the village pub, we met some of them and they often bought us a drink. We met all the seasonal workers in the pub as well, and everyone was easygoing and very open. It felt really good to arrive in a new place and have so much interaction. I quite like Warth!

The workdays started at 14:00, so plenty of time to hit the slopes before work, and practice my (very poor) snowboarding skills, enjoy the sun and just be outdoors. Warth am Arlberg ski area is connected to the famous Lech am Arlberg, a place I lived a couple years back. It was nice to ride the board to Lech and see the place again.

Enjoying the snow with my colleague

A picture of Lech, taken from the mountain

But behind the scenes, things weren’t right. I still had no contract. My boss ignored my messages and couldn’t tell me how long I was hired for. On my sixth day, she texted me seven minutes before opening to say she wouldn’t come and I had to run the bar alone, even though she’d never shown me how to change the beer. And could I just walk out of the bar to go to storage or the toilet and leave the cash desk unattended with so many drunk people inside? I didn’t know.I managed, but the beer ran out halfway through the shift.

Then there came a call from another hotel that wanted to hire me, they could offer me a contract right away, and said they need me till the 14th of April. Since the job in Warth felt very unstable with the situation of the owner, I decided to accept their offer and say goodbye to the insecurity this job brought me.

I asked my boss to talk, and she said that between 8 and 9 would suit, if it was quiet in the bar. When I was on my way, I bumped into the boss on the street. She was on her way home and told me that she doesn't wanna make time for me. So I decided to tell her on the street that I will stop. She said only "okay email my accountant", threw me right away out of the group app, and never replied anymore. Which was for me the sign that quitting and accepting the job in Gerlos was the right choice.

When I tried to talk to my boss, she told me she didn’t want to make time for me. So I told her on the street that I was quitting. She said only “Okay, email my accountant” She looked upset and probably didn't know how to handle the situation. She removed me from the group chat, and never spoke to me again. She even tried not to pay my salary, but after a polite email and a reminder that I would contact the Arbeiterkammer (Austrian Worker Protection) the money finally arrived.

Working as a seasonal worker can be great, but is too often not. On pictures and social media it might seem pretty amazing, but it is always a gamble. The beauty is that there is always another job. This fairytale village wasn't my fairytale, so I decided to change it and give Austrian Snowlife another shot.