Cool summer jobs/opportunities to dirtbag

Hey all,

I've unfortunately just concluded an awesome 8 months dirtbagging it in NZ and Australia. I am now studying in a city and severely missing the dirtbag lifestyle so I'm trying to find a way back to it this coming summer while still working since  I'm trying to make a dent in my student loans. I was thinking of a few different ways of structuring my summer including:

1) work for first part of the summer & dirtbag it for the second half

2) dirtbag it all summer and live at a crag but find a local part time job

3) find a sweet job that's related to climbing?

anyone have any suggestions/ideas? Any good crags in Colorado/Utah/Montana/British Columbia (I can get a work visa for BC with my Aussie passport) for me to post up? Know of any really rad outdoor oriented jobs near/connected to crags?

I just want to find a way to a) still make money and b) dirtbag it this summer, all suggestions are appreciated :)

So my situation is very specific but it might not hurt to look into. I work multiple positions as a Stagehand or AV Tech in various theaters and labor companies. All of these positions are "As needed" which means I can take them or leave them as I see fit when they are offered. Some require Experience while others are literally pushing boxes around for events. 

The closest thing to climbing related with these kind of jobs is rigging and if you can get into that, the money is pretty decent (30-40+ a hour)

Your not going to just waltz into a rigging job. 

If you did get hired it would because you had a connection to riggers in that area personally. You would also need to furnish all of your own equipment. (5point harness, fall arrest system, Pro-traction, some lockers some slings, a nice pulley)

Rob Warden...Space Lizard wrote:

Your not going to just waltz into a rigging job. 

If you did get hired it would because you had a connection to riggers in that area personally. You would also need to furnish all of your own equipment. (5point harness, fall arrest system, Pro-traction, some lockers some slings, a nice pulley)

and heavily unionized around CT.

I work for a company called Avid 4 Adventure in Boulder, CO. If you know how to rig institutional top ropes and like working with kids it could be a good fit. We are always looking for more climbing instructors and have plenty of other positions available for next season as well. Check us out! 

http://www.avid4.com/

yer gonna die

http://www.backdoorjobs.com/

Is it dirtbagging if you have a job?

Work 4 months (preferably during the holidays) as a busser or server at a decent sized restaurant. Dirtbag for 8 months on the money you made. Start over where ever you end up at the end of your dirtbag circuit. 

Brandon.Phillips wrote:

http://www.backdoorjobs.com/

I've also considered this industry if I end up back in California...

working for aramark in yosemite...pretty much all the jobs are full time but if you choose carefully you can get a morning or afternoon shift which allows you half a day to climb. i worked a 2 and would wake up at 7 and get lots of good climbing in before work. housing is also super cheap so you can save lots of dough. lots of people hate it... but if you get the right job its not so bad.

Rob Warden...Space Lizard wrote:

You would also need to furnish all of your own equipment. (5point harness, fall arrest system, Pro-traction, some lockers some slings, a nice pulley)

That's actually illegal. Federal law mandates employers provide all PPE.

OSHA CFR 1926.95(d)(1) "Except as provided by paragraphs (d)(2) through (d)(6) of this section, the protective equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE), used to comply with this part, shall be provided by the employer at no cost to employees."

OSHA CFR 1926.95(d)(6) "Where an employee provides adequate protective equipment he or she owns pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, the employer may allow the employee to use it and is not required to reimburse the employee for that equipment. The employer shall not require an employee to provide or pay for his or her own PPE, unless the PPE is excepted by paragraphs (d)(2) through (d)(5) of this section."

(d)(2) - (d)(5) states that the employer is not required to pay for clothes, boots and other personal clothing-like items but any fall protection PPE would need to be provided by the employer.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10658

If the stage hands are "heavily unionized" as Morgan said and the staging companies are requiring the employees to buy all their own gear, then it sounds like their union needs to find someone more qualified to manage the benefits since this is a pretty basic law that any site safety and health officer would know.

Soulless Ginger wrote:

working for aramark in yosemite...pretty much all the jobs are full time but if you choose carefully you can get a morning or afternoon shift which allows you half a day to climb. i worked a 2 and would wake up at 7 and get lots of good climbing in before work. housing is also super cheap so you can save lots of dough. lots of people hate it... but if you get the right job its not so bad.

If you get the wrong job its hell on earth. 

Work at a ski resort in the winter and at the end of the season they'll lay you off and you'll qualify for unemployment. Makes dirt bagging easy knowing you've got a check every two weeks, plus the money you saved up working.        Come out to Bear Valley CA , the season is  short, only 4 or 5 months. So you end up with 7 or 8 months off. 

Alexandra, with an Aussie passport, is that your citizenship?

That would be the first thing to know, what hoops are needed to work in the U.S.

Second, by summer, do you mean northern hemisphere summer? Or, southern, which is coming right up.

If northern, anyplace that's good for climbing in the summer here will also be prime tourist season, with heaps of seasonal jobs in the nearest town.

The hard part of that is finding someplace affordable to live, in what are often big ticket locations, on low paying jobs.

That said, I've not been there, but perhaps Squamish, with your passport getting you in?

If you mean southern hemisphere summer, then that's a whole different set of places. Everywhere you mentioned is a ski town then!

Best, OLH

20 kN wrote:

That's actually illegal. Federal law mandates employers provide all PPE.

OSHA CFR 1926.95(d)(1) "Except as provided by paragraphs (d)(2) through (d)(6) of this section, the protective equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE), used to comply with this part, shall be provided by the employer at no cost to employees."

OSHA CFR 1926.95(d)(6) "Where an employee provides adequate protective equipment he or she owns pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, the employer may allow the employee to use it and is not required to reimburse the employee for that equipment. The employer shall not require an employee to provide or pay for his or her own PPE, unless the PPE is excepted by paragraphs (d)(2) through (d)(5) of this section."

(d)(2) - (d)(5) states that the employer is not required to pay for clothes, boots and other personal clothing-like items but any fall protection PPE would need to be provided by the employer.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10658

If the stage hands are "heavily unionized" as Morgan said and the staging companies are requiring the employees to buy all their own gear, then it sounds like their union needs to find someone more qualified to manage the benefits since this is a pretty basic law that any site safety and health officer would know.

I know this(worked in rope acess)... you know this.  They don't seem to see it that way. 

Let's just say it's an industry intent on policing themselves. 

Commercial fishing boat in Canada or Alaska, they make pretty good money.

For anyone that is looking to continue climbing throughout the summer and helping kids learn to climb, I have a great opportunity. I am the staffing coordinator for a children's summer camp located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We facilitate a multitude of high ropes elements as well as a 35ft climbing wall. We're looking for energized staff members who enjoy working with children. If this is something that you're interested in you can shoot me an email at andrew@canadensis.com or fill out our online application through our website, canadensis.com.