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I've posted before about youngest_oab and his year out.
He's now planning to meet a pal in Brisbane for a few weeks in May, then on to Vancouver / Whistler / BC for more rides and hiking.
He's not going to apply for a working holiday visa - he may do that at the end of Uni in a few years. But he would be open to some sweat labour for accomodation...?
Anyone any suggestions for keeping costs down? Whistler (and others) are hugely expensive for accomodation. I'm trying to persuade him to look beyond Whistler and consider other riding areas - but I'm not sure of where to point him beyond North Vancouver.
Nelson. Very chilled, great riding. (Haven’t ridden there myself but have heli skied) prob cheaper than BC.
Its half way between Vancouver and Calgary.Â
Came here to post that^^
Nelson is ace.
Excellent.
I've also an old colleague at Revelstoke, but that seems a long way from anywhere...
A friend of my son has just done some time logging at Squamish, I'll see if I can get a contact.Â
Good call nickc, I liked around Squamish more than Whistler.
Climbed on and around 'The Chief' and had good views of all the logging on the river.
Long way east, but how about Fernie? Good riding scene.
As has been said Squamish would be cheaper and also Creekside but I think that might be creeping up now there's direct access to the Bike Park.
I also know a couple guides out at Fernie it as has been said a lot nearer Calgary.
Fernie won't have enough riding for someone who's (presumably) watched Remy riding slabs. The whole sea-to-sky is going to be $$$$ but at the same time it's the place I'd be looking at for a once in a lifetime trip.
Personally I prefer Squamish over Whistler but it'll depend on if he wants to pedal or ride park more. Squamish isn't that much cheaper either. The big advantage of those places is much of the riding is from the door which is ideal if he doesn't have a car.
Nelson is a good shout but it's much more challenging to get to and there's more stuff that'd need a car to get to the good stuff.  It'd be a great spot through with a much more laid back BC vibe especially if combined with Red and Trail area on the way there / back...
Revelstoke is nice but most of the good stuff is out of town (so needs a car).
SunPeak any use?
Problem is, none of the places mentioned have anywhere near the amount of "staff accommodation" / short term rental available that Whistler does as none have the tourist infrastructure and associated influx of workers, particularly during the summer (some ski towns would operate like mini-Whistlers in winter but the majority close down or scale back severely during the summer).
Having said that, Kamloops/Sun Peaks and Kelowna/Silver Star/Big White are large cities with "nearby" ski hills which became bike parks in the summer and that have extensive riding outside of the bike parks as well. Same applies to Fernie and Golden/Kicking Horse but all these places simply don't have the public transport infrastructure the S2S area does. (Though he could fly into anyone of these places).
For Squamish or North Vancouver, he may luck out and find someone's basement or couch to sleep on but reality is, both places are horrendous to find rental accommodation as it is. And neither of these options have big tourist operations that require "staff accommodation".
Having said that, Grouse Mountain in NV operates year round (and is rumoured to opening a bike park in Summer '24) and usually has worldwide students on work visa (at least during winters). Same with Capilano Suspension Bridge (so it might be worth Googling them for ideas).
It sounds like he won't have a visa though. So I doubt he's gonna find off-the-books work in advance but North Vancouver always has a LOT of residential construction work going on, so if he can dig and fill holes and pour concrete, I guess he might be able to find something. Same applies in Squamish.
The single advantage of North Vancouver of all of the above places would be public transport as it's relatively easy to get to Fromme and Seymour mountains by bus (Cypress mountain not so easy). Squamish is also relatively easy to get to the riding as the town is relatively flat so rideable to the staging areas.
Walleater (Squamish resident, trail builder and bike technician) might be worth asking.
The cost of living/visiting/recreating in the sea-to-sky is nuts basically. :o(
If he's willing (or has to due to $$$$) compromise then other areas might be worth a look but it might not scratch the itch in quite the same way.
One random thought might be stuff on Vancouver Island but (not ridden much there personally) there's not going be quite the same sheer quantity and variety of trails available as Whistler or Squamish.
Not sure I've got much more to add!
As mentioned above, it'd be nearly as hard to find accommodation in Squamish as Whistler these days. Population exploded due to remote working. Hardly any rentals available. AirBnB is getting clamped down and even Walmart is kicking all the van-lifers out of their car park as it was getting full at night. Squamish is setting itself up as a tourist capital, yet effectively blocks people from staying here. Just more badly built condos for remote workers.....
Umm.....Fraser Valley has plenty of good riding despite not being as 'cool':
https://www.trailforks.com/region/fraser-valley/
Re. Squamish, safest bet would potentially be to share a cheap room at the likes of the Squamish Adventure Inn, don't bother trying to get under-the-table work as there seems to be loads of scammers about, and don't stay too long!
https://www.squamishhostel.com/
Hiring an E-bike would be pricey but great for getting as much riding in as possible.
Or buy a barely running Astro Van or mouldy beige camper van in Vancouver, a cheap bike off Craigslist, and park it up somewhere until he gets kicked out!