Coronet Peak's head of lift operations, Cody Stake, originally from Keystone, Colorado, has returned for his third season, having worked six winters at Keystone Resort.
During the warmer months between his work in Queenstown, Mr Stake has worked various jobs, stayed on Waiheke Island for six months, and returned to his former job in Colorado for a season.
The drawcard back to Queenstown, he said, was the job and the area.
Senior lift operator Jack Haughey, from England, worked a winter season in Whistler, Canada, before coming to Queenstown for similar work.
Also in his third season at Coronet, Mr Haughey said he definitely wanted to stay in New Zealand, yet was hesitant to lay down a plan because, "I always think I'm making a plan, then I never stick to it, so I just go with the flow".
During the summer he worked for a pub-crawl company as a manager, which meant he met many visitors and still in a similar capacity to the one he had on the mountain.
Mr Stake enjoyed the friendly, carefree nature of the job and said a day began much like it ended - with darkness and a chat between friends.
Senior staff were picked up from central Queenstown, after enjoying a morning coffee, pie and chat at a local bakery, and taken up for another day.
Mr Stake said one of the perks of the job was the fact they were some of the first people up the mountain, before the constant stream of skiers and snowboarders ascended and descended the field from 9am.
"It's really cool for us because we are some of the first people on the mountain.
"Sometimes the sun is just rising and we have headlamps on."
After assessing what lifts will open and putting things into action, he and his team helped with maintenance staff and awaited the arrival of the general lift staff.
When the commercial day officially began it was "the usual routine following up with operators, making sure they had the tools for the job".
For senior operator Jack Haughey, the idea that "every day brings something different" was one of the reasons he had returned for a third season.
