Resort Town Life
The air in the mountains is changing there’s a cold crispness to it in the mornings. Soon the roar of snow guns will echo through these mountainous ranges and that addicting white stuff will begin to fall. As this happens people will start to have visions in their mind about moving to the mountains in search of that endless season of shred. For some it’s a mild break from the reality of life, while with others it’s a journey down a new winding road of life.
Perhaps you’ve sat there stuck in whatever it is that imprisons you and thought to yourself I want to be a snowboard bum. Like all things in life living in the mountains is about choices. These choices are what will dictate whether or not you’ll be living the high life of high fives and goggle tans or sacrificing your soul to be a minimum wage snow carnie. Obviously the latter is a choice that no one wants to make. The cold hard truth about being a snowboard bum is that it’s not for everyone. It’s a life of sacrifice that takes you away from the simple luxuries you take for granted. But if you do go this route it can be one of the most rewarding life choices you’ve ever made.
People seem to have this preconceived notion about resort towns, usually because they went there at some point in their life and it was this magical wonderful place. Well just like Disney World it’s all a show to get your tourist dollars. The facade that’s put on is there to entice you to visit and spend money. This is also what sucks people in to moving there. Living in a resort town is not cheap, the cost of living rivals living downtown in a major city. Big thing to expect if you’re looking to move here is that most places will ask for a first, last, and security deposit, even if it’s the crappiest little shoe box you’ve ever seen. Your rent will probably be more than 60% of your income as well. Why? Because it’s there and they know there’s a demand for it. Finding cheap housing only happens if you move at the end of the season when there’s the mass exodus of seasonal workers fleeing, you get here early and were lucky enough to find someone that actually cares about people, or you’re living 10 people deep in a 2 bedroom 1 bath. The other option is sucking it up and living in staff housing. Much like joining the military you’ll meet people from all over and all walks of life, tolerance is key.
Finding a good job is a chore as well. Much like housing the good ones fill up fast or are filled by people that have been around longer. So once again move early and secure that winter job so you can get your shred on. If you’re thinking about working for the resort, look at what hours they want you for, and how many hours a week it will be. I know very few people that truly get to shred on their own terms that work for the resort. Ideal jobs are anything that either doesn’t make you come in till the mid afternoon or offers a split shift.
When it comes to your season pass, buy it! That way you solely own it and no one can hold it over your head. Working at the resort might get you a pass, but it allows them the right to black you out if you call in sick so you can shred. Pow days are great unless you get fired and can’t pay your bills.
Remember why you’re here and that’s to shred, you’re not here to party. There’s a pitfall with resort towns and that’s the bar scene. Every year people move here and fall into this trap, they ride less and less and drink more and more. You’ll see a girl that moved here and was drop dead gorgeous turn into a bloated mess who does the walk of shame every Saturday and Sunday morning. Guys will just straight up disappear only to resurface at the end of the season looking like they survived being attacked by a rabid Rhinoceros. Pick and choose your drinking habits don’t go out every night for the sake of going out.
So if you’re really considering moving to the mountains in pursuit of the shred life, really put some thought into it. What are you prepared to give up to make yourself happy? Best advice I can give you is if you haven’t found yourself as an individual yet don’t assume you’ll find it out here. But if you do find a way to make a life out of
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Great article man. After last season, I certainly felt like ditching the cubicle meat grinder for a life on the mountain. But I could see myself being raped by a rhinoceros and it ain't pretty. Who knows, maybe some day an opportunity will find its way to me that combines my professional experience and mountain living.
Good article mate. I escaped the UK after I graduated and am currently living in Banff as an instructor about to work my second season. Probably the best job on the hill if you want to shred as much as possible, but I dont think it is likely to be a career for me, maybe another stopgap.
…out of what? Haha.
Most definitely these are all things I have been gradually learning after bumming for I think four years now. My latest lesson, cannot tolerate close quarter "employee housing" situations.
You make an interesting point about buying your own pass, I never thought about that. Of course when I liftie I rode maybe once a week, and it was on Saturday because everyone wanted to work weekends so I got stuck with them as a day off.
@jimster716 An opportunity will likely never find you, you have to decide you want to make the opportunity. I met a desk jockey last year who was divorced, over his job and looking to refresh his life. He saved his cash and dropped his cubicle programmer job, went out to CO and got his level 1 and 2 certs to ski, got over 100 days there and flew out to NZ a few months later (he's there now, still shredding and going for his level 3 cert I believe). It all depends on if you want it.
Couldn't agree more. Resort life isn't all that it's chalked up to be. I did two seasons, one out in the Kootneays and one at Whistler. The riding wasn't as plentiful as you would hope for, you're there to work as far as the resort sees it and they'll work you as hard as they can for pennies.
If you have the cash to find a place, buy your pass and live for a few months thats the way to go. Save up 8-10grand, buy a pass and just ride, don't work.
great piece!After seeing a few family members abandon "normal" life for lives in the mountains. After 5 years – seeing how they kept it together and loved their lives made me realize that I probably didn't have the cahones they had to up and leave. But I do now, hopefully I'm not too late.
Similar to what michael was saying, my plan is to make enough money to move out there and not have to work so I can truly enjoy myself.
You can make money and still get as much ride time in as you want. Some of us are lucky in the fact we have good shop skills, flexible hours with splits or later shifts or just get paid to shred basically: terrain park.
I've done the 'follow your career path' thing and still got in tons of riding back at my home mountain. Then again, I was salary so I would just bounce after 11 and shred till 4. Ha, that's probably why I was let go. Oh well. A blessing in disguise to speak.
theres always the "big" towns as well.. theres only a few choice ones but cities like salt lake, vanc, and even sacto or socal can give you the fast access to sick riding with the bonus of economies that are not entirely seasonal. here in slc theres tons of good waged jobs and cheap housing due to the college and resorts are half hour up the canyon wahoo! no matter where you plan to go though just go … dont sit on your ass and let life pass you by!!!!!
i would love to live in or around a resort town that has a mountain open all year. summers are great to relax and skate and whatnot but sometimes you just have an itching urge to shred and it would be so nice to be able to drive up a mountain in july and glide down some snow. im not talking everyday but when you get ideas for tricks or just want to throw a carve it would be amazing
You would quite possibly love Summit County.
A Basin till early June and Fourth of July in Breck till the new season starts.
i just moved to a resort town for the first time. lucky for me the resort i am planning to work at gives you a non paid half hour for lunch and a paid hour and a half to shred every shift.
hey matt which mountain you work at?
Just made the move to Mammoth for the winter (again). Made more money than ever last year (in LA) and it was not the path to happiness, just stress. Going to try and freelance (web design/dev) and get over a 100 days this season.
Neil: that's what I did for the winter of 06/07… freelance design. I got to ride as much as I wanted and did work from the mountain if a client needed updates right away. Should be even easier now with technology and these newfangled internet phones. Make a pretty decent amount of money AND get to ride as much as you want. That's the life, real talk. If I get laid off, that's what I'm doing again.
man, i was just thinking about all this crap. just thinking. my plan to move at the end of the winter season is great.. but i really want to find a small town without the touristy bullshit. somewhere i can afford a place by myself and get some ‘privacy’ if you what i’m saying. i want to find a town near some excellent climbing and hiking opportunities as well as some good shred locations. i doubt if i’ll find all that… but i can dream..
i’m not going to school, i wanna enjoy my time, only live once, right?
Check out Durango in CO, college town with a mountain and climbing, or maybe look into something up in the Pacific North West like living in Index and commuting to school down by Seattle.
I wish I could buy my pass outright. Ok, well i probably could, but that money needs to go to other stuff. Are the passes in CO pretty reasonable? I wish we could get full access to all the other resorts available, but you know, that’s just a wish….
I try to shred as much as i can. I think last season I had a sweet deal. three days of work and the rest of the time to shred. However, i was offered a job at a different resort. I wish you guys would send some snow our way so i can get some pre-season in.
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