I want to take a season and just be a ski bum. What would be the best options based on cost of living, snow quality, resorts, etc.?
Where should I go to ski for 3-6 months?
I want to take a season and just be a ski bum. What would be the best options based on cost of living, snow quality, resorts, etc.?
>hey guys
>i could use google
>but just tell me everything instead
no frick off
If you are talking about the USA, it will have to be the ski resorts on the Rocky mountain range, from New Mexico to Idaho and Montana. Nobody ski bums the Northeast, not worth it.
You will need savings to last the season (as a true ski bum), or you can work at the resort (free pass). This means living with roommates in a seasonal rental in a tourist ski town. Ski bums do not commute, especially not from Denver. SLC is an option for the Alta or Snowbird.
You will probably need a car, unless you live in the resort town. True ski bums don't need that luxury, but this isn't 1970 anymore - ski towns like Vail, Park City, Ketchum, Jackson, Taos, etc are ridiculously expensive to live in. They are made to fleece tourists with their $290 day pass and $16 hotdogs.
Being young and horny, you will need nightlife. The resort town is a shitty option, unless you want to share the same local girls with the rest of the temp workers. Tourists are out of the question - anyone can tell that you are a grungy local, and nobody fricks the "help". Unless you want to frick the "help", which is usually South Americans on summer vacation work visas. Definitely some cuties there.
All said and done SLC is probably your place. Alta and Snowbird have the best skiing but no nightlife. Park City doesn't get as much snow but there is a town.
>SLC
Yeah, that’s what I figured. Been to Park City like 5 times and it’s super accessible. Plus you’ve got multiple resorts in the area, which could be nice for the occasional change of pace.
These days you pretty much have to get a job at the resort, or be a trust fund kid. I’ve got some savings, but likely not enough for the full season. I’ve heard that rental shops are the best places to work. Split shifts so you can ski mid day, and free demos of high end gear.
The French alps are super cool. Never skied there. Not sure if it would be viable as an Amerilard. Would need to work out a visa and all. Would love to ski the vallee blanche one day, though.
Why those resorts specifically?
Not in Canada unfortunately but I’ve heard good things about Lake Louise and Kicking Horse. Revelstoke too. Visited Lake Louise not too long ago, although not during ski season. Not sure if I care to be super isolated or anything, although that probably helps keep cost down.
Picrel, it’s a dog I saw while skiing
>Why those resorts specifically?
Courchevel is part of Les 3 Vallées which is THE biggest ski domaine in the world.
Les Arcs is part of Paradiski which is maybe the best one in the world.
>nobody fricks the help
yeah it would be weird to hook up with a guest, but plenty of hookups go on between resort employees. Drama always results, because everyone works with everyone else, and everyone eats and lives with everyone else, so everyone knows everyone's business. But it is still fun. Don't frick someone you work with every day, and don't frick your roommates. Yes, South American and Eastern European girls working on J-1 visas are a major reason why these jobs are so fun. Resorts with only American workers are much more boring.
>you need nightlife
nightlife is getting trashed with your coworkers nightly
>ski bum
How does the "bum" part even work with the exorbitant lift prices?
yeah I'm wondering how you could afford this too.
A day pass(also the cheapest room on airbnb) is ~20 eurobux here in Mavrovo Macedonia because you can't sustain the slopes only with comparatively rich guys from abroad, a season pass is 200 according to my old man but this isn't written on the webpage
I assume it's similar with the Vigla resort in neighbouring Greece and Bansko in Bulgaria, do your own research
never heard of a season pass?
OP could save up and buy one and then just be a bum and ski all day
Courchevel - Les Arcs
If you're in Canada I would say either Sunshine Village or Lake Louise. Just because their seasons run so long so the value for a season pass is pretty good. That being said, they're both very commercial resorts that get lots of people from the big cities. You're gonna be pretty close to Calgary, which is both a positive and a negative. If you wanna do the typical ski bum thing and hole up in a small ski town for a few months then I would probably recommend a different place. Maybe Red Mountain or Revelstoke. Most places on the powder highway in general are pretty damn good. If you want a place that's closer to Calgary but still kinda isolated I'd probably recommend either Kicking Horse or Fernie.
I just saw some motel like apartments for rent in South Tahoe for around 1k a month. That's where I would go in the US
Here’s my power ranking for bc/Alberta ski resorts, roughly in order. Mostly based on the experience on the hill, not the corresponding town.
>Top tier
Kicking horse, Sun peaks, furnie, panorama
>mid tier
Red mountain, revelstoke, silver star, big white, lake Louis, marmot basin
>low tier
Sunshine, whistler, fairmont.
Now to ski bum it gets tricky, because you want a halfway interesting town
Unfortunately, three of the top tier places have trash towns. Golden and invermere are just truck stops and there ain’t dick close to Sun peaks. Fernie is a great town, but super low key.
My picks to ski bum at would be at fernie or red mountain. They would probably be on the lower end of cost of living on the list as well.
Golden is kinda ugly but it has the advantage of being decently priced. And there is a section of town that is pretty nice as well
Paoli
I used to have a few friends who would work national park resorts in summer, then switch to ski resorts in the winter. One dude spent several seasons at Jackson Hole - he loved the skiing, but eventually, the shit pay and "7 roommates" grew tiring, so he pursued a commercial driver's license.
Another friend pursued a job at Alta, Utah. But She ended up staying at a resort in the Texas desert for the winter instead. Brian Head was another Utah resort mentioned frequently my circles. I think it has great employee housing, due to its remote location.
Copper Mountain and Vail were the most frequently mentioned Colorado destinations. Housing is really tough to find in that region, however. Monarch is the closest ski area to where I live, haven't heard anything about the work experience. Of note, the more southerly ski resorts have suffered through dry winter/spring seasons pretty often in past years.