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Does the west have a skier culture?

gregnye

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I've grown up and skied in the northeast most of my life.

Here, while we often poke fun of ourself for having an abundance of ice, we do have a culture. Go to Sugarbush, Smuggs, Magic or even Killington (early and late season) and you'll see plenty of cars with bumper stickers that say "ski the east". Here people are excited to ski even if their's only 5 inches of snow on the ground.

Meanwhile the times I go out west, most mountains feel corporate. Now obviously Vail and Breck really had this vibe, but even at A-Basin or Loveland I didn't really get the sense that there is a culture like the east coast. It seems like most people don't even come to the resort unless theres greater than 6 inches of snow.

Anyone who's lived in both places want to talk about the culture? Do you guys have a "ski the west" vibe?
 

thetrailboss

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I have lived in both. Yes, a lot of skiers out here. Yes, there is a culture. Utah adopted the phrase, "Greatest Snow on Earth" for a reason. They also put the skier on the license plate and have for a long time.

You see LOTS of ski racks, ski stickers, etc.

And a lot of folks moved here to ski and ride.

Are folks picky? Yep. But we still ski.
 

BenedictGomez

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The west is so big I dont think you can say it has a culture in the same vein as you do the east.

If you cut out the area from the Catskills up to Whiteface and over through VT and NH the entire eastern "ski area" is smaller than the drive from most western ski area to another western ski area.

So while each western ski area may have its' own vibe, I dont think you can say it has a "western ski culture (in fact, I'm not sure I've ever heard that phrase) like you can say there's an eastern ski culture.
 

sull1102

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I think they are nowhere near as into it as we are out here or we are just harder overall(much like the Boston vs LA battle). Out here we will go to some insane lengths just to go ski one trail of fake snow thats barely a half a mile long. We push it and ski in the rain on complete ice shelfs all day with a smile on our faces. It is a different world out there, same over in Europe. They are a bit more spoiled by the riches where as we are usually suffering just to get to those glorious few days of spring corn!
 

Jully

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The west is so big I dont think you can say it has a culture in the same vein as you do the east.

If you cut out the area from the Catskills up to Whiteface and over through VT and NH the entire eastern "ski area" is smaller than the drive from most western ski area to another western ski area.

So while each western ski area may have its' own vibe, I dont think you can say it has a "western ski culture (in fact, I'm not sure I've ever heard that phrase) like you can say there's an eastern ski culture.

Agreed here. I haven't lived out west myself, but I have good friends at multiple different areas who are full time skiers/bums/grew up there. Taos, Utah, Lake Tahoe, Crested Butte, etc. all have super strong and unique culture and local scenes. It might not be as ubiquitous across the "west" like it is in New England, but it is every bit as intense and special and probably more so IMO. Mount Baker in WA is a special place with a very unique RV scene. Even Vail has a strong local/bum population. Park City has a huge population of hard charging ski bums. That isn't even touching on the smaller hills and the culture around there like Monarch CO or the scene in Montana.

Also, as a vacationing skier (how most of ski western areas), you're less likely to see the local scene I think. Imagine what a one week vacation at some of the biggest east coast areas would look like. You'd be going to Stowe, Sunday River, etc. While they all have a great local scene and vibe, for the most part the bigger the area the harder it is to see the local scene (and therefore feel more 'corporate'). Staying in an on mountain condo at Stowe or even in the town for a single week I think would feel kind of similar to one week at Vail in terms of how much you see the lifeblood of the resort.
 
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Jully

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Out here we will go to some insane lengths just to go ski one trail of fake snow thats barely a half a mile long.


More skiers probably attended A Basin's opening day than K's and SR's combined this year. A Basin pulls from a smaller overall population too as people do come up from NYC for K's opening day. A Basin opened with one trail totalling like 26 acres. K and SR each had less than that, but when we're under 50 acres it is all fairly pitiful.
 

Smellytele

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Different types of cultures for sure. Here we are mostly weekend warriors and out west you have the ski bums but you also have people who travel in for the week and are gone.
 

heiusa

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I lived in Los Angeles for 10 years and I skied at all the local mountains, ie; Mt. Waterman, Mt Baldy, Snow Summit, Bear Mountain, Mountain High, and of course Mammoth Mountain, each area has it's own vibe, but there is definitely a skiers culture out there. My favorites were Baldy, a short 45 drive from Pasadena and Mammoth. I loved being able to ski at Mammoth, only a 6 hours drive from my home, that place is better than anything in the east, actually better than every ski area in VT combined.
 

raisingarizona

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Where ever there is skiing there is a skiing culture. Big, small, east, west.....whatever. Sometimes you have to dig a little harder to find it but rest assured, it's there.
 

crank

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Plenty of ski culture out west.

It's just not the same. "I'm gonna ski no matter how crappy (thin and icy) the conditions are that a lot of folks here in the east seem to subscribe to.
 

tumbler

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I don't think in the East there is as much attitude or as many people with attitude on powder days as there are at some areas out west.
 

jimk

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Agreed here. I haven't lived out west myself, but I have good friends at multiple different areas who are full time skiers/bums/grew up there. Taos, Utah, Lake Tahoe, Crested Butte, etc. all have super strong and unique culture and local scenes. It might not be as ubiquitous across the "west" like it is in New England, but it is every bit as intense and special and probably more so IMO. Mount Baker in WA is a special place with a very unique RV scene. Even Vail has a strong local/bum population. Park City has a huge population of hard charging ski bums. That isn't even touching on the smaller hills and the culture around there like Monarch CO or the scene in Montana.

Also, as a vacationing skier (how most of ski western areas), you're less likely to see the local scene I think. Imagine what a one week vacation at some of the biggest east coast areas would look like. You'd be going to Stowe, Sunday River, etc. While they all have a great local scene and vibe, for the most part the bigger the area the harder it is to see the local scene (and therefore feel more 'corporate'). Staying in an on mountain condo at Stowe or even in the town for a single week I think would feel kind of similar to one week at Vail in terms of how much you see the lifeblood of the resort.

As much as I admire the stoic, hardcoreness of New England skiers, I think Greg's post is a little parochial in perspective.
Jully's post is pretty close to my feelings on the topic. I've skied all over and there is alpine/ski culture near most places with serious skiing. Even the various Vail Resorts which are quite touristy, have a strong underpinning of die-hards that started those places and keep them functioning and vibrant.
 

Edd

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How could the west not have a ski culture, or cultures? I’ll wager the Lake Tahoe area has a culture all its own, very specific. That place fuc*in rules, IMO.


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snoseek

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How could the west not have a ski culture, or cultures? I’ll wager the Lake Tahoe area has a culture all its own, very specific. That place fuc*in rules, IMO.


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Have not been here in a minute. Yeah Tahoe has its special thing going on for sure. Hard to describe but its there. Folks back east are a hardened bunch though...I love it !

I'm doing the SLC thing this winter and spending summer seasons in Tahoe now. Tahoe can be full of heartbreak lol
 

BenedictGomez

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Many folks seem to be misunderstanding the OP's point. Is there a WEST (singular) ski culture like there's an EAST (singular) ski culture?

It's not, do west ski areas have any culture? Obviously they do. But it's varied due to expansiveness and great differences, wheras in the east there's almost a universal (or very similar) ski culture. My 2¢.
 
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