Life Style v. Standard of Living

[highpeaksdrifter]

Every skier/rider always says they would love to live in a ski town, but they don’t know how they’d make a living. Except you locals of course.

All our households take home X amount of dollars. What percent less, if any, would you be willing to make if you could have a job you like, in a ski town of your choice and the job let you ski 3 or 4 times a week?

I’ll say 35% less. We’d have to watch every dollar we spent and live in a modest house, but I’d be down with that. My wife, well that might be a different story.

BTW, if 2 years I can retire on a pension that will be about 65% of what I make now, soooo, we’ll see.

 

[riverc0il]

Next to family and friends, the drop in pay is definitely the biggest sacrifice to be made when moving closer to the mountains. Though even up here, you'll be lucky to find a job that lets you get out 3 to 4 times per week without taking a vacation day. Depends how much of a pay cut you want to take for those extra days I would also submit that the lifestyle change is much more radical than even the average hard core skier would be willing to make. The commute gets radically reduced, but at the end of the day, you are still skiing the same mountains for generally the same prices for five months of the year and what do you do the rest of the time? If other outdoor pursuits are your pleasure, hiking, kayaking, fishing, climbing, boating, swimming, etc. then you are all set. Want to hang out at the mall, movie theatre, bars/clubs, pro sports events, etc... go fish.

I'll take my pay cut and I'll take almost no street lights, lots of trees, no traffic, more pleasant people, open space, fresh air, proximity to the mountains, and sense of community. Worth every lost penny, unless those pennys matter to you.

 

[SkiDog]

Good topic...

I now personally live in a ski town...now I dont think my new company would like it if I skied 3-4 days a week, but I will be skiing considerably more than I would've if I didnt move..

So far I like it here in Sandy UT....ask me again in 10 months.... ;-)

M

 

[Warp Daddy]

Thats what i did at 51 pulled the plug and said "time to make a life not a living"

For next 5 yrs i consulted only 2 days a week during the college year and i controlled when, with whom and for what price. Made more $$ than when i was working fulltime in the University business. BEST DAMN MOVE I EVER MADE . I started skiing 2-3 days a week since that time.

 

[kingslug]

Pretty simple for me. If I sold my house I could prolly buy another one for cash somewhere else. Since my company is worldwide I could just move to a state Like CO or Utah. Hell, they have a place at the bottom of LCC. Some day.

 

[kbroderick]

As someone who lives about 20 yards from his office and about 25 yards from the closest lift, I think that the pay difference is worth it. I could definitely earn a lot more with a similar title and responsibilities in another industry, but I'd also be dealing with a lot more stress and a lot less skiing--I've got over 100 days this season and have skied the past 52 days straight. As long as I can make my student loan payments, afford groceries, and buy necessities from SAC (perhaps not in that order), I'm okay with not having a big margin sitting out there. I'll admit, though, that I'd have one heck of a time if I was trying to contribute to a family's well-being on my salary, and I'll probably have to figure something out in the next few years if I want to retire. It's not for everyone, but it works for me (and a few of my coworkers who also live on the hill).

If you just want proximity to good skiing, but you also want some cultural opportunities and the ability to stop at traffic lights on a regular basis, there are places you can do that. Burlington and SLC both come to mind, although they have vastly different cultures (and different skiing opportunities), both have many of the amenities that make city living desirable while being only minutes from world-class skiing. I do know people around here who make decent money at "traditional" office jobs but still have enough flexibility (a boss who skis or rides may be necessary) to get 4+ days a week when the skiing's good.

 

[gladerider]

this is a topic that i often talk to my co-worker about.

i got excited for a moment. i told my wify about the topic and immediately she brought me down to reality.
i've got 2 kids hitting college in 10 yrs. i don't see myself in that picture unless i win a lottery........

 

[cbcbd]

I'm single, my company is making me telecommute by fall, I have some cash saved up...

I'm looking into moving closer to the mountains this year... why not.

 

[MonkeyBrook]

It is called Sales / Sales management, get a sales job with ski areas in your "territory" and you have it made. It has worked for me for many many years. And I have a family.

 

[snoseek]

ive lived in several ski towns and now find i'm skiing more by going a bit south. just looking for that perfect balance. driving up gets real old though.

 

[MadPadraic]

I don't think I could do it. Other than the projected income loss, I don't think that I could take the lifestyle change. I depend upon being able to take the subway to see a good play every few weeks--though this winter has been lacking in that respect. I've definately considered moving to London for the extra vacation time and the ease of getting a flight and train for a weekend in the Alps. (An Irish city would be even better, but Dublin airport and especially Shannon are currently underserved by flights to Austrian gateways and Geneva).

 

[Vortex]

I worked in the ski industry and lived close. Grew up as a mountain rat.
I chose to move away and make some more money. Choice was partly because I never had seperation from work and play. I'm the exception I like it better know.

I might try the industry and move local to a ski area again full time after my kids are done with college. My way to get ballance is I bought a very modest house and a modest condo so I could have both and get 70 plus days a year in.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

vacationing at a spot or even being a weekend warrior is a whole lot different than living in a ski town full time...when you are there for a short stint, you are eating out, staying in a hotel, not dealing with the day to day 'things' that need to get done when living there...i always think about that when i'm in a ski town and i think "what the hell do you do around here?" sometimes the closest grocery store is 30 miles away....just couldnt do it...I had friends who wanted to move to VT (Mt Snow area) as they have a time share at the Grand Summit, and fell in love with the idealism of VT....snowmobiling, fall foliage, golf etc, everything the Chamber of Commerce wants you to fall in love with..so for 3 weeks they stayed up there...said it felt like a year....couldnt wait to get back to Long Island...couldnt make the move full time, weekends, maybe for a week or so vacation....but i like my life balance...

 

[Razor]

We're retired with a good pension and a paid for house. We could afford to live almost anywhere if we sold the house. Living a little south of Boston, we've given some thought to moving nearer to skiing. But I think I'd go nuts living full time up north. For one thing, the weather sucks. How many real bluebird days do you get every winter? I like being able to pick our spots and skiing midweek. In the summer we live 45 minutes from South Coast beaches and Newport where one can actually swim in relatively warm water. It's also nice to ski and return home to a lawn and no snow. We have friends who bought a condo in Midvale, UT and live there all winter, then return to the Maine coast in summer. That doesn't sound bad. My hero, though, was an old guy I rode a lift with at Vail a few years ago. He had a place in the village at Vail for the winter and another on the water in Chatham on the Cape for the summer. Now that I could handle.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

For me, I look at as a quality of life issue. I can't imagine creeping along Rt 128, fighting traffic near Boston twice a day, every day to get to and from work. If it takes 1 hour to get to work each way thats 40 hrs a month. What a waste as we all have a finate time on this planet. Add in the crime, smell and general ugliness. No thanks, your welcome to it. :wink:

 

[Vortex]

For me, I look at as a quality of life issue. I can't imagine creeping along Rt 128, fighting traffic near Boston twice a day, every day to get to and from work. If it takes 1 hour to get to work each way thats 40 hrs a month. What a waste as we all have a finate time on this planet. Add in the crime, smell and general ugliness. No thanks, your welcome to it. :wink:

Funny add 93 and rt 3 to it and thats my world. Point well taken.:-D

 

[kingdom-tele]

horses for courses

its not about the money you make when you decide to live near the mountains, meaning not in an urban envoir. there are plenty of spots in cities near big mountains and great skiing, it much more than skiing, and if that is your primary concern then it isn't for you, you will quickly come to hate the rural life if all your eggs in the skiing basket, to me it isn't a sacrifice to live here, its a priveledge that goes far beyond skiing 6-7 months a year, in fact, as much as i love skiing and snow, winter isn't my favorite season up here, don't commit if your decision is based only on one aspect of your enoyment in life

 

[Terry]

I believe that I live in an ideal situation. We live in a modest house, have enough income to live comfortable and send a daughter through college. I have a 15 min comute to work and usually only meet half a dozen cars on the way. It is a rural area, yet is only 10 minutes from North Conway NH and all its shopping, etc. I have 13 ski areas within an hour and 15 minutes drive, can hunt right out my back door, am 20 minutes from Evans Notch, can snowmobile and cross country ski out my back door. The Saco river is 5 minutes away for canoeing, and swimming. Kezar Lake, ranked one of the most beautiful lakes in the world is 20 mins away.Yet I can be in Portland, Maines largest city in an hour if I want. And to top it all off, I have Jesses, the coldest beer store in the area, just a mile and a half down the road! How can you beat that? :beer:

 

[nelsapbm]

Like Terry, I feel like I'm a great spot as well. 20 minutes from Burlington and it's shopping, airport, restaurants, etc. A little under 2 hours to Montreal, 45 min to NY by plane. Got great skiing 1/2 hour away. Like Terry, can snowshoe, xcountry ski, hunt (if I wantted to) on my own land. I took quite a pay cut when I moved back up here, but to me, it's not important. As long as the bills can get paid and have a little extra spending money and some to save, I'm good. I don't need a fancy car and a big house. For me, it's the quality of life I'm after.
I've known quite a few people who have fallen in love with the "Image" of Vermont (i.e. weekend warriors, people who read too much VT Life Magazine), only to turn around and move back to wherever they came from a year later. I've heard similar stories out of Maine (just substitute Down East Magazine instead of VT Life).
So, as others have said. Living here is not the same as vacationing. You'll most likely take a huge pay cut. What you gain though, is a quality of life that you don't get in more urbanized areas (IMO).

 

[dmc]

In the dark hours after the attacks of 911 we decided to move to the Catskills. Since we didn't want to watch much TV and couldn't go outside due to the smoke and smell, etc... We planned our escape and played a lot of backgammon..
Hunter was the logical choice since we are still very much part of NYC with family and friends, etc and have tons of local friends from there... So we scripmed and saved and made the move a couple years after... There's actually a bunch of us that left the city after 911 and moved to Hunter..

Now - Ms. DMC works for the Post Office near our house and I'm traveling around the country and spending time at my corporate HQ in Stamford CT trying to make sure credit cards get encrypted in databases.... I get to work from home on occasion and plan to do a lot more starting this summer..

I love looking out my window and listening to the stream with a view of Colonels Chair and Rusk mountain... It was a good choice...