Mtn loyalist/passholder vs independent/chase the snow week to week.. debate on!!!!

[Euler]

I feel the same way about SoVT. My times to get places are substantially longer than yours, but I get to enjoy a rural lifestyle I really dig while still being within reasonable daytripping distance from Boston, Surfing, and right in the heart of ski country. Not much in the way of jobs or careers where I am, though.

I'm sure there are plenty of people with satisfying careers in Albany. Can't be a highly paid, Physician, attorney, engineer etc in Albany? Might not be the quantity of positions as NYC, Boston etc, but those careers are still there.

While the skiing appeals to me more out west than it does in the East, the overall experience of life is better for me in my location than what anywhere out west provides. 100 miles to a top 5 (IMO) ski area in the East, 15 miles to the beach, 12 miles to a great small city in Portsmouth NH, 60 miles to a world class city in Boston, 60 miles to Portland, 40 miles or less to incredible lakes. The diversity and proximity of all that I enjoy in life is unmatched anywhere else in the country compared with my current location.

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[dlague]

Interesting thread!

I went from skiing a few times paying full fare at Jay Peak as a kid then got a job as a snowmaker and got the free pass.

In the military, I got to ski some of the Alps while stationed there as part of an Army ski team and got paid to do it too.

Once I had kids then I became a deal chaser since buying 6 season passes was out of the question. We did follow The Ride and Ski Card which was a great tool especially later when we volunteered to help them. Other methods were half days, passports in VT and NH for the kids, ski and Ride punch card, VT 3 or 5 passes, Ski Show and Warren Miller comps, early season deals at Killington and any other deal we could find.

As kids moved out, I was turned on to the Cannon Season Pass as a NH Vet - cheap. That is when I realized the beauty of a pass. Can only ski for three hours - no biggie. We averaged about 25 days there and skied another 25 elsewhere like Killington where we book end our season, still followed The Ride and Ski Card and chased occasional deals - never could get that out of my system.

Moving out to Colorado there were two options, Rocky Mountain Super Pass which is now part of Ikon or an Epc Pass. We chose the Epic Local Pass which gave use 5 great mountains - A Basin for early and late season and some in between days, Keystone and Breck are our go to places mid season and occasional days at Beaver Creek and Vail. We also do deal chasing with the Gems Card with deals to Cooper, Loveland, and Monarch as well as 6 other smaller places - smaller for Colorado that is. We generally hit some Warren Miller comps like Eldora and Steamboat as well. We have not breached out of Colorado yet but we plan on doing at least one trip to Tahoe, one to Telluride and one to Park City as well as hoping to hit Crested Butte.

Storm chasing here is pretty easy, take your pick basically. Deal chasing is in our blood and skiing on a Pass has been really good. 59 days last season.

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[cdskier]

I live in northern NJ and own a condo at Sugarbush and am a Sugarbush loyalist. I'm not into making last minute plans so the whole "chasing snow" thing just doesn't work for me. Before I became a passholder at SB I would typically day trip to the Catskills most weekends (Belleayre or Platty) and then throw in 2-3 long weekend trips elsewhere (SB, Gore, and K were usually every year places and sometimes I'd also mix in a place like Stowe or Whiteface). Any mid-winter long weekends were usually planned at least several weeks in advance. In the spring I might have been more likely to only plan a trip a week or two in advance.

There's a part of me that misses the variety of different resorts, but when your home resort is a place like SB that has a huge variety of terrain, I find it a bit difficult to be bored. I still try to throw in 1 or 2 other visits to other places every year (usually a day trip to the Cats on a holiday weekend if the weather cooperates). I'm not at a point where I miss visiting other places enough that I can justify the extra cost to go elsewhere.

I also love the convenience of having my own place. If a major storm is coming, I can always run up there last minute and not need to worry about finding a place to stay. All my gear stays up there. Just need to grab whatever clothes I brought home to wash and that's it. Having my own place also means I can cook and don't have to go out to eat all the time. For me it works great and I find it well worth it. I can also understand how everyone is different and some people prefer other choices. As long as you're doing what works for you, then that's what matters. There's no "right" or "wrong" answer (even though some people seem to think there is).

 

[abc]

That's west coast. The west is Rocky Mountains.


We have oceans too.

PS, SF sailing sucks.

Yep, that’s west COAST.

Yes, the east has ocean too, but that’s NOT where the mountains are. Instead, that’s what someone just mentioned above that skiers should move AWAY from! (to Albany, for example)!!!

Sailing in San Fran sucks a lot less than surfing in Boston! ;-)

I'll take the high 70s lake water temp here thank you very much.

Tell that to the Florida residents: “I'll take the high 80s ocean water temp here thank you very much.”

 

[deadheadskier]

WTF does Florida have to do with a discussion on where a skier would want to live?

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[Rogman]

One's choice depends on one's circumstances. If you're older and married with kids, snow chasing typically isn't an option. Wives and kids (and even grand kids) need a little stability in their lives, and the dart board, this weekend's winner is... approach simply doesn't cut it. Happy to call Killington home: their snow making masks a lot of mother nature's faults, the terrain is expansive enough and challenging enough to stay interesting, having friends to meet up with at any time off mountain means a lot, bumping into friends on mountain is always a treat. And we still get to other mountains, both in the east and out west. There is no right answer, it's just a matter of what works for you and makes you happy.

 

[Hawk]

This subject always draws huge differing opinions. Some people are driven by cost, some by diversity of terrain, some by powder and storms and some like myself by the overall experience which includes community, experiences both on the mountain and after and extended stays with all kinds of different offerings. I have been a pass holder at 2 different mountains, Sunday River for 17 years, 15 at Sugarbush. We have no kids and have always had the option to travel if we liked. Every year we go to a bunch of different mountains on small trips but I would never see myself doing this regularly. For us it is the people and the experiences that have bonded us to the mountain that makes this such a great sport. The only way to be part of that is to go regularly to the same mountain. I have a huge community of friends at both SB and SR and I would not have it any other way.

 

[abc]

WTF does Florida have to do with a discussion on where a skier would want to live?

It has EVERYTHING to do with the water temperature!

trying to figure out if better professional opportunities exist in metro Boston or Albany.

What does career has “anything to do with a discussion on where a skier would want to live”?

Water temperature has just as much to do as career (note I said career, not merely job)

 

[deadheadskier]

You can have a great career in Albany. Again, plenty of high paid Physicians, engineers etc live there right now as I mentioned prior. It's not NY, it's not Boston, but plenty of people make it work. Hell, I know people who work sales in med tech in Albany pulling 250k+ a year who are plenty happy with their career. Maybe little to no fashion careers as you mentioned prior, but the overall premise of your argument was and remains bogus.

You can enjoy warmer summer swimming water temps near there than you can most places out west. Albany is close to good skiing.

Florida ain't.

Your arguments are just getting weirder and weirder

Not sure why you still live here in the East if you think it sucks compared to the West. Sorry you haven't figured out how to get where you'd rather be.

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[mbedle]

This subject always draws huge differing opinions. Some people are driven by cost, some by diversity of terrain, some by powder and storms and some like myself by the overall experience which includes community, experiences both on the mountain and after and extended stays with all kinds of different offerings. I have been a pass holder at 2 different mountains, Sunday River for 17 years, 15 at Sugarbush. We have no kids and have always had the option to travel if we liked. Every year we go to a bunch of different mountains on small trips but I would never see myself doing this regularly. For us it is the people and the experiences that have bonded us to the mountain that makes this such a great sport. The only way to be part of that is to go regularly to the same mountain. I have a huge community of friends at both SB and SR and I would not have it any other way.

Same here, gotta agree with you.

 

[dlague]

Just have to post at it's the rare time I agree 100% with DHS!

Living in Denver you have prickly pear cactus growing in the dusty reddish soil unless you irrigate it. There are no lakes to recreate in except a few ice cold mountain lakes. There are no farm stands selling world class corn, beets, and tomatoes. No smell of freshly cut hay. There is no seashore, no sailing, no fresh seafood, no red maples, and nothing is older than 1880, if that. There are no islands. No regional diversity. Have you heard of Denver Pizza? Didn't think so.

Sure the skiing is great, they're starting to learn how to brew beer, and the Aspen turning gold is a beautiful thing. But by jeezzums, New England has more to offer year round.

Sorry about the rant!

I do not miss New England at all. Hiking here blows away the experiences I had in NE. Air is dry so you do not feel like a sweaty pig, mosquitos are a rare sighting, ticks we have yet to find them and there are 53 14ers to chase with views that are amazing. I live at an elevation that is higher than Mount Washington and while the weather can get crazy it is for the most part pretty consistent. Rarely super cold and rarely super hot. If it is hot head to the mountains. From October to May the ski areas very rarely see rain which keeps the surface very consistent even in low snow years like last year.

In NH the motto is live free or die. Yet there are cops everywhere along the 93 compared to CO where cops are a rare sighting - yes people drive fast. NH has state vehicle inspections CO does not and you rarely see rust buckets here because they do not use salt to melt snow. When we first moved here we were thrown by the courtesy of others, most treat everyone with respect.

We like the small town western styles and popping into saloons that were visited by the cowboys of the past. If gambling is your thing than visit western towns where gold mining history is rich and visit the casinos. There are distinct cultures here like western/country, active/fitness, music/beer/brewing. CO is starting to get into brewing , ha, there are more breweries here than in all of New England, Colorado Springs alone has 15+.

As far as being active, we Stand Up Paddle board, kayak and swim - yes there are places to go that are NOT in the mountains. We hike more here than we ever have and trails are dog, horse and MTB friendly. About mountain biking, some of the best biking locations are in CO both lift served and trail. White water rafting is pretty fun here, especially with snow melt run off in Royal Gorge. We go about 5 times per summer. We have been horse back riding several times per year in really cool places. While foliage is not like NE, the gold that pops from the Aspens are amazing to see. Skiing - well between A Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek and Crested Butte (all on our pass), all which are pretty darn good, we have more acreage than all of the ski areas in New England not to mention one of the longest ski seasons with A Basin (last season - October 19th to June 12th).

Do I miss the ocean - no. California is a quick flight and west coast ocean has much better surf than the east. We have a son there so we have a place to stay. We had 14 days on the ocean this year so that satisfied that category.

Seafood - in have had some of the best seafood dining in Colorado. We visit a restaurant co owned by a guy from Boston and he serves up one of the best lobster rolls in have ever had. Salmon and king crab are cheaper here. There are boat loads of seafood restaurants that serve food that is comparable to east coast. Location is no longer a real issue. CO may not be known for pizza but they are known for green chili and chili festivals. Food here has more of a southwestern flair but food from around the world is available like any other populated area. But I have had some amazing pizza here!

https://colorado.ourcommunitynow.com/2018/11/14/colorado-named-healthiest-state-in-the-u-s/

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[Jully]

Both New England and CO are very active, nature focused places. There are similarities (skiing, hiking, fishing) and you can try and compare them, but there's almost no way to be objective about it because everyone has preferences and priorities.

That said, I think anyone saying CO is "worse" year round or lacks diversity year round is missing something major. Denver, CO, and most of the Rocky Mountain region in general is the most active area of the country. Hiking, rafting, kayaking, there's a ton to do year round (like Dlague said very well). It might not be New England with narrow streams, covered bridges, and tiny rocky swimming holes every couple miles, but that doesn't mean it has less to offer!

I'm also saying this as someone who prefers New England and plans to stay here for the foreseeable future barring a mega career opportunity elsewhere.

 

[dlague]

Both New England and CO are very active, nature focused places. There are similarities (skiing, hiking, fishing) and you can try and compare them, but there's almost no way to be objective about it because everyone has preferences and priorities.

That said, I think anyone saying CO is "worse" year round or lacks diversity year round is missing something major. Denver, CO, and most of the Rocky Mountain region in general is the most active area of the country. Hiking, rafting, kayaking, there's a ton to do year round (like Dlague said very well). It might not be New England with narrow streams, covered bridges, and tiny rocky swimming holes every couple miles, but that doesn't mean it has less to offer!

I'm also saying this as someone who prefers New England and plans to stay here for the foreseeable future barring a mega career opportunity elsewhere.

Well put! I think there are bias views that are more like why they stay than why they might consider moving. We are CO forever now!

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[Domeskier]

The Rockies sound like an ok option if you can't relocate to the Alps.

 

[abc]

Not sure why you still live here in the East if you think it sucks compared to the West. Sorry you haven't figured out how to get where you'd rather be.

Tou’re the one who haven’t figured out there’s life beyond skiing (or whatever YOU like to do, but nothing else)!!!

No wonder you find it “weird” that others like things that doesn’t exist in YOUR chosen place of home. And they DARE to choose to live anywhere else.

 

[abc]

The Rockies sound like an ok option if you can't relocate to the Alps.

+++

 

[BenedictGomez]

I have had some amazing pizza here!

No you havent.

 

[mbedle]

No you havent.

LOL - so true...

 

[deadheadskier]

Tou’re the one who haven’t figured out there’s life beyond skiing (or whatever YOU like to do, but nothing else)!!!

No wonder you find it “weird” that others like things that doesn’t exist in YOUR chosen place of home. And they DARE to choose to live anywhere else.

Holy shit lady. You are off your rocker. I clearly stated, that if skiing was my only priority, I'd live out west. But, because of all of the other diverse things I enjoy in life, where I live in New England presents the best place for me to live. It's better for me living here than out west and/or living in NYC metro. My comments about NYC metro were only related to how long it takes to get to VT skiing and I'd probably be a regular at a Catskills resort instead if I lived there.

Even where I live today, I choose to ski somewhere closer to home that is often an inferior product to Northern VT. I'd rather drive two hours to Wildcat or Cannon every weekend than 3.5 to Stowe.

If other people prefer to live elsewhere, I really don't care.

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[Glenn]

No you havent.

As a pizza nerd, this made me laugh!