Resort Life

[bobbutts]

I did this for awhile living in South Lake Tahoe.
4pm-Midnight work hours, decent wage, and back then it was more affordable than it is now. I lived a short walk from the Heavenly Tram base in a 2br condo for $600/month.
No regrets, it was great while it lasted. If you want huge number of days per year or a huge percentage of powder days living at the resort is the way to go. No cities of 20k people at the base of the resort like that around here though.

 

[x10003q]

The Reno to Carson City area can provide some of the city/suburban lifestyle with a temperate climate and a decent airport with all the Lake Tahoe ski areas pretty close. An added benefit is affordable living in Nevada while being pretty close to all the good things in expensive California.

Salt Lake City and Ogden could also work to provide a suburban/city lifestyle with the monster skiing so close. You could also look at Boise, ID and Spokane, WA.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I have spent pretty much my entire life working at a resort. My family owned and operated a resort on Lake George all the years I was growing up. Started working for pay at age 12 as a bellman/marina staff but got sick of working for my father at 16 and got a job in town(Bolton Landing). During college in Vermont I worked as a Park Ranger at a state campground just north of Lake George Village during the summer.

A few years after grad school at Wyoming I was a social worker then moved to Jackson with a state job which lasted about a year then started working at the JHMR worked there for 17 years, then returned in 1996 where I have been working at the Bush with a 5 year break living in Maine(2000-2005) working as a ski coach and LL Bean.

I have no regrets except never having weekends off has been problematic socially. I don't think working at a resort is really a hard thing to do. It was easy for me as I grew up in it. Thousands do it, you could too although if your married with kids it does make it more dificult to make that change but if your young and single it's pretty easy. IMHO

 

[WakeboardMom]

I have lots of friends and family in Lincoln and North Woodstock. I don't envy them at all. It's definitely a "to each his own thing."

One friend (almost 40) who was born and brought up there thinks Nashua is "the big city" and hates when he has to come down this way. His wife drags him to Boston every once in a while and he hates it. He has no interest in seeing a play or going to a concert; he'd rather ride his Harley, ski, or waterski.

However, his mom and his aunt (60's) who moved there in their 20's miss "civilization" and welcome chances to head south.

The job situation isn't great. Unless you wanna be a chambermaid, bartender or waitress, there aren't a lot of opportunities. It's not like Geoff described Killington, though. The Lincoln/Woodstock area is booming in the summer. This winter hasn't been great, and mud season came way too early.

One complaint I've heard from someone is the amount of gray days in the valley in the winter. That's something I know I couldn't handle.

I like where I live. It affords us lots of options.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I have lots of friends and family in Lincoln and North Woodstock. I don't envy them at all. It's definitely a "to each his own thing."

One friend (almost 40) who was born and brought up there thinks Nashua is "the big city" and hates when he has to come down this way. His wife drags him to Boston every once in a while and he hates it. He has no interest in seeing a play or going to a concert; he'd rather ride his Harley, ski, or waterski.

However, his mom and his aunt (60's) who moved there in their 20's miss "civilization" and welcome chances to head south.

The job situation isn't great. Unless you wanna be a chambermaid, bartender or waitress, there aren't a lot of opportunities. It's not like Geoff described Killington, though. The Lincoln/Woodstock area is booming in the summer. This winter hasn't been great, and mud season came way too early.

One complaint I've heard from someone is the amount of gray days in the valley in the winter. That's something I know I couldn't handle.

I like where I live. It affords us lots of options.

I think "civilization" means diferent places to diferent people. Personally, I think resort towns/areas like here in the Mad River Valley or Jackson are way more civilized than NYC or LA. If your talking about culture/entertainment/malls I don't think that there is any disagreement that a big city has more options, especially the top tier venues/events.

I also think that there is alot of cutlural/entertainment activities is many resort towns that only a local pays much attention to. Stowe, Aspen or Jackson and many other resort towns has many art galleries, live theater, live music but these towns are small so the quantity is less. Your right, nothing much going on in Woodstock but go over the pass to North Conway lots of stuff going on, not just outlet stores.

Your right about the gray days, course that brings snow but not to many bluebird days like out west in the winter. In NE On average November is the cloudiest month with July being the sunniest, twice as many sunny days in July as November. Someone told me years ago that Vermont was the 5th cloudiest state but I don't think I have ever confirmed that. Really makes you look forward to the summers.

The notion that the only jobs available are service jobs is a myth perpectuated by people who have never lived in a resort town or ever looked at the yellow pages from a resort town. You also have professional, gov, business owners. Every ski resort or hotel has managers. Again, those are small towns so the numbers so the opportunites are less in number but there are locals in professional jobs from accountants to welders and everything in between.

The pay is usually lower in a resort town than in a large city and the COL is high but the clean air, gridlockless driving(most of the time) and living in a place others come to visit during their vacation time pretty much says it all for some. It's not for everyone. I guess it boils down to what particular "options" we all want in the place we all come home to.

 

[redalienx11]

good thread, and really interesting hearing everyone's opinions. I graduate in May, and it is valuable to hear the advice from others who have been here before.

I plan to try the resort/guiding life for awhile. I cant really picture myself with a 9-5 job. I guess if i had to I would.

Alaska from may - october, then salt lake from october-may etc (with the occasional overseas gig)....its a rhythm that I see my coworkers doing and I like. who knows how long term it is.
I have jobs lined up...but like someone said earlier, the shoulder seasons are what kills.

 

[Ski Diva]

My husband and I did this a few years ago. We moved from suburban Philly to the Ludlow area, and it was the best thing we've ever done. Hardly a day goes by when one of doesn't ask the other, "Do you miss Pennsylvania?" The answer is always the same: "NO." And why would I? I ski most weekdays and until this year, worked weekends at the base ski shop at Okemo. This was not to make a living; it was for the free passes and discounts. The off season is great, too. It's beautiful, there's hiking, biking, kayaking; if you love the outdoors, this is the place to be.

HOWEVER, the reasons we could do this were twofold 1) our daughter was grown and had made it through college, so that financial burden was off our backs; 2) we found ways to make a living that had nothing to do with the local economy. I don't think we could have done it otherwise. This is a fairly rural area, and the job market isn't suited to a lot of skills. If you want to move to a small ski town and need money to raise a family, I'd think seriously about this and try to find a job first.

Also, if you (or whomever you move with) love shopping malls and the cultural activities/nightlife more in keeping with urban areas, forget it. We get our fix when we go out of state, and for us, that's enough. I know for some people, this sort of thing is a deal breaker. I have a friend who says she could never move from MA because she had to be near a Whole Foods or a Trade Joe's. Forget that; you won't find them here in Vermont. Some things do require more effort, or you have to leave the state to find them. But to me, that's what makes it so great to be here. You leave all that stuff behind.

Living in a ski area is a trade-off. You have to consider your priorities and where you are in life, and if there's a fit, go for it. If you're like me, you won't look back.