Ski bumming

[prisnah]

Just wondering whether anyone here has done the ski bum thing for a winter or more....whether it be living outta your car or in a hostel and doing it on the cheap, being a college student in a clutch location, or something else....anyone who dedicated an entire winter to nothing but the pursuit of freshies?

Just wondering as I'm gonna give it a go this winter up at SR and any help, advice or experiences anyone could share would certainly help. Thanks!

 

[Marc]

I envy you. No advice though.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

If you skibum..I'd definitely do it out west. I was a skibum in Bozeman MT ffrom October of 2002 until April of 2004. My first choice was Jackson WY but living and skiing expenses were way more. My rent was under $300 a month and my season pass at Bridger Bowl was $500. I also had a frequency card at Big Sky which entitled me to 7 free ski days early season and 25-50% discounts the rest of the season. For work I had a number of jobs including working at a brewary bottling beer, delivering furniture, selling Satallite dishes, helping a friend who was a contractor, working at TNT fireworks warehouse, and selling magic show tickets over the phone. It was fun and the only time in my life when I was really broke. After 1.5 years as a skibum I was ready to move back to the rat race and get my career started. Alot of people I knew worked for Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, or the Yellowstone club but I never liked the idea of working while others were skiing...and I could never work at a ski area. I was 23-24 years old at the time..Your best bet for housing is look for a roommates wanted ad..that way all the furniture is already there..except the bed and you have people to split utilities with.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I envy you. No advice though.

Many envy, few do. I wonder why that is?...... Well not really I guess we all know.

 

[campgottagopee]

Did it

for fours years when I first got out of college up at Smuggs. I lived in my car for the first week until I got hooked up w/ some people that needed a housemate. And let me tell you it was friggin cold sleepin in that 1971 honda civic.
I taught skiing during the day and bartended/bounced at night. The best advise I could give would be to try and get some kinda job at a bar/resturant even if part time. That's where you'll meet all the people you'll need to know. Other than that enjoy every second of it. Like I said, I did it for four years and not a day goes buy without me thinking about it. Every night was a friday night and every day was a saturday. Wouldn't trade that in my life for anything.

 

[prisnah]

Steeze, I def. agree that doing it out west is the right way to do it....unfortunately i gotta wait till my little bro comes back from college in January or February so he can sublet me his apartment in Boulder....till then it's SR.....That being said, housing shouldn't be too big a deal...hoping to find something in Bethel, preferably on the mountain explorer route so I can limit driving as much as possible...I got a few options, right now best bet is looking like it might be a hostel/B&B/Dorm I know up there and see if they'll cut me a break on pricing since I'll be there for a few months at minimum. I don't know what I'm gonna do for work, if anything, but if I do it'll definitley be in the restaurant industry second or third shift. I gotta be honest, I'm getting a little nervous about the whole thing the closer the season gets....arguing in my own head, debating whether nows the time to do it, etc.....but I figure I'm leaving my current job either way so why not give it a shot before I get too old and have too many responsibilities and bills to pay.

 

[snoseek]

Steeze, I def. agree that doing it out west is the right way to do it....unfortunately i gotta wait till my little bro comes back from college in January or February so he can sublet me his apartment in Boulder....till then it's SR.....That being said, housing shouldn't be too big a deal...hoping to find something in Bethel, preferably on the mountain explorer route so I can limit driving as much as possible...I got a few options, right now best bet is looking like it might be a hostel/B&B/Dorm I know up there and see if they'll cut me a break on pricing since I'll be there for a few months at minimum. I don't know what I'm gonna do for work, if anything, but if I do it'll definitley be in the restaurant industry second or third shift. I gotta be honest, I'm getting a little nervous about the whole thing the closer the season gets....arguing in my own head, debating whether nows the time to do it, etc.....but I figure I'm leaving my current job either way so why not give it a shot before I get too old and have too many responsibilities and bills to pay.

bethel is pretty cheap but if you can drive a little check out west bethel or better yet rumford. very f@#$##@ cheap in rumford. absolutly do not work for the mountain. check out the bars in bethel or on the acess road. maine is a good pick if your going to live cheap, i hope your going up with a fistful of $$$ cause things take a real long time to get going in bethel.


btw- most restaurants in the area won't be to keen on hiring you if you plan on skipping town in the middle of the season. i wouldn't try to pull one over as bethel is a pretty small village. let them know ahead and maybe they will cut some slack in january.

 

[prisnah]

Thanks for the help snoseek....yeah, I'm certainly gonna take a look into west bethel and rumford now. Definitley figured it's gonna be tough getting work anywhere decent if I'm most likely going out to CO for the second half of the season, that's why I'm honestly leaning more towards just not working all winter.......plus if I'm not working it leaves time for more skiing.:grin:

Seriously though everyone, thanks for the advice......keep it coming!

 

[snoseek]

actually if your willing to sacrifice the two holiday weeks, then you might be able to work for the mountain and score a free pass. it has been done in the past. talk to people in the bars early, be social. lots of friendly people up there.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

You can ski bum east or west shouldn't matter. Like most things ski bumming has changed. My first winter was in Colorado. 69/70 Me and 2 buddies saved up some money so we never worked. We slept under stairwells, meet people and score a piece of floor at their place or many times we squeezed into my friends Barracuda fastback. One in the front, one behind that and one in the open trunk. One of my friends was a real smooth talker with the ladies so we scored places thru his silver tongue.

The best experience was Aspen , they had this place, the Independence Lodge(heard it's been gone for many years), $10 bucks a week for a room and a common kitchen. It was a short walk to the lifts. Bet Lloyd knows about it. A few resorts if you showed up at 7AM and packed trails for 2 hours you got a day ticket. I remember Snowmass was really great about this.

I can't believe I found these 2 pics from that winter. I took hundreds of o pics with my Instamatic, these were probably the only ones that were any good. :lol:

I think this is from Ajax....as you see the skiing really sucked. :wink: My memory is it was pretty much like that, snow at night, bluebird days. Lloyd if you can confirm it's Ajax please feel free.

This is my buddy Rob, he's from NYC..I am pretty sure it was the same day

Good luck to you as I bet it will be an experience for a lifetime. Personally I think Rumford is too far for SR plus you would miss the social part of being a ski bum. Hell, you'll probably end up working the night shift at the paper mill. :wink:

 

[ccskier]

I agree, don't work for the mountain. Work in a restaurant (NOT THE KITCHEN) or a bar. You can bar back, hopefully work up to bartender and make decent cash. Even working the door will pay the bills. Moving to a different area, even Stowe will yield higher pay. If you live in a true ski town you will appreciate your experience more. Stowe does have some decent housing if you look. Go to Craigslist, the Stowe Reporter, etc.. WIth Stowe you don't have to live in town to get the ski bum feeling. But the pass may kill you if you can't get a deal, but usually if your employer is a part of the Stowe Area Association you can get a break. Stowe is already a booming town on the verge of another explosin with the new stuff up a the mountain as well as what everyone on the Mountain Road who is getting ready to try and compete, it maybe an oppurtunity now. There are some decent places if you want to live right outside maybe Hyde Park, Elmore, etc... Plus living in that area you have access to Jay (50 mins), Smuggs, sugarbush, MRG (45 mins) and Burke about an hour. A good thing is if you have a pass at another mountain places like Jay will give you a break on the toll and charge 30-40 if you show another passs.

You will have to act now. These towns start filling up soon, most seasonal rentals do Oct/Nov to May/June.

Maybe I am partial to have lived there for a while, but if I was to do things all over again it would be there. It is an awesome year round town. Out of my close knit group of friends from College, there was a very small handful that actually left the area after college. In my opinion it is by far the best ski town in the East. I also got to spend some time with an old girlfriend who did it for the Vail Assocation for a winter, sure it was great staying in Vail, but out there as well as other areas around a lot of major resorts, it costs a hell of a lot more.

 

[ccskier]

Thanks for the help snoseek....yeah, I'm certainly gonna take a look into west bethel and rumford now. Definitley figured it's gonna be tough getting work anywhere decent if I'm most likely going out to CO for the second half of the season, that's why I'm honestly leaning more towards just not working all winter.......plus if I'm not working it leaves time for more skiing.:grin:

Seriously though everyone, thanks for the advice......keep it coming!

Sorry for the ramble, did not read all the posts, you can throw out my twelve cents.

 

[snoseek]

also try connecting rentals. most of her seasonal listings will want $$$ up front, but there may be some good deals.


also try the sunday river board, usually people start listing stuff about now.

 

[wintersyndrome]

My only advise is try not to have a lapse in your health coverage. I was living in Summit County, CO decided to play Ice hockey one night, made one wrong turn and I needed surgery on my ankle.
it was a bad scene. Other than that little tidbit about health insurance, have fun.

 

[L2RAFO]

Steeze, I def. agree that doing it out west is the right way to do it....unfortunately i gotta wait till my little bro comes back from college in January or February so he can sublet me his apartment in Boulder....till then it's SR.....That being said, housing shouldn't be too big a deal...hoping to find something in Bethel, preferably on the mountain explorer route so I can limit driving as much as possible...I got a few options, right now best bet is looking like it might be a hostel/B&B/Dorm I know up there and see if they'll cut me a break on pricing since I'll be there for a few months at minimum. I don't know what I'm gonna do for work, if anything, but if I do it'll definitley be in the restaurant industry second or third shift. I gotta be honest, I'm getting a little nervous about the whole thing the closer the season gets....arguing in my own head, debating whether nows the time to do it, etc.....but I figure I'm leaving my current job either way so why not give it a shot before I get too old and have too many responsibilities and bills to pay.

If you don't mind me asking, since you plan on heading out to Co. anyway, why don't you just head out West somewhere first instead of hanging in the East? Certainly going to have the same, or even more opportunities out there, and then you head over to Boulder. Although, if you're planning a ski bum Winter, why deal with the commute time from Boulder to the front range stuff?

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Steeze, I def. agree that doing it out west is the right way to do it....unfortunately i gotta wait till my little bro comes back from college in January or February so he can sublet me his apartment in Boulder....till then it's SR.....That being said, housing shouldn't be too big a deal...hoping to find something in Bethel, preferably on the mountain explorer route so I can limit driving as much as possible...I got a few options, right now best bet is looking like it might be a hostel/B&B/Dorm I know up there and see if they'll cut me a break on pricing since I'll be there for a few months at minimum. I don't know what I'm gonna do for work, if anything, but if I do it'll definitley be in the restaurant industry second or third shift. I gotta be honest, I'm getting a little nervous about the whole thing the closer the season gets....arguing in my own head, debating whether nows the time to do it, etc.....but I figure I'm leaving my current job either way so why not give it a shot before I get too old and have too many responsibilities and bills to pay.

Screw your brothers apartment in Boulder..Boulder Colorado is not in ski country..it's almost 2 hours from most mountains..and there are better places to ski than the Colorado front range.

 

[L2RAFO]

Screw your brothers apartment in Boulder..Boulder Colorado is not in ski country..it's almost 2 hours from most mountains..and there are better places to ski than the Colorado front range.

Then again, I could have said it like that.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Then again, I could have said it like that.

I didn't see your post until two seconds ago..smart minds..think alike..you're O.K. but what does your screen-name stand for..

 

[L2RAFO]

but what does your screen-name stand for..

You've gotta tell me at this point ( which just goes to show, you should never decide to become an AZ member after a long day at the track ) and that many IPAs ))!!!

 

[kbroderick]

Sunday River is probably a good place to be, if you're planning on Colorado after December anyhow. Their snowmaking abilities are hard to beat, and there are a few reasonable bars in Bethel (along with a reasonable number of ski bums). However, I wouldn't ski bum at Sunday River for a full year--they just don't get enough natural snow. If you're going to stay in the East, look anywhere along the northern Green Mountain spine (Sugarbush / Smuggs / Stowe / Bolton / Jay) for 300" or more a year of natural snow; otherwise, head West. SLC might be a worthwhile option, as you can be darn close to the mountains and still have access to grocery stores and whatnot without a car.