Best Colleges for Skiing?

We’ve made “ski bumming” so difficult with shitty wages and outrageous real estate, and we’ve hammered away at kids to make them think college is just 13th grade and it’s what you have to do to appease parents and society’s expectations.

If skiing is the real priority, go skiing. Take an online class or two while you wash dishes or tune rental skis or teach ski-wees.  Go to college when you’re ready.

The question then is: if you were an 18 year old east coast skier kid, with $2000 saved up from your shitty summer job, your parents old car, on your parents health plan......where would you move to to give the ski bum thing a real shot? In 2019.

It's big business...just went through ridiculous situation at TCNJ with my 22 y.o.'s situation there. He graduated and come to find out, he changed his career path at the 11 1/2th hour, though completed his studies. Announced it in the car on the way to the restaurant after the graduation ceremony! He was slated to be an educator, now he's a sales guy working for Paychex. Decided babysitting and steaming ready to assault on or more students on a daily basis was not for him. He really didn't appreciate the day he saw a chair fly by his head. He told the authorities to get the student who threw the chair parent's in the next day. They responded, "the parents are worse than the students" and we won't bother". Just wonderful.  Thank goodness for his student teaching experience which opened his eyes (literally) to the fact it was not for him. He did however gain some experience as a zoo curator. It's a f'ed up world at times.
Back to original topic...Let's all not forget the "who you know" factor. Major contributor to many folk's success. I've seen all kinds of shit go down in this arena. Not knocking this..have benefited by this myself a few times, but unlike many others, at least I was able to justify my existence through my performance on the job.

Jon951 wrote

I vote for trade school and become plumber or electrician. Avoid coming out of school in enormous debt (or parents for that matter), make own schedule, don't flatten one's ass out on desk chair, cherry pick jobs and make mucho $$, and don't answer to some incompetent schmuck every day if that's how it all pans out following college graduation. Why blow the big bag for a piece of paper? Only one of our 3 sons actually pursues his major. College is big business and big waste of money IMHO. Flame on. Hone skills while training and learn to deal with the general public and strive for customer satisfaction trough performance and honesty. Done. Oh..and ski where ever one likes. Oh...forgot the main thing...45k to fuel beer drinking for many insane. Better off staying home and drinking for 4 years and only be in 5k debt per year (quick calculation based on modest consumption. Probably way off the mark here, but you get the gist.

This is an excellent choice that many people forget about. There are a number of plumbers, electricians and remodel guys in my neighborhood. However, it is not so easy - licensing for plumbing and electrician takes years and you better take care of your body and hope you have good genetics so you can continue to work in your 40s and 50s and beyond. The plumber on my street would not let his 2 boys anywhere near his plumbing business. They both went to college for IT. The electrician's boy works with him in the business while he goes to school for electrical engineering.

x10003q wrote

 "However, it is not so easy - licensing for plumbing and electrician takes years"

Apparently not in the ADKS and as far down as Albany and even further as I understand. License not required which is insane IMHO.

"And you better take care of your body and hope you have good genetics so you can continue to work in your 40s and 50s and beyond"

Concur

witch hobble wrote

Where would you move to to give the ski bum thing a real shot? In 2019.

SLC

Interesting that a guy in the trades (plumbing) doesn’t want his own kids going anywhere near it.....maybe the grass isn’t greener?

Maybe they have "Ladyfingers" and are destined for failure, lmao.
Or, he doesn't want them to stumble across this guy...

JTG4eva! wrote

Interesting that a guy in the trades (plumbing) doesn’t want his own kids going anywhere near it.....maybe the grass isn’t greener?

He looks trim and healthy, but years of maneuvering furnaces and water heaters and squeezing into tight spaces have ruined his back. He also thinks his respiratory problems are from inhaling the fumes from soldering copper. He says the money is decent, but the physicality is brutal.
 

Wolfe Creek

Terrace BC.

Taos NM.

Life is too short to spend it doing something that you don’t want to be doing. You will never get those hours back and that’s not really worth any amount of money imo.

witch hobble wrote

The question then is: if you were an 18 year old east coast skier kid, with $2000 saved up from your shitty summer job, your parents old car, on your parents health plan......where would you move to to give the ski bum thing a real shot? In 2019.

I had that question over 25 years ago.  My first choice was to live in SLC and drive the 45 min. to the hills each day.  I thought living in a city would be cheaper.  It didn't work out, but that was Plan A.

tjf1967 wrote

Wolfe Creek

Interesting. And live where? Pagosa Springs I guess.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lower-hudson-valley-engineering-expo-2019-tickets-45515644518?fbclid=IwAR1PQpf8ApnG3aUg404nW25WEVHaq6DkuHR3FDh4pG9EmOzKwNoJC0BdHKg

Thanks for sharing that Johnny. I’m gonna try to get junior over there I think

Looks like my son is going to choose between SUNY Plattsburgh (proximity to ADKs and skiing) or SUNY New Paltz (a better chance at running for the Cross Country team, and a little better academically).  He’s been accepted to Geneseo and Oswego, but Geneseo isn’t as good a fit on the business programs he’s interested in, and both Geneseo and Oswego are not ideally located for much of anything.  Not that I pushed it on my end, but him choosing to go the SUNY route will definitely be easier on the pocketbook than putting my daughter through Emerson.

A nice feature of Plattsburgh is their participation in the National Student Exchange program, which none of the other schools offer.  That would allow him (at our NY State tuition cost) to spend a semester (spring obviously) near the mountains of Utah, Montana, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming or Arizona.

If he goes to Plattsburgh and wants to do interesting stuff, suggest that he double major in whatever business thing he's into and this program:

https://www.plattsburgh.edu/programs/expeditionary-studies-major.html

After visiting and learning more about their programs I definitely though that was an option.  Combining his interest in running and fitness with the expeditionary studies program could have some real potential.  The wife thinks a business degree is the safer option, but that could still be a solid double.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

If he goes to Plattsburgh and wants to do interesting stuff, suggest that he double major in whatever business thing he's into and this program:

https://www.plattsburgh.edu/programs/expeditionary-studies-major.html

That seems pretty cool.  Especially in a double major situation.

I am curious to what programs Plattsburgh had that Geneseo did not have?