This is nice

The intro in this months issue of Powder really nails it imho

Yup.

I have awesome dreams sometimes.

+1.  Thanks for sharing RA.  

I-We came back home, I'm in an office wearing a tie, hair combed neatly up as I type this...
This time of season is terribly difficult for both my wife and I.  Are we doing what's "right", are we selfish?  Glances back and forth, should we just drop it all and jump ship?

I concur with all of the above

I'm glad I got to do that on some level for a short part of my life

Too bad reality sets in and takes us over

Chris wrote

we doing what's "right", are we selfish?  Glances back and forth, should we just drop it all and jump ship?

This is a central question.

Chris wrote

This time of season is terribly difficult for both my wife and I.  Are we doing what's "right", are we selfish?  Glances back and forth, should we just drop it all and jump ship?

Ugh. Tell me about it. It's such a tough time of year to be a Skier in the east. You start to see really nice conditions out west, and I just got another core shot from the gravel road they called "Quicksilver" on Sunday. It wasn't that good on Saturday either.

I, too, am dealing with "why don't we sell the house and just move" questions from the significant other.

And really, how much more winter do we have left out here? Without some solid powder days, this 3 months of gray, dark and cold (just not quite cold enough) is pretty close to unbearable.

Colorado has 300 days of sunshine a year and legal weed. Western Oregon has copious sunshine as well, great mountains, and legal weed. Washington State has really nice places to live, is driving distance to amazing mountains in BC and the Cascades, has Major League Baseball, NFL football, and legal weed. California has beautiful mountains, beaches, mountain biking, and legal weed. Idaho has lakes and forests, Montana has mountains and rivers, and Arizona has great mountain biking (and sweet skiing, too, although not quite enough snow in some years).

At the same time, the grass is not always greener, and human beings are creatures of routine. I'm sure I'd fall into some lazy routines if I lived in some ski town out west, too. I'd most likely have a boring job, and, after an initial period of niceties, I'd probably start to get annoyed by people there, too.

I don't have any answers. I'm going to live other places at some point in my life. I just have some reckoning to do first.

I'm constantly being asked to "take Roy off the grid". Westworld is not helping, either.

mattchuck2 wrote

 

And really, how much more winter do we have left out here? Without some solid powder days, this 3 months of gray, dark and cold (just not quite cold enough) is pretty close to unbearable.

 

Valid!

campgottagopee wrote

mattchuck2 wrote

 

And really, how much more winter do we have left out here? Without some solid powder days, this 3 months of gray, dark and cold (just not quite cold enough) is pretty close to unbearable.

 

Valid!

The good news  - on Dec 13, in Saratoga Springs, the sun sets 1 minute later than the day before (4:21pm).

Ski bummery isn't for everyone,most adults are not selfesh enough, that was never a problem for me.
I've been in deep my whole life.

I for one would like to here more about this^^^^^

You made the comment regarding one of RA's videos that you had the pleasure of chasing some of those skiers around. Care to share your story 2000yoskier?

You can live in a descent place, make a good living and still live the ski bum lifestyle if you want it. It doesn't have to be all or nothing you know?

Over the years I have gotten to know plenty of people that pull this off really well.

It's best though to start figuring this out before college so you can end up in a position that opens up plenty of ski days and be somewhere that doesn't completely suck.

I think we need a thread for this.   Someone can start it or I will try to break this out tonight.

To me it is a core issue for the forum, and you've got at least two groups who've taken different paths.

I've always thought that being a ski bum was more about what's in someones soul than their bank account.
Nor do you have to ski every day, or bell to bell.
If you travel a little and show up alot , for long enough,  you would be surprised how many cool people you meet in this great life
Right now I'm about ready to jump outa my skin, Big Mt. opens 12/7 and with the weekends 10-16"of new things are looking mighty fine.

Camp, here is a quick Bio, started with St. Anton in 1977 , MRV in '78,VAL D'isere in 79, and 80 back in MRV.
Between 1980 and 1996 I worked building a business with a very ambitious partner.Skiing was limited to a ten day western trip and weekday eastern powder chasing. 100 hour plus weeks were normal.
I made the break in November 1997 and skied Taos,  living 200 yards from lift # 1.
I found Whitefish ( or it found me)  in the fall of 1998 , and I could'nt be happier.

Harvey wrote

I think we need a thread for this.   Someone can start it or I will try to break this out tonight.

To me it is a core issue for the forum, and you've got at least two groups who've taken different paths.

Haven't we had that thread before? I swear I've commented at length regarding my move and the grass always being greener than wherever you currently are. Though I've only moved north, never west (don't really care to, either).

Regarding winter in the northeast and climate change, don't forget the climate change will impact different regions in different ways and it is entirely possibly the northeast could retain its snow/cold while western areas lose theirs, no one knows at this point but it does seem that different regions will/are be/being affected in different ways...

I know you are right.  New topics are hard to come by.

Still it's a topic that interests me.  Maybe some new stories to tell and hear too.

2000yearoldskier wrote

Camp, here is a quick Bio, started with St. Anton in 1977 , MRV in '78,VAL D'isere in 79, and 80 back in MRV.
 

OK, how the hell did you go from Austria to VT, then France back to VT --- there's a few stories there

Ski bumming in the 70's, WHOA --- sex, drugs, and rock-N-roll

I don't think it matters where you live. The theme or idea of the intro is something we can all experience wherever we go ski a lot. For Harvey this could be his ritual of going to North Creek on the weekends or for Camp a week long storm at GP, skiing each day followed by some apres.

The last few years (like 8) I've become much busier with parenting, working, and school for the last three, so even though I'm not a full time carefree ski-bum I still get my moments. I had some killer days last week up on the hill and we even closed down the bar twice. I told my buddies that sometimes I forget why I love this sport so much, sometimes the whole ritual and dedication seems silly and pointless to me but then you have those days or weeks where nothing else in this world makes as much sense. After I said that my friend JP told me to read this intro because it related.

I'm in the midst of four exams over the next two weeks, it's finals time and all I can think about is getting this over with so I can get back up on the mountain. I got teased and now this is like being tortured. I'm really burnt out on this school shit. Hopefully we get cycled over break, I could really use some ski bum time.