What's stopping you?

Just curious about the rest of you. I don't get out nearly as much as I'd like to. For me it's the usual stuff that prevents me from skiing as much as I want- family commitments, work, school etc. So how many of us ski as much as we want and, if not, why not? I think a lot of us Envy the guys that live out west so what's stopping you from moving to Utah, Colorado or Montana? Or France for that matter...

Unlike many here I want to move to NY when I retire. It's where my heart is. The Adirondacks are incredible to me, I love the history, the mountains, the abundance of water and the variety of trees. Also most of my friends live there. I like Vermont a lot too, and I hope to ski there often as well. Nordic skiing and MTB are good in the Adk and on our land too. I want to be able to easily get exercise every day.

What is stopping me from skiing more is the distance.  I'd ski every weekend day and some weekdays if I lived within 50 miles of a Catskills or Adk hill. I don't mind the driving, but my girls don't feel the same way and they don't want me away from home all the time.

Two things keeping me in the flatlands now. The wants/needs of my family and my career. I spend almost my entire working career (30 years) with the same company and had an opportunity to buy (half of) it in January of 2016. Like anyone who works anywhere I always felt that I would make changes if I had the chance. So let's see how I do.

I'll be 65 when Neve graduates from high school and will be moving away to college. It seems like a logical time to retire and build a house on our land.  My wife has alway felt to some extent that our current house was my house (I bought it before we met) and she's dreamed of building "our house" together. I think that could be fun.

What stops me is work,and the fact that it is a three hour drive one way to hill I ski at. I live in Metro Detroit and we have some 250'-300 hills 45min-1hr away but the place I go to is close to 500' which still isn't big but it's close to double the size of the closer hills and they have a $99 weekend season pass which is hard to pass up.I did get out 8 times last year, but would have loved to go more.'

Mi Skier wrote

What stops me is work,and the fact that it is a three hour drive one way to hill I ski at. I live in Metro Detroit and we have some 250'-300 hills 45min-1hr away but the place I go to is close to 500' which still isn't big but it's close to double the size of the closer hills and they have a $99 weekend season pass which is hard to pass up.I did get out 8 times last year, but would have loved to go more.'

8 times?

Does somebody pay you good money to receive bj's from beautiful woman and taste test beer?

I generally ski/ snowboard twice during the week and most weekends but what generally keeps me away is my involvement in cribbage and pool leagues, going to the gym, seeing my girlfriend and work.

The cribbage and pool leagues I am extremely vested in because they are some other hobbies I really enjoy.

I have been overweight most of my life and I try to get to the gym as much as possible to try and combat that. As soon as I start not going to the gym, but still stay active in activities, I still gain weight, so I try to balance the two.

My girlfriend lives an hour and a half away so I generally don't get the chance to see her everyday so I have to take time to see her, she is learning to snowboard so we will be going together soon.

I work until 3:30 M-F and I usually go after work to night ski but I really enjoy my work and it's a career path I love and have wanted to do since I was in middle school. I had a few jobs lined up out west but they didn't offer me the compensation needed to live there and enjoy myself.

Mi Skier wrote

What stops me is work,and the fact that it is a three hour drive one way to hill I ski at. I live in Metro Detroit and we have some 250'-300 hills 45min-1hr away but the place I go to is close to 500' which still isn't big but it's close to double the size of the closer hills and they have a $99 weekend season pass which is hard to pass up.I did get out 8 times last year, but would have loved to go more.'

 Hey I used to live in Michigan myself, I live in Wisconsin now and hit Bohemia quite a bit myself, let me know when you go next time!

This is simple..My wife said no...

something about friends and kids..

If you are outdoor enthusiast, hands down the west is better...better skiing , mtb , weather, hunting , etc...

JasonWx wrote

This is simple..My wife said no...something about friends and kids..

That definately sounds familiar... not sure where I heard that before...

raisingarizona wrote

Mi Skier wrote

What stops me is work,and the fact that it is a three hour drive one way to hill I ski at. I live in Metro Detroit and we have some 250'-300 hills 45min-1hr away but the place I go to is close to 500' which still isn't big but it's close to double the size of the closer hills and they have a $99 weekend season pass which is hard to pass up.I did get out 8 times last year, but would have loved to go more.'

8 times?

Does somebody pay you good money to receive bj's from beautiful woman and taste test beer?

Not sure what you are implying, but to each his own.

MidwestTeleMan wrote

Mi Skier wrote

What stops me is work,and the fact that it is a three hour drive one way to hill I ski at. I live in Metro Detroit and we have some 250'-300 hills 45min-1hr away but the place I go to is close to 500' which still isn't big but it's close to double the size of the closer hills and they have a $99 weekend season pass which is hard to pass up.I did get out 8 times last year, but would have loved to go more.'

 Hey I used to live in Michigan myself, I live in Wisconsin now and hit Bohemia quite a bit myself, let me know when you go next time!

I have never been to Bohemia. It's on the bucket list. wouldn't be able to happen until 2019/2020. There are personal reasons behind it. I ski mainly at Caberfae Peaks in Cadillac

All’s he’s saying is that the only job he can envision being good enough to limit himself to 8 days a year skiing is one in which he gets paid to receive bjs and drink beer.

For me it’s kids and lifestyle.....necessitating the NYC job and related commute.....that limit me.  Of course that has all been by choice, so I can’t bitch and moan.

It depends on the time of year for me.

November/December/Early January is always tough in the east. It's dark. It's gray. Snow is spotty. We're usually stuck on groomers. And then we look at all these pictures of people ripping deep snow out west and wonder wtf we're doing.

But by the end of the season, I always feel like I've gotten plenty of skiing in, had a bunch of really good days, and I'm ready for mountain bike & golf season to start.

Why don't I ski more? I mean, I've probably had over 70 days in each of the past 20 years, so I don't really feel like I'm missing out on any ski time. I can generally take powder days off, so that works out well, too. And I'm skiing somewhere every weekend. I'm okay with the amount of skiing I'm getting. It's the quality that's somewhat lacking.

Why don't I move out west? Job and house and money. If I could magically transport my job to Jackson Hole, sure, I'd move in a second. But I don't want to have to scrape by with 3-4 resort town jobs that pay poorly. And who can afford a house in a western ski town with the meager salaries those jobs pay? My brother works at Squaw, but he lived in a rented room in a house with 6 other ski bums. I'm past that point in my life. I like my own stuff.

My plan is to MMM my way to a decent retirement cushion, build up enough home equity and savings so that I'd feel comfortable selling the house and taking a mid-life (45 years old or so) sabbatical for a few years to adventure around the western U.S., Canada, Alaska (that's why I'm interested in the "Small Trailer..." Thread). I'd scope out towns for living potential, bike and ski my ass off, reconnect with friends and family, party, hang out, maybe learn to surf in Mexico. I'd take a couple of those poorly paying resort jobs to deal with expenses & healthcare (if possible), but nothing too serious. Then, after a couple of years, I'll look at how the money is holding up, and I'll either keep going (I think it'd be awesome to live in the Alps for a winter or New Zealand for a summer, but that would involve a yuge market surge) or live in one of those towns I scoped out West.

But who knows? Maybe I'll decide that I want to move back east. The dirty secret is that it's a lot easier to be a ski bum in the east. Plenty of towns like Chestertown or Roxbury or Montgomery Center, VT or Kingfield, ME or Gorham, NH where you can buy super cheap houses and just live free and clear, even on mediocre wages.

I like visiting the west, but I think that if I move there too early, I'm going to be one of those people who gets spoiled by the snow, and loses my stoke for east coast skiing. I figure that if I can just practice a little stoicism for a few more years here, I will appreciate the west that much more when I actually start narrowing down places to potentially live.

Sorry for the long post, but you asked, so I thought I'd let you know the current plan.

Certainly can't argue with 70 days. I haven't gotten that since I worked at the mountain myself

  Matt living the dream. Good on ya.
  Laziness, love of beer, and lack of sleep is what usually stops me from skiing. Then there's hunting season, house projects, family affairs, and shitty snow. Time for a Max Pass and some red eye flights...

Red eyes have greatly improved my skiing life the last two years!

Where'd ya think I got the idea from? I been paying attention. Would be nice to fly out of Stewart or White Plains.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Sorry for the long post, but you asked, so I thought I'd let you know the current plan.

I love reading stuff like this.  

If I'm remembering correctly it seems like your plan has evolved a bit, IMO it's even better.

Who really knows what a "decent retirement cushion" is.  I don't. I've artificially decided that it is however much I have when turn 65. I also think I'm a bit of a stoic, I hope.

The thing about moving to the Adk is that I'll get 70 or 100(!) days if I'm healthy instead of 35 and instead of 2 or 3 pow days, I'll get all of them. Gore is plenty of mountain for a guy pushing 70. (Gulp).

The other thing that factors into my thinking is nordic skiing. 3 inches of new snow is a great day on cross country skis. Garnet Hill is awesome, and very close by.
 
My first year of retirement, if there is any way possible, I'm skiing everything lift-served in New York.  And visiting Smuggs as much as humanly possible. I'm really looking forward to it.

Harv that sounds like a good plan..

as far as what we need in retirement...I think it will boil down to health car costs..

i live in the albany area so can get to gore,mnt snow or platty in under 2hrs. i used to ski 30-40 times a year before full time job and kids. kids are grown so i can ski whenever i want.  conditions are really what is holding me back. after 40 years of skiing i just find cursing the groomers boring as hell. i bank 5 vacations days a year to chase midweek powder.
i  also bought a tele setup for the cruiser days i would not normally not alpine.this got me out 4 times last year. working for ny  state keeps me locked into ny until i can retire at 55. once retired i would love to check out Colorado or arizona for a winter. arizona might be a good balance for my wife who is losing her interest in skiing.