Questions concerning "my year to be a ski bum"

My situation is perfectly set up for me to move out West and be a ski bum. I'm just now starting to get some info on where the best place for me to move is.
I'd like more input about my options:
#1 Whistler/ anything British Columbia. That whole......moving to Canada thing. Has anyone gone through this?
#2a. Salt Lake City
#2b. Seattle area
#3. Tahoe.

I just want more info on where the 'ski/snowboard' community lives. ie do most people live in slc or at the base of snowbird/alta?

thanks!

Pfunkride":3cwdsm9x said:

My situation is perfectly set up for me to move out West and be a ski bum. I'm just now starting to get some info on where the best place for me to move is.
I'd like more input about my options:
#1 Whistler/ anything British Columbia. That whole......moving to Canada thing. Has anyone gone through this?

Click to expand...

It's not terribly simple unless you have a NAFTA-listed job waiting for you in Canada.

Pfunkride":3cwdsm9x said:

#2a. Salt Lake City

Click to expand...

I think that you know my thoughts on this one, but if not I'll be happy to elaborate on any specific questions.

Pfunkride":3cwdsm9x said:

#2b. Seattle area

Click to expand...

IMO too pricey, too grey/rainy, and the skiing's not next door.

Pfunkride":3cwdsm9x said:

#3. Tahoe.

Click to expand...

Not a bad option, and living in Reno is reasonable, although if you live there you're 45 minutes from North Tahoe areas, and much more from South Tahoe.

Pfunkride":3cwdsm9x said:

I just want more info on where the 'ski/snowboard' community lives. ie do most people live in slc or at the base of snowbird/alta?

Click to expand...

SLC. There's precious little in the canyons, and for gosh sakes, the Salt Lake Valley starts a mere 6 miles down the canyon from the skiing.

When Marc was considering his move west, I sent him the following rank of metro areas purely based upon skiing:

1. SLC
2. Reno
3. Vancouver
4. Seattle
5. Denver
6. Sacramento
7. Portland
8. Spokane
9. Calgary

No one has the close-in distances to as much variety of skiing as Salt Lake. Admin may sneer at the Reno-to-Tahoe distances but they are very attractive compared to everywhere but SLC.

The skiing potential of Seattle is amply demonstrated by Larry Schick's 2005-06 season described partway down this recent thread http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=2136 . Yes it's more expensive than most of the other places, but if you get a decent job there (hopefully with some flexibility if not the carte blanche that Larry has) you will be very pleased with the skiing in most seasons.

Denver and Sacramento have daytrip access to a multitude of ski areas, but they have more serious traffic/congestion issues, particularly on the weekends.