Have you moved to be closer to a ski mountain?

[SallyCat]

I moved from northeast PA to Vermont last year at age 49. It wasn't primarily to ski, it was based on needing to care for an elderly parent, but once I left my job in PA it made sense to stay in VT because I'd always loved it for the skiing, biking, and general vibe.

I took a big hit financially because I didn't really plan it out, I just responded to a sudden family need and sort of found myself here. I worked at a ski resort over the winter and it pretty much sucked for all the reasons it would if you're a 49-year-old professional suddenly slinging ski lessons. I've found something closer to my profession these days, which is great; the pay is a little lower, but not horribly so.

I know that most people who relocate to ski wouldn't head for the east coast all other things being equal, but I've been very happy here. I deliberately did not choose Killington, Ludlow, et al. because I wanted a real community. I live on a mountain that used to be a ski area until it went bankrupt, which means affordable housing, backyard skinning whenever there's enough snow, and 40 miles of singletrack mountain biking outside my door. Not bad for year 'round quality of life. A nice community, too. We have the best general store in Northern New England and ready access to more cosmopolitan areas if that's your fancy.

 

[Guy in Shorts]

Moved to Vermont in 2002 when the hiring manger finally gave in to my three years of hounding him for a job. Working rotating shifts allowed more ski time than a normal job. Wife did the tele commuting gig for a few years until she tired of the corporate game and retired early. We both ski 100+ days a season and only miss days that we are away on vacation. Starting off most days form the top of the world puts you in a happy place. When you value skiing more than money you are ready to move to the mountain. Pick your area carefully as each has their good and bad points.

Love the long Oct-June Killington season and the core group of mountain folks that call this place home. Find a place that touches your heart then figure out how to live there. Then the ski days will add up by the hundreds then thousands.

 

[Scotty I.]

Without going into a lot of detail, I went from a lifetime of doing very well financially to having, quite literally, nothing. That included the end of a 31-year marriage. All that thanks to the 2008 economic downturn. I have lived in a mountain town an hour from Copper and 40 minutes from Denver since 1995. Skiing is the only thing that has caused me to retain anything resembling sanity. What keeps me going are those times when I feel that I skied a line perfectly - fast, hard, in control - the kind when kids are yelling "Yah dude!!" from the chairlift. When I end up at the bottom of that run, I start punching the air and acting as if I just scored the winning goal in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. There is no drug or drink in the world that gives you that kind of high. That's what I live for. The other times are pretty damn hard. I wouldn't change it for anything.

 

[Ross Biff]

There is a recurring theme here of taking a big salary hit to escape the rat race and move to a ski town or just closer to skiing. I spent my younger years with not too many ties working the regular assortment of ski town jobs and living on cereal and 2 minute noodles and having a ball. Then I grew up, got married, bought a house in the city and spent 15 years driving 6 hrs to go skiing. After a health scare and with my scientist wife tired of doing 60 hr work weeks we bit the bullet and moved to a quiet town of 1200 people at 3000 ft and a 50 min drive to skiing. The salary hit was big but so was the pay off with great mountain biking most of the year as well as the winter skiing. As has been pointed out, " when you value money less than skiing you're ready to make the move". Happy trails to all who have found their happy place. The suicide rate at altitude is a more complex matter and, I think, potentially more related to the type of people that are escaping something by moving to smaller and more anonymous environments but I have no hard data on this, just a gut feeling.

 

[Scruffy]

Without going into a lot of detail, I went from a lifetime of doing very well financially to having, quite literally, nothing. That included the end of a 31-year marriage. All that thanks to the 2008 economic downturn. I have lived in a mountain town an hour from Copper and 40 minutes from Denver since 1995. Skiing is the only thing that has caused me to retain anything resembling sanity. What keeps me going are those times when I feel that I skied a line perfectly - fast, hard, in control - the kind when kids are yelling "Yah dude!!" from the chairlift. When I end up at the bottom of that run, I start punching the air and acting as if I just scored the winning goal in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. There is no drug or drink in the world that gives you that kind of high. That's what I live for. The other times are pretty damn hard. I wouldn't change it for anything.

Great post, Scotty.

 

[slowrider]

Moved to Central Oregon to attend college/ski team and never left. That was +40 yrs ago.

 

[David Chaus]

I keep thinking about moving nearer a mountain when I/we retire. That said, we live on 10 acres near sea level and are still only 1 3/4 hours from skiing, with an average of 450” of snow and enough challenging terrain to keep one busy. If we moved to be in proximity to resorts we would want to be near, life would get more expensive and probably less favorable in most respects. We’d be closer to skiing, though, and there’s a point where that may be more important.

 

[scott43]

It's a bit harder up here. Really your options are out west, which has its own problems, or Quebec. More options in the USofA. You're lucky!

 

[Bruuuce]

Yes, we did a number of years ago and haven't regretted it at all. I left a corporate job at the peak of my career to consult (I just needed to be close to a regional airport) because this became true for us:

" when you value money less than skiing you're ready to make the move"

I'd add a lot more than skiing to what we value, but that's another thread.

If you are considering a move like that I second the comment to visit both during peak season and during mud/shoulder season. That will give you a better sense of what an area is like. Also, what are your priorities? Are you OK with 30-40 minutes to skiing (Salt Lake, Reno, etc.)? Or do you want to be really close? Is is dead in off season or does it have a nice feel. We made our final decision based on seeing towns during the depths of mud season. We'd scouted dozens of options so PM me if you ever want any info on what we found.

We found a place that is literally three miles from mountain biking on two mountains and also three miles from the base area. For us that is ideal. For others not so important and they want a rural or city life. We also wanted what I'd call a livable town. Yes, a grocery store or two, a couple of lumber yards, etc. No hour drives over passes...

Good luck and I also second the Warren Miller quote because none of us are getting younger.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

It's a bit harder up here. Really your options are out west, which has its own problems, or Quebec. More options in the USofA. You're lucky!

But you have Tim Hortons

 

[Philpug]

I live on a mountain that used to be a ski area until it went bankrupt, which means affordable housing, backyard skinning whenever there's enough snow, and 40 miles of singletrack mountain biking outside my door.

This was a brilliant move.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

One thing I'm still getting used to is the sleepiness of our area. I like it but I'm used to home where everything is at my fingertips within minutes. Here it's a much slower pace. Winters here at the mountains are go, go, go as our condo is on active mountain and our other main mountain is 10 miles up the road so winter we are very busy. Summer's up here are what took getting used to because we don't have to be anywhere at a certain time and the pace is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay slower so it is an adjustment. We also chose not to live in a big town/resort area so we knew what we were getting into but it was still an adjustment. We have disc golf out our window in the summer and lift served skiing right out our window in the winter so for us it's the ultimate. We also got lucky in that there's the grocery store right down the road and 2 local pubs to walk to from our unit but that's it so it's perfect. I wish we did this years ago but better late than never. I like the idea of talking to your SO, making a list, figuring out what's important to you both and I bet you can make something work.

 

[raisingarizona]

We retired a bit early & relocated to central Oregon several years ago. 40min from Mt Bachelor. Other ski areas - Hoodoo & MHM/Timberline are not too far away.

Wish we'd done it a lot sooner.

No one looks back and wishes they worked more

 

[Snowflake2420]

Like the others, consider what you value. Will your family be happy? There are plenty of people who don't ski, but still are very happy in ski towns because they don't mind winter (key) and find other outdoor activities they enjoy. Does this sound like your spouse? How close do you need to be to skiing, would a major metro be good enough? Are you willing to move without a job in place or not?

And if this is an opportunity to briefly tell my own story then yes I'll take you up on it. I lived in Washington, DC for five years building the beginning of my career. Good career and cultural opportunities, but ultimately not a long term fit for me: traffic, cost of living, etc etc. I was very fortunate to get a job in Denver, which was high on my list to be closer to skiing and outdoor activities and just a less stressful day to day life. I took a pay cut to move to Denver and change to a job I desired. I was also lucky to purchase a home here before things peaked and have been able to build my career again. There are times I get bummed about how much Denver has grown even in the short time since I've lived here, however, I still get to ski over 50-60 days per year and do lots of great backpacking, biking, hiking etc. and generally prefer the way of life in CO vs. east coast. And yes I do almost all my skiing on the weekend, so it is possible just requires patience and planning.

Now I just need to move closer to skiing

 

[Ski&ride]

No one looks back and wishes they worked more

Except if you’re a computer software engineer!

I’m on the wrong side of 50. Yet I’m still excited about going to work every morning, with the list of things I’ll accomplish in the office today. It’s FUN work. (Why the rest of the worlds parents don’t send their kids to do a CS degree is beyond me)

I “accidentally” move closer to skiing when, within weeks of closing on our weekend place I got a job offer nearby. 30 min commute to work and to skiing (just a little bump, but it’s skiing alright). And an hr shorter drive to most of my regular (“real”) skiing.

Turning a weekend escape into full time living exposed some drawback of my “main” home, lacking day to day convenience like grocery store and other supplies. Now we split our time between our city home and our dig in the sticks.

 

[Philpug]

Except if you’re a computer software engineer!

I’m on the wrong side of 50. Yet I’m still excited about going to work every morning, with the list of things I’ll accomplish in the office today. It’s FUN work.

If they stopped paying you, how long before you stopped showing up?

 

[x10003q]

If they stopped paying you, how long before you stopped showing up?

I needed to like this twice

 

[Ski&ride]

If they stopped paying you, how long before you stopped showing up?

If they stop paying me, I would write programs to do my own thing!

(I’m not doing my own because I want my spare time to ski & bike)

 

[SShore]

I work from home so we were able to move from the Atlanta area to Ennis, MT to be closer to the things we love, skiing, golf, flyfishing, hunting, having more antelope and deer for neighbors than people. My original thought when we moved was to get season passes at Bridger, but several things got us to Big Sky instead. On is that we ski mostly on the weekends and half of Bozeman is at Bridger on the weekend. While the other half may be at Big Sky, it is so large you don't notice them. The other is being able to use Jack's Creek Road makes Big Sky much easier to get to for us.

And do we regret it? Not one bit. We love living here. Ennis is a wonderful community. We live on the local (in fact only public course in the county) golf course so during the summer we can play golf or fish the Madison or any other numerous trout streams in the area, we hunt in the fall and ski all winter. It does suck a bit after ski season is over dealing with crappy spring (really just an extension of winter) weather, but is sure beats the hell out of the 9 month summer in Atlanta. We have already adopted the local attitude of now that we are here, we don't want anyone else to come. So move to Colorado, Summit County is awesome.

 

[Marker]

If they stop paying me, I would write programs to do my own thing!

(I’m not doing my own because I want my spare time to ski & bike)

As a research chemist, I understand where you are coming from. I have gotten a lot of satisfaction from successful projects and a creative career, and still do at 60. I'm currently on a flight to Buffalo for a plant trial! The difference is the high cost of chemical research, hard to do on your own. And corporate culture does drag on the soul.

We purchased a condo at Killington to prepare for retirement and make our current ski trips easier. Nice to be able to invite friends and family along, but the wife and I love those quiet weekdays for ourselves. Retirement is now an approaching light at the end of the tunnel, and looking forward to getting more ski days before the legs give out!

Killington is pretty quiet during the off season, so I can't see moving here permanently, but the goal is to spend most of the winter there.