# Weekend Warrior Life



## ctoma (Aug 9, 2011)

I'm right there with you, big fella. One trip west each season, a few weekends in northern MI, and if I'm lucky a few times on the local hills.


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

I just did a count on a calendar and saw that there were 20 weekends between 11/26 (opening day) and 4/9 (closing day), so 40 non-workdays over that time period. Suddenly having 34 days out of 40 potential days looks pretty damn good. I rode *85%* of the time that it was possible for me to ride...while going to University full time, and working full time, and family. Fuuu what the heck.

You're on the SE side right? You had an even longer haul to anything decent to ride.


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## BuckarooBanzai (Feb 2, 2017)

That's hardcore man. For me I'm going to do what I can to AVOID weekends. The wife and I are already planning on taking a day off every other week to hit the local hill on top of a week at Stowe and then probably a half-week at Sugarloaf. I'm trying to wrangle a trip to Colorado with the "boys" too.

With all the other commitments, that's about the max I can do.


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## ctoma (Aug 9, 2011)

sabatoa said:


> You're on the SE side right? You had an even longer haul to anything decent to ride.


Yep, between Detroit and Ann Arbor, closer to A².

And yep, getting up to northern MI takes planning, no spontaneous "let's head up north"-type trips for me.

My wife and I are already planning our Winter 2018 trip to Utah, starting to get things lined up.


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

Hopefully they have another season like this one, it's badass out there. I'm heading to BC for our trip next season.


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## zc1 (Feb 20, 2017)

BuckarooBanzai said:


> That's hardcore man. For me I'm going to do what I can to AVOID weekends. The wife and I are already planning on taking a day off every other week to hit the local hill on top of a week at Stowe and then probably a half-week at Sugarloaf. I'm trying to wrangle a trip to Colorado with the "boys" too.
> 
> With all the other commitments, that's about the max I can do.


I'm looking to do a lot more mid-week riding next season, and I've changed my schedule at work accordingly :wink:


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## BuckarooBanzai (Feb 2, 2017)

It's amazing what a difference mid-week makes. Gotta love getting onto a lift right away after each run.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

zc1 said:


> I'm looking to do a lot more mid-week riding next season, and I've changed my schedule at work accordingly :wink:


I _will_ be doing a lot more mid-week riding, as I've changed my work schedule to "I quit."

:dance::dance1::dance1:


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## zc1 (Feb 20, 2017)

Donutz said:


> I _will_ be doing a lot more mid-week riding, as I've changed my work schedule to "I quit."
> 
> :dance::dance1::dance1:


Haha! 2:


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

BuckarooBanzai said:


> It's amazing what a difference mid-week makes. Gotta love getting onto a lift right away after each run.


I'm lucky, my hill is like that on weekends when it's not a holiday.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

It's guys like you that actually keep snowboarding going.


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## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

Another weekend warrior here. I get about 40+ days that includes my vacation days from work during the season. I normally just stay at my local mountain but occasionally go to Big Sky or Bridger bowl. I have not gone out of state this year but always planning one each season if possible. This weekend is our last for the season so time to switch to hiking trips:smile: oh wait, Beartooth Pass will be opening at memorial weekend so i think my snowboarding days might not be over yet:wink:


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

I'm a weekend warrior as well, but it ain't over yet! Another Mt. Bachelor trip this weekend. All the local mtns close this weekend so maaaaaaybe one more time up to Whistler.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

I should be around bachelor this weekend. Fortunately my work schedule allows alot of time back home this summer. 7 on and 7 off... in San Francisco again...


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

lucky punks


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Another member of the WW club...may get a few more days in...if I can manage to hike uphill


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## ekb18c (Mar 11, 2013)

I'm a weekend warrior with 1-2 week long trips and usually days trips to hunter mountain.

This year went to:

1) Hunter
2) Attitash
3) Wildcat
4) Lake Louise
5) Norquey
6) Sunshine
7) Meadows
8) Timberline
9) Mt. Snow
10) Jay Peak
11) Valle Nevado (if you count season starting in Sept)

I don't even want to calculate the money i spent. (Gas, tolls, airbnb, flights, tickets besides the peak pass) This year I think i sold off more boards than i bought, sold 3, bought 1.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

Let's see...14 day trips, 360 miles times 14 = 5.040 miles or 8.111 Km this season. All pow days )


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## snowman2045 (Feb 4, 2017)

*Mid week warrior*



BuckarooBanzai said:


> It's amazing what a difference mid-week makes. Gotta love getting onto a lift right away after each run.


Ditto here, I won't even think about hitting the local bumps around me on a wked, I much prefer getting as many runs in as possible with no waiting in line.

There is also the financial cost of riding on the weekends, verses the lower mid week rate. I used to drive up north just for a day trip(460 mi round trip) to Boyne mtn., but, holy smokes, they want 80 bucks for a wked ticket now. The only way I'm dishing out that is if it's 10 in. or more of freshies. Seems like the older I get, the picker I get about what I'll put my board on, aka Michigan frozen tundra. Thank goodness, I have family in UT!


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

Great article! Haha, my car DEFINITELY looks like that all winter long.

I work full time so I can afford the snow habit. I shelled out for lots of classes this season and I'm halfway decent now. :grin:

Next season I'll aim for the odd weekday, but holding on to the job for dear life (and it is! Ain't nobody gonna give me food without money)


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

I wish I could go back to at least weekend warrior status. Between work and family and all the other excuses I'm lucky if I ever get more than like 7 days a season. Luckily Revy has a family pass where one parent can ride the bunny hill with the kids while the other rides the rest of the hill. It's been a long time coming but my kids are finally getting old enough to enjoy time at the hill. My two girls both rocked it hard this year skiing, so I'm sure going as much as possible will be so much less of an issue. I just hope next year will be as good as it was here last season.


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## snowman55 (Feb 17, 2012)

Lucky for me, my company provides unlimited paid sick days. They also encourage you to stay home when sick so that it doesn't get spread to other employees.

Funny how I would feel sick when I call in to the office, but feel so much better once I get to the slopes. Snow must have some kind of magical healing powers or something. It's also weird that I feel sick whenever there is a big snow storm.


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## DoubleA (Apr 30, 2014)

snowman55 said:


> Lucky for me, my company provides unlimited paid sick days. They also encourage you to stay home when sick so that it doesn't get spread to other employees.
> 
> Funny how I would feel sick when I call in to the office, but feel so much better once I get to the slopes. Snow must have some kind of magical healing powers or something. It's also weird that I feel sick whenever there is a big snow storm.


My company does the exact same except for the paid part. I get 'sick' from Jan 1 to Mar 31. 
I am a 'weekend warrior'. Meaning I bust my ass and work my weekends all year to save for the sideways season.


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## deagol (Mar 26, 2014)

My in-bounds season is definitely over. This is the first season since I can remember where I have not counted the # of days ridden.. I have no good idea. It is a mix of ski area days and splitboarding days. Probably about 10-15 or so days splitboarding and less than 20 in-bounds ???

I took only one trip this year and got 3 days of riding in on this trip. I am heading out on a week-long camping trip and will probably be done with snowboarding for the season, back-country included... 

But definitely mostly a weekend warrior also. I get one weekday off every 2 weeks and am always at the ski area those days during the season.

Edit: I might have one or two additional back-country days in this season if I am motivated. I have other priorities coming up, so we'll see.....


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

Another Weekend Warrior over here. My wife and I both work full-time and almost never have mid-week days off, so we go on weekends. This year was the first time going out West and it was amazing - Copper, CO in January and Big Sky, MT in February.

I'm at 31 days on the season with maybe a couple more left, depending on what the schedule looks like in the next few weeks.

I don't calculate gas money, food, etc. Normally we bring our own food, so costs there are pretty similar to if we weren't going riding. We did do 2 long weekends this season where we drove 1,000+ miles each weekend to hit 3 different resorts. I'm driving a Ford Fusion Hybrid, so I get decent gas mileage, but sometimes its a bit hairy in those snowstorms in a FWD car and regular all-season tires. I think next season I'll at least invest in winter tires.

As for # of different mountains, I'm at 9 with 3 of those having never been to before (Wildcat, Copper & Big Sky).

# of Different mountains: 9
Days on snow: 31
Nights spent in hotels: 12

Miles flown: ~8,500 (round-trip)
Miles driven to/from: ~5,800


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## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

freshy said:


> I wish I could go back to at least weekend warrior status. Between work and family and all the other excuses I'm lucky if I ever get more than like 7 days a season. Luckily Revy has a family pass where one parent can ride the bunny hill with the kids while the other rides the rest of the hill. It's been a long time coming but my kids are finally getting old enough to enjoy time at the hill. My two girls both rocked it hard this year skiing, so I'm sure going as much as possible will be so much less of an issue. I just hope next year will be as good as it was here last season.


You are an amazing dad!!!!! Your kids will not be little for long so enjoy every second of it!!!!! And the time you are putting in with your family now will pay off in dividends later as you will know you taught them right


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Oooh... statistics :nerd:

Weekend warrior season no. 14 :grin:

Season start: 17. December - a month later than last year :/
Season pass paied for itself January 22th (clear sign for the very bad season start... last year it was by end of December!)

So far, 
Miles flown: 13'550
Miles driven: 2'520
Touring days: 8
Riding days: 37
Of these
- 7 days on a godforsaken WROD 
- 4 days in pouring rain, drained to the underpanz 
But there were also 8 amazing days in more than 1ft pow.
- 40% in groomers, 40% off piste/pow/BC, 20% touring
In 2 countries; 2 cantons, 3 states.

- '17 vacation days used for snowboarding trip: 80% (the remaining will be used for mountaineering.)

- Potential weekends @ home spent on the mtn: 95% (I skipped one cos I couldn't bare another WROD bankholiday day)

- Missed parties, birthdays, apèros, club events, family festivity, poker nights held down in the low lands during winter season: 90% (X-mas is _the_ one exception :dry:

- New gear bought: 3 boards, (1 for me, 2 for SO), 2 binding sets, 1 pair of boots

- Boards in use:
75% Jones Flagship
20% Solution split
Remaining: tiny Ballerina rocker, dust off the Farah, try Wrath's old camber decks.

Season end: ehm... not sure yet  Home mtn did close April 17th, but as a cold front dropped a good amount of snow on many regions, we'll drive some more miles to head where the lifts still spin; I've just packed the car with a demo deck and aim to ride this *weekend*


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

WW 4 Lyfe bro.

Been able to get some 40-50? days between 3 mountains starting Nov.... 
Mostly weekends, but yeah I've been able to sneak in a few sick and vacation days here and there. Season is not over, and by the looks of it, i'll probably be hiking it up for some turns well into at least June.

Also my company is awesome..... so I've gotten quite a few mid-week uncrowded pow days. Such as yesterday!! :jumping1:
They even paid for my AST training and have a chat room called "The White Room" on our company intranet. How cool is that.

My wife has an even flexier schedule so she's able to sneak in some weekdays at the locals; plus we've shared some neat pow days. Of course, she likes bluebird pow days... 

Have taken my older son on a few full day lessons as well. He's stoked on the concept of a splitboard hahah so who knows..... guess in a few yrs he'll be hiking up with the old man.

No idea on my stats. Not even sure exactly how many days i've gotten, except that most of those days have been legit powder days. Not that many hotel nights, but plenty of kms.

Work hard, play harder.


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

I work a lot and I'm hella busy. But I'm flexible so I can get into some week days pretty easy. I figure I probably did 40 days total if you include a buncha half days where I went out local. Went away for 10 days split between two trips. My closest ride is 1 hr away. So between end December and end March I basically hit it twice a week, except during the thaw. I'd live out west but the economy, jobs, public schools, culture, etc. just doesn't work for me and my family. And so I'm here in the mid Atlantic for like another 10 years at least.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

+3ft in the forecast during the week, Sat bluebird...
Weekend Warrior paradise :yahoo:


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Despite being a WW this is on next year's bucket list


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Despite being a WW this is on next year's bucket list


I hope you're kidding.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Noreaster said:


> I hope you're kidding.


I've been further back on the White Salmon glacier just below the Shuksan rock face summit. Very doable, and the terrain is fantastic along that entire ridge. Wrath, I definitely recommend you get back there.


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## Seppuccu (Dec 4, 2012)

I wish I were a weekend warrior.


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

Daps to my fellow weekend warriors! The last of the local resorts closed this past weekend, so I'm pretty sure that's it for my season. Never thought to track miles driven/flown and I try to avoid totaling the costs because that would be too horrific, but I saved a ton of $$$ with the Max Pass!!

Only stats I have are that I rode from the earliest opening weekend in the PNW @ Whistler 11/25/16 (Thanksgiving) through the latest closing weekend in WA 5/6/17 @ Alpental (Cinco de Mayo). 

Scratched and clawed my way to 42 days on shred including 9 out of state trips: Whistler x2, Bachelor x2, Montana x2, Cypress, BC x2, Idaho x1. Of course only one of those entailed flying, another involved a 28hr RT train ride, and the rest were extended road trips.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Cinco de Mayo was the 5th. Cinco = 5 

Seis = 6


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