# the ski bum



## Guest (Feb 23, 2010)

If your under 25 or have some type of trade go for it brah.


----------



## S4Shredr (Oct 23, 2009)

All you need to do is move to do is move to a ski town either before the season or really early season and get a job that'll give you a free pass, find a place with cheap rent or employee housing, and shred and work for the winter.

The season in North America is winding down so if you want to do it this year, consider going somewhere like Chile. One of my buddies went down there for a season and said it was awesome


----------



## sheepstealer (Aug 19, 2009)

I'm currently 22, and graduating college = "inbetween" moment. 

They tell me after paying several thousands of dollars I get a piece of paper that says "Bachelor of Arts" on it and that it will somehow, miraculously, get me a job. Right.

So...I think to myself...why not try to move out west? As I understand it the ski bum is a dying breed but I'm not willing to accept this. If anyone has any tips (or opportunities???) for getting out there and making it happen...


----------



## briangig (Nov 6, 2009)

Pretty sure i've posted this before, so im sure you can find it if you look, but I am doing the board bum thing this winter. I had friends that wintered in VT and am sharing a house with them, and kind of got a hand getting a job (but it wasn't necessary, just easier). I'm pretty lucky cause I'm making decent money, but then again I have experience, and real responsibilities.

Advice: Go where the money is, look where I am. Don't go to some crappy little hill where you'll be getting min wage and so will your boss..head west if needed. get in town early in the season and talk to HR or whoever at the mountain. Ask about job fairs, what jobs are available, and what type of resources they have as far as housing, employee newsletters, etc. I'm thinking about going west next winter, still on the fence, either way I'll be having a great time...One thing I would change is I would get a job that starts in early afternoon and goes til 10 or 11 (im in foodservice), as right now I am working all day long, and miss out on some prime riding time (I still get out at least 4 times a week though, two of which are full days.

Go for it, I do have ambitions in life and have some dreams, but frankly, I'm happy, and will keep doing it as long as I am happy.


----------



## AWNOW (Sep 12, 2009)

sheepstealer said:


> They tell me after paying several thousands of dollars I get a piece of paper that says "Bachelor of Arts" on it and that it will somehow, miraculously, get me a job. Right.


Nothing miraculous about it. Your attitude will clearly prevent you from getting a job though. 

Since you are in between, if you want to do it, just pack the car and do it. You WILL be living well below what you are used to in dorms or college town apartments and you WILL be malnourished but, that is simply the life of a ski bum. You only live once. Do it.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Anyone that says work for the resort and live in staff housing is a rookie at this. That's the worst thing to do as it doesn't give you a job that lets you shred and they own your pass. Move early, find a real solid job that has built in ride breaks or starts in the p.m. and buy your pass that way if you call in sick to work they can't black flag your pass or fire you over calling in and shredding on their pass.


----------



## Guest (Feb 24, 2010)

I was thinking the same thing. Im about to graduate college and all I want to do is snowboard everyday. Just gonna pack my shit up and move to Jackson Hole haha.


----------



## briangig (Nov 6, 2009)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Anyone that says work for the resort and live in staff housing is a rookie at this. That's the worst thing to do as it doesn't give you a job that lets you shred and they own your pass. Move early, find a real solid job that has built in ride breaks or starts in the p.m. and buy your pass that way if you call in sick to work they can't black flag your pass or fire you over calling in and shredding on their pass.


I guess it depends on the cost of the season pass..here thst's 1800 bucks (1500 if you get it early i think), a bit too rich for my blood..But a good point nonetheless. They do own your pass. Money is also better off the mountain in most cases. One of the reasons why the west is tempting, Epic pass ftw.


----------



## Guest (Feb 24, 2010)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Anyone that says work for the resort and live in staff housing is a rookie at this.


QFT

Many bums go the low expectation route believing somehow that a steady diet of ramen is the only way. There are alternatives. You can be on the slopes almost every day, and have the coin in your pocket to be in the bars every night. It takes planning but can be done. I went the route by using two complimentary part time jobs. Real Estate agent was job #1. That meant investing in the necessary educational course and state testing for licensure. After that, I spent 0 hours in the office of my broker, but found clients on the slopes, on the lifts, in the bars, and at job #2, managing an independent ski/board shop. By taking care of food/bev workers when they came into the shop, I also gained the ability to basically eat/drink for practically nothing. And getting free shit from the sales reps didn't suck. I paid for my pass and herbal supplements, but that's about it. Those were some great winters. Why be a bum living on ramen when you can be a bum living on sushi and top shelf gin? :dunno:

Its all in the planning.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

^ Bingo. There's a reason I have 91 days already and make bank. Choices are your friend in a resort town and you just have to make the right ones.


----------



## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

Here is what you do....Get yourself a nice van. By 'nice', I mean it will run long enough to get you to a mountain. Rust is okay! The next step is to get yourself a shag carpet and some ducting. Throw the carpet on the floor. Bust out a sawsall and cut yourself a nice round hole anywhere you think is appropriate. Stick ducting through the hole and apply duck tape generously. Install an old wood burning stove (using duck tape) and you have yourself a mobile home. :thumbsup: For extra flare, duck tape useful objects to the outside of the van.


----------



## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

HAHAHA SWEET!!! I've been thinking about this a lot lately myself. I'm at a bit different "inbetween" though, my kids grown, wife is an EX lol, house/trucks are paid for, and I own a moderatly succesful construction company. I've been pondering selling all my shit and living in my RV. I could reasonably come up with 250k, put my wakeboat in storage, and just dip out. I figuer if I can get by on a grand a month I can do nothing but ride for 20 years. Hang out in Co. all winter, pick up my boat and cruise to Tx. for spring, roll back here for summer and fall....sounds fuckin good to me lol.


----------



## AWNOW (Sep 12, 2009)

JeffreyCH said:


> HAHAHA SWEET!!! I've been thinking about this a lot lately myself. I'm at a bit different "inbetween" though, my kids grown, wife is an EX lol, house/trucks are paid for, and I own a moderatly succesful construction company. I've been pondering selling all my shit and living in my RV. I could reasonably come up with 250k, put my wakeboat in storage, and just dip out. I figuer if I can get by on a grand a month I can do nothing but ride for 20 years. Hang out in Co. all winter, pick up my boat and cruise to Tx. for spring, roll back here for summer and fall....sounds fuckin good to me lol.


1k a month might be a bit of a stretch for how you are used to living. Also, you don't want to miss spring in the mountains, that is the best time to ride. If your cars are paid off, you have an RV and you continue to get money from construction without being there yourself, can't imagine a reason why not to go west.


----------



## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

sheepstealer said:


> I'm currently 22, and graduating college = "inbetween" moment.
> 
> They tell me after paying several thousands of dollars I get a piece of paper that says "Bachelor of Arts" on it and that it will somehow, miraculously, get me a job. Right.


Right on, show them how the world REALLY works. Don't be suckered into even applying for a career job, that's just what they want you to do. :thumbsup:


----------



## tooscoops (Aug 17, 2007)

with that kind of bank.. you can invest in a small business that doesn't require much of your time and still bring in enough that you can live the life till you die as a semi-retiree! enjoy!

for the op, that bachelor of arts will get you something! laughed at when you are bringing bags up to a room for customers at a hotel. but it will be just a good laugh... school is all about the experience. a lot of the people i know who have done this are in the same boat as a bunch of the people posting. some started working for the hill... hated the accomodations and sacrifices, eventually worked multiple jobs elsewhere that gave them more freedom to ride... most turned the "one year" into a multi year situation adn might end up doing it for life. not so bad.

enjoy!


----------



## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

you dont have to live in a two bedroom with 6 other guys and eat ramen all the time .. you just have to have the ambition to be ok with that if you did..


----------



## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

AWNOW said:


> 1k a month might be a bit of a stretch for how you are used to living. Also, you don't want to miss spring in the mountains, that is the best time to ride. If your cars are paid off, you have an RV and you continue to get money from construction without being there yourself, can't imagine a reason why not to go west.


By spring I meant the 4-5 weeks after the snow is gone and before the water is warm enough here  and selling all my shit includes my business, no way would it work if I wasn't here to run it. And yeah a grand a month is kinda slim even if I shoot my own food. Damn this is sounding better and better....now I know why I don't get stoned in the morning...delusions of grandeur hahaha

To the OP, your young do it up for a few years have some fun. Screw getting a job, just make a cardboard sign that says "will ride for food" and hang out around the parking lot of the wal mart in whatever town you land in.


----------



## Shadowrat (Feb 8, 2010)

My brother moved to VT 7 years ago and became a ski bum. He grooms on Stratton and owns a tiny house. I think he's got it pretty good. He ski's all he wants (he's not a boarder) and he doesn't want anything else so he's happy with his tiny house.

A cousin of mine moved to colorado, lived as a ski bum, became friends with some guy from the middle east and is now in charge of maintaining the guy's "cabin" in vail. as far as i can tell that means ride the hills a lot so if the guy shows up he can take his employer to the best runs.

My plans involve getting permission to work remotely for indefinite periods of time. I was hoping to use this to move to socal and be a surf bum (i hesitate to say bum because i plan to have a good income), but i figure if i'm already remote, i could be in tahoe, utah, pacific nw, or colorado whenever i felt like it, or as long as i felt like it.

It's a big step to take though. esspecially for someone who already owns a house and more stuff than they need. There's lots of times i wish i would have just gone when my instincts said, "go".


----------



## B-Rad (Feb 18, 2010)

That would be pretty sweet. All of my old hockey friends go out to Colorado for months at a time just to snowboard and come back for a while. I wish I could just pick up and go out there to fuck off for a while.


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2010)

briangig said:


> Pretty sure i've posted this before, so im sure you can find it if you look, but I am doing the board bum thing this winter. I had friends that wintered in VT and am sharing a house with them, and kind of got a hand getting a job (but it wasn't necessary, just easier). I'm pretty lucky cause I'm making decent money, but then again I have experience, and real responsibilities.
> 
> Advice: Go where the money is, look where I am. Don't go to some crappy little hill where you'll be getting min wage and so will your boss..*head west if needed*. get in town early in the season and talk to HR or whoever at the mountain. Ask about job fairs, what jobs are available, and what type of resources they have as far as housing, employee newsletters, etc. I'm thinking about going west next winter, still on the fence, either way I'll be having a great time...One thing I would change is I would get a job that starts in early afternoon and goes til 10 or 11 (im in foodservice), as right now I am working all day long, and miss out on some prime riding time (I still get out at least 4 times a week though, two of which are full days.
> 
> Go for it, I do have ambitions in life and have some dreams, but frankly, I'm happy, and will keep doing it as long as I am happy.


That's necessary, unless you are a park rat... and then I don't see a reason why would you want to become a ski bum, since the snow conditions don't really matter to you.


----------

