Sabatical location- which would you choose and why

[djetok]

On that list, Santa Fe would be my pick for sure. I like Albuquerque, but it's way grittier than the other choices--they've got that crime and poverty that the public attributes to Reno. Sandia's a fun cruising ski area, but it would get boring for a whole season. Northern New Mexico has more to offer for skiing.
Boulder's painfully pretentious, and the skiing is super crowded. Crestone's way out in the middle of nowhere. Cool access to Great Sand Dunes and the forests, and from everything I've heard skiing at Monarch and Wolf Creek are fantastic. But the other choices are cities; Crestone's 3 hours from the closest Walmart--it's a completely different thing.

The major research universities in the West are in California, and the ski areas available anywhere in California are going to be better than the East (although it can require a few hours' commute each way). One way or another, sounds like a very cool adventure to look forward to!

Crestone is an hour or 57 miles from Salida. about an hour from Alamosa , which has a university (Adams State) and is in the banana belt.

 

[raisingarizona]

Reno puts you recreating around the Tahoe Basin, nice place midweek but complete Californian shit show on weekends and holidays. I went through there in July on a Saturday…..never again. That damn place is so stupid expensive…..I don’t care if I never go back there. Boulder and I-70 are like a Californian shit show now, no thanks.

New Mexico is rad. I like Santa Fe for the outdoor recreational access. Taos isn’t too far up the road. Ski Santa Fe is actually really fun.

 

[dan ross]

Okay, I'm going to say it.
Reno Nevada is what people think Boulder/Denver is going to be.
Denver/Boulder is close to great hiking and mt biking most of the year but the I70 mess can be an issue and makes the commute "sporty" most of the season.

Reno is in Nevada but not closely connected to the stereotypes of Nevada.
We are (somewhat) cost effective and we are 30-40 minutes from world class skiing, mountain biking, hiking and .....well... the SkiTalk worldwide headquarters.
It reall is a great place to land.

“ Sporty” that could be an understatement.

 

[coskigirl]

On that list, Santa Fe would be my pick for sure. I like Albuquerque, but it's way grittier than the other choices--they've got that crime and poverty that the public attributes to Reno. Sandia's a fun cruising ski area, but it would get boring for a whole season. Northern New Mexico has more to offer for skiing.
Boulder's painfully pretentious, and the skiing is super crowded. Crestone's way out in the middle of nowhere. Cool access to Great Sand Dunes and the forests, and from everything I've heard skiing at Monarch and Wolf Creek are fantastic. But the other choices are cities; Crestone's 3 hours from the closest Walmart--it's a completely different thing.

The major research universities in the West are in California, and the ski areas available anywhere in California are going to be better than the East (although it can require a few hours' commute each way). One way or another, sounds like a very cool adventure to look forward to!

Not that proximity to a Walmart would ever be a decision-maker for me but it's only an hour from the closest one which is in Salida. It's also about 2.5 hours from Taos, Crested Butte, and Copper Mountain. That's only 30 minutes longer than Boulder to Vail on a good traffic day.

 

[dan ross]

The biggest issue aside from your recreational requirements, is who are you going to hang out with?
If you are introverted this might be less of an issue but if not, it can get lonely. As someone who has spent years of his life on” location “ working on movies, I know of what I speak. The advantage we have is that we work 12 hours a day and we tend to hang out together simply because it’s easier and we know each other- it’s a traveling circus.
If you are used to an academic environment with the cultural amenities that come with that, you might find it difficult to go somewhere where these things don’t exist or or, are limited if you are going to be there awhile. The main criteria for me would be, is there enough variety to keep me engaged and happy for the time I’m planning to spend.

 

[New2]

Not that proximity to a Walmart would ever be a decision-maker for me but it's only an hour from the closest one which is in Salida. It's also about 2.5 hours from Taos, Crested Butte, and Copper Mountain. That's only 30 minutes longer than Boulder to Vail on a good traffic day.

See what I get for relying on Google Maps? So apparently Crestone isn't that far from Walmart, but it's still certainly far from the "city."

The biggest issue aside from your recreational requirements, is who are you going to hang out with?
If you are introverted this might be less of an issue but if not, it can get lonely. As someone who has spent years of his life on” location “ working on movies, I know of what I speak. The advantage we have is that we work 12 hours a day and we tend to hang out together simply because it’s easier and we know each other- it’s a traveling circus.
If you are used to an academic environment with the cultural amenities that come with that, you might find it difficult to go somewhere where these things don’t exist or or, are limited if you are going to be there awhile. The main criteria for me would be, is there enough variety to keep me engaged and happy for the time I’m planning to spend.

Excellent points. And something that doesn't occur to most people is that living at elevation seems to increase the likelihood of emotional and psychological issues. See, for example, discussion at https://www.skitalk.com/threads/suicide-in-ski-town-article.2023/

 

[RobSN]

Umm, not that I understand it at all, but here's a Wiki page link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Bayesianism. I got cited years ago for an off-hand comparison to cooking (quantum souflees) but I don't really get it. I'm just hoping that his sabbatical can be turned into a prolonged ski trip for me in some way.

Oh I wish you hadn't included the link - I was already amusing myself by postulating the question of what Schrodingers Cat feels.

 

[djetok]

Oh I wish you hadn't included the link - I was already amusing myself by postulating the question of what Schrodingers Cat feels.

Ah Penny

 

[Tony S]

@skiki , just don't forget that Boulder is the home town of Sisyphus.

(How's that for philosophical bent?)

Edit: and Crestone - assuming he's not being recruited by a company that makes anti-freeze - has to be some kind of a scam, because ... too good to be true.

Therefore Santa Fe.

 

[Nathanvg]

It's hard to know which to suggest without knowing what you care about. If we look at things from a pure skiing perspective, I'd suggest Santa Fe. Ski Sante Fe 30 minutes away and a solid mountain. Taos and several other areas are under 2 hours away with very little traffic and below the snowline most of the drive making travel easy. Taos is a great bump and chute ski area.

Crestone, could be cool but I know very little about it. The closest ski areas are still over an hour away and fairly small (Monarch and Wolf). 2.5+ hours to summit ski areas makes for a long day trip but traffic should be low.

I would NOT recommend Boulder due to i70 traffic unless you only ski weekdays or plan to lodge overnight near the ski area for most trips. Eldora is closer but fairly small. Sumit and beyond ski areas will be more quickly accessed from Crestone, most weekends due to traffic.

 

[coskigirl]

It's hard to know which to suggest without knowing what you care about. If we look at things from a pure skiing perspective, I'd suggest Santa Fe. Ski Sante Fe 30 minutes away and a solid mountain. Taos and several other areas are under 2 hours away with very little traffic and below the snowline most of the drive making travel easy. Taos is a great bump and chute ski area.

Crestone, could be cool but I know very little about it. The closest ski areas are still over an hour away and fairly small (Monarch and Wolf). 2.5+ hours to summit ski areas makes for a long day trip but traffic should be low.

I would NOT recommend Boulder due to i70 traffic unless you only ski weekdays or plan to lodge overnight near the ski area for most trips. Eldora is closer but fairly small. Sumit and beyond ski areas will be more quickly accessed from Crestone, most weekends due to traffic.

Wolf Creek 1600 acres
Taos 1294 acres
Monarch 800 acres
Santa Fe 660 acres

All of them have good terrain.

 

[Après Skier]

Boulder would be a lovely place to spend a season. Alpine and Nordic skiing at approx. 30-45 minute drive or public bus to Eldora which is included with unlimited access on the lower-priced Ikon Base Pass. No need to struggle on I-70 unless you wish to visit the larger ski areas and even then you can time your trip to avoid the brunt of the traffic. Boulder hosts a variety of interesting cultural activities: theater festivals, ballet, music festivals, orchestras. Basically you have the amenities of a large city with minimal big-city hassle.

 

[Philpug]

Reno puts you recreating around the Tahoe Basin, nice place midweek but complete Californian shit show on weekends and holidays. I went through there in July on a Saturday…..never again. That damn place is so stupid expensive…..I don’t care if I never go back there.

No one goes to the Lake Tahoe on weekend, it's too crowded. You act as of that lake is the only thing to do around here, let alone the only lake.

 

[coskigirl]

Boulder would be a lovely place to spend a season. Alpine and Nordic skiing at approx. 30-45 minute drive or public bus to Eldora which is included with unlimited access on the lower-priced Ikon Base Pass. No need to struggle on I-70 unless you wish to visit the larger ski areas and even then you can time your trip to avoid the brunt of the traffic. Boulder hosts a variety of interesting cultural activities: theater festivals, ballet, music festivals, orchestras. Basically you have the amenities of a large city with minimal big-city hassle.

Parking at Eldora is a nightmare on weekends.

 

[VickieH]

I would choose a place that offered me a different experience from normal life. I would want to leave that experience feeling enriched, even if I traded a ski season for it. Of the choices you listed, I think I could best find that in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area.

 

[Nathanvg]

Wolf Creek 1600 acres
Taos 1294 acres
Monarch 800 acres
Santa Fe 660 acres

All of them have good terrain.

Yeah, I've been to all of them and they're all fun. I probably should have clarified two things

1. Wolf, Monarch and Santa Fe are all fairly small but the big difference is that Ski Santa Fe is only 30 minutes from town. Crestone to monarch adds 90 minutes of driving per day trip. Crestone to wolf adds 2 hours per day. I'd much rather be close to Ski Santa Fe.
2. The amount of quality skiing is also important. Admittedly each person will define quality differently but one crude metric is how much of the skiing is 16-34 degrees (blue/black) or greater than 35 degrees (expert skiing). When you use this metric, over half of Wolf's acres are less than 16 degrees, almost none are over 35 and those over 16 are fairly short. In contrast, Santa Fe and Taos have much more >16 degree terrain and Taos also has extensive expert steeps. Even nearby Pajarito (0:55), Sipapu (1:15) and Red River (2:15) have most of their terrain >16 degrees. Taos also has 3k vert vs 1.2k at Wolf vs. 1k at Monarch.

See maps below with red and yellow color coding for 16-34 and >35 degrees respectively.

wolf:


Sante Fe


Taos

 

[skidrew]

Umm, not that I understand it at all, but here's a Wiki page link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Bayesianism. I got cited years ago for an off-hand comparison to cooking (quantum souflees) but I don't really get it. I'm just hoping that his sabbatical can be turned into a prolonged ski trip for me in some way.

I think the solution is to pack yourselves in a box, address it to Boulder and Crestone, and then don't open the box - you can be in both places at once.

 

[Andy Mink]

But if there's a research university or someplace with funding for DH, I'm game

UNR has some quantum mechanics and other physics stuff. I don't know how much but it's there.

 

[skiki]

Apologies for leaving the thread hanging. Crestone isn't a likely candidate. But oddly, DH is on the Science Advisory Board for a Buddhist retreat there. I saw that although it is in the middle of nowhere, nowhere seems to be in the middle of skiing, and thought I'd throw it in to the mix for fun. (I also saw that there is a brewery in town, which can't be a bad thing. And if housing is provided at the retreat, one less thing to arrange.)

To put things into perspective, I'm a weekday skier and I currently drive about 1 hour and half each way to ski Wachusett, with all of it's 110 acres and 1000 ft vertical. Anything either closer, more terrain, or more vertical would make it a fun ski season for me.

Boulder and NM are the more likely possibilities, and he has had some positive reactions from both locations so far. For NM, it would most likely be based out of ABQ at UNM, but DH has said he'd be willing to live in the Santa Fe area and do the drive a few times a week for collaborations. I'd gladly be back at Los Alamos, still have a friend there from years ago when DH did a post-doc there (sadly I wasn't skiing at the time) but support and funds would be an issue. Since I wasn't skiing when I lived in NM, I'd love to check out all the places I missed out on at the time. But Boulder would be an entirely new experience, which could be fun too. I have to say that all the horror stories of I 70 almost make I 95 sound like a doddle though.

I just asked DH to take a look at the UNR physics dept and see if he knows anyone there.

 

[Après Skier]

Parking at Eldora is a nightmare on weekends.

Parking at my local supermarket is a nightmare on weekends