ss20 Joins the Party...

[ss20]

Hi all, anyone on the popular Northeast ski forum Alpinezone will recognize my username.

I'm currently living in Connecticut wrapping up my final ski season in the Northeast. I'm planning on moving west this fall. After teaching skiing for 7 years part-time at my local bump I want to chase dreams, snow, and smiles to "the big mountains" many miles away. I am very much leaning towards trying my luck in Utah, but I've got no commitments and nothing tying me down so I'm keeping my options open.

This summer and fall I'll be looking for good advice, bad ideas, and everything in between! And this winter I can't wait to share with y'all this "Ice Coast" veteran's adventures with avi guns, powder, cornices, tree wells, road closures, and all kinds of stuff we don't see back East!

Seriously, if anyone has ANY recommendations for instructor jobs, mountains to look into, cheap places to live, or anything valuable I'm all ears!

 

[Crank]

Good luck ss20.

BTW, more instructors than you can throw a stick at on this forum.

 

[dbostedo]

Welcome to SkiTalk!! I'd suggest looking for other thread where someone was trying to pick a place out west. From what I've read, housing could be the biggest challenge... I wouldn't wait until fall. You might want to start a thread with specific questions in the general forum, as I think more people will see it. Good luck!

 

[Dakine]

Welcome to Pugski, where no detail of ski technique is too minor to not have a religious argument over.

 

[BC.]

You’ll learn fast...two places out west to steer clear of.....lol.

-Whitefish
-Snowbasin

 

[Muleski]

My strong advice is to THOROUGHLY research your housing options {which will be limited} and your housing cost {which may blow your mind.}

When I read "cheap places to live," I pretty much cringed.

In these COVID driven markets, it can be just really tough. I'm dealing with it right now with our mid-thirties son, who is a real pro at what he does, and top 5% in terms of pay with a fully loaded benefit package, in the ski "industry.". He and his roommate found out 6 weeks ago that their rent {he has been there for four years and treats it like his own condo...great tenant} is doubling to $4K a month. Two BR's. He has a pretty nice income for the ski world....six figures. His landlord was almost in tears and apologetic, but he can't ignore the income...an extra $24K a year..... And our son's search is dismal right now. Looking at some very creative options. And reaching out to a big network.

He may have no choice but to “pay up” in this current market.

I realize that everybody has their own idea of what will be "acceptable." But it's all costly. He has a younger associate who rents a "room", which is actually a walk in closet {literally}, big enough for a small inflatable mattress. I think I heard $700 a month.

His first apartment/condo was pretty dismal. Good location. Ten years ago, he was lucky to be the first to respond to an ad on Craigslist. Back then, the landlord had something like 40 responses. He rented it for $1250 a month, including utilities. Told me that now it rents for much more than twice that....and it is really trashed these days. The owner is coining money on it, as he surely is entitled to. Free country.

Obviously some places are off the charts expensive with little inventory. Problem is that the best job/income opportunities may be there. And things change FAST. I'd cast a wide net, and would try to evaluate the "equation" of opportunity versus expense/availability of your housing. Utah might be an option, ID....I would not rule anything out.

Good luck.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Welcome. I have one foot in UT and one foot back East.. Will try to help with your questions. Hopefully a city like SLC or Ogden will have more apt stock than resort towns. There has been quite a bit of churn in the ski instructor world due to Covid and that might present some ops for you at big name places?

I know you are a trusted and valued member of Alpinezone. I have met a number of good and helpful friends in UT becaue of this website. Some I ski with quite a bit.

 

[BS Slarver]

mind.}

When I read "cheap places to live," I pretty much cringed.

My thoughts exactly ! That takes Big Sky and surrounding Bozeman off the table

 

[ss20]

I appreciate everyone's input so far. I should add as a note, I'm currently living in upper Fairfield County, Connecticut. Classic suburb of NYC that's one of the most expensive places to live in the US by any measure so my idea of "cheap" is subjective. A one bedroom apartment in Sandy, UT going for $1,000 per month sounds like a relative bargain to me, compared to where I currently am at where the inexpensive one bedroom apartments are going for $1,200+.

 

[ss20]

Welcome. I have one foot in UT and one foot back East.. Will try to help with your questions. Hopefully a city like SLC or Ogden will have more apt stock than resort towns. There has been quite a bit of churn in the ski instructor world due to Covid and that might present some ops for you at big name places?

I know you are a trusted and valued member of Alpinezone. I have met a number of good and helpful friends in UT becaue of this website. Some I ski with quite a bit.

Yeah you're the guy always posting those western trip reports, correct? I noticed when I started lurking on here I'd see the same pics on Alpinezone later that day!

As far as "churn" goes the small hill I worked at had a decent amount of guys not return this previous year. I don't think anyone knows what to expect for 2021-2022...except for busy, busy, busy!

 

[Master-Blaster]

What’s wrong with snow basin? I love that place. No one is there and the skiing is sweet.

 

[dbostedo]

No one is there

Per some reports here and elsewhere online, the last couple of seasons with Epic pass have apparently also had Epic crowds. Mountain maintenance and grooming have gotten complaints too, and many weekends have seen huge lines and overly limited terrain available.

That was all exacerbated by COVID this year, but it was already becoming a more typically crowded resort prior. SLC area skiing is growing in general, and adding Epic to Snowbasin seems to have upped it an extra notch.

 

[Sibhusky]

You’ll learn fast...two places out west to steer clear of.....lol.

-Whitefish
-Snowbasin

Two years back this wouldn't have been that true for Whitefish, but there's like ZERO rentals available these days due to them all becoming Airbnb, etc. Housing has gone though the roof in the last 12 months with a couple new listing of SHACKS for laughable $. I figure some sanity will return in about 1.5-2 years.

 

[Philpug]

I appreciate everyone's input so far. I should add as a note, I'm currently living in upper Fairfield County, Connecticut. Classic suburb of NYC that's one of the most expensive places to live in the US by any measure so my idea of "cheap" is subjective. A one bedroom apartment in Sandy, UT going for $1,000 per month sounds like a relative bargain to me, compared to where I currently am at where the inexpensive one bedroom apartments are going for $1,200+.

I was wondering that. When I moved to Reno, coming from Philly I thought it was very reasonable. Tricia moving from northern Michigan thought it was expensive. It is relative.