kshaughnI am hoping for the same thing. I figured if I work hard now and do well, I'll be able to take the family on week long trips out West in the future, maybe even get a ski house. I feel like a lot of responses on other threads from people on here suggest that most pick college/jobs where skiing is a big part of that. It's interesting to know that there are others who decided to put skiing on the back burner for a bit in hopes to have it be a bigger part later.
I hear what you're saying, and people can enjoy skiing at various levels their entire lives. I know tons of guys and gals in their late 50's, 60's and even 70's that ski plenty and really love it, but it's all relative. But, honestly, going on ski vacations with your kids in your 40s after a couple decades of skiing 5-10 days a season isn't really the same. I guess it could seem more special on a certain level because it would be more memorable, but I dunno.
I can see why most people would prioritize many other things over skiing, but I gotta call out the people that say stuff like, "I'm working my ass off now so I can ski a lot when I'm 45!". That's cool, and it would be rad to be able to afford big trips, but skiing is a relatively young man's game and there's no way to get back your youth, your athleticism, your testosterone and willingness to push yourself, your relatively carefree existence, etc. back. Tomorrow isn't promised, and there's no guarantee that these magical skiing twilight years await. What if your wife wants to go to the beach instead during those precious vacay weeks? What if the kids hate it? What if you get hurt or develop a health issue that makes skiing impossible? I say that if you really love skiing, and want to do it all the time, it isn't all that hard to maintain that lifestyle, even with a grown up job. People in mountainous areas need accountants, financial advisors, etc. too. I just don't think it has to be this big, ominous "either/or" situation.
Why can't people (like you for example) just be honest and say that skiing isn't that big a part of your life anymore for one reason or another. Or rather, the act of making time/sacrifices to go ski just isn't that big of a priority for you anymore. There's nothing wrong with wanting to focus time and energy on other things. And, you've obviously chosen that pursuing a career (in a location that isn't at all suited to skiing a lot also) is more important that skiing. At least for now. So be it, people wax and wane with their passions constantly. Is it because once people identify as a SKIER it's really hard to let that part of one's self image go?
Back to the point though, It just seems either dishonest, or naive to act as if the reason that people step away from skiing at 25 is because they're playing the long game and actually just planning on being a shred bum at 50. It doesn't make sense. As you get older, garner more responsibility, have kids, take on mortgages, have your body break down, bump against massive life changes and wrestle through big, life altering problems, it stands to reason that skiing will only become less and less a part of a person's life, not more. That's true of basically every sport, save maybe golf, which is such a different thing that it's hardly worth comparing.
All this is just to say that at 19 or 21, people have this panicky moment where they want to have life totally mapped out, and think they need to make x amount of money by such and such time, and they put down lifestyles and passions that don't contribute to those aims hastily and push forward and upward. For most people though, they will have something ridiculous like 7 careers over the course of their lifetime, often in totally unrelated fields to their education. It's not somehow less than to make life decisions as a young adult based on happiness. And, where there's a will, there's a way.