Being an Aging Freeskier

Awesome thread. I'm faced with a similar situation right now. Second year med school, years and years away from a time when I'll be able to have enough free time to ski as much as I would like. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that for training, I'll be able to live in the mountains for a couple years of years as a resident. I don't want to have to choose between school/life and skiing, and I don't feel like I have to.

Living the dream as a ski bum sounds sweet but there's something to be said for the thought of buying a season pass phasing you as much as a night out at the bar. I'll never get 150 days a year but I can live with 30 days if those 35 days are split between my home mountain, Killington, Breck and Hood.

Amen brother! doing it right in my opinion. Im hoping to go in on a house at the hill with good friends and family so we can all bunk up!

just had an interview, they offer 60,000 for the position im interested in, sounds pretty good to me. two phone interviews tomorrow. gotta make dat bank.

best of luck. getting a job is stressful. dont forget to counter on vacation time too. people dont realize thats negotiable too.

im 24, couple years outta college. been doing a lot of different stuff but the bottom line is if you're not stoked every day then change it up!

I'm just going to quote this, but your whole post is off base.

Sorry if I took it the wrong way, your original post wasn't very elaborate and pretty much all you said was "that sucks that you chased the almighty dollar", so it was hard to get some background on your situation.

holy fvck. thats pretty weird.

There are two ways to look at it...you either make your passion into a career, or you develop a career that allows you to pursue your passion. Either way can make for a great lifestyle.

Claimin hard!

Props to you man! What do you do for a living? Own a company with 90 employees at the age of 30 is a mighty accomplishment. Curious.

People who are saying they took shit resort jobs and skied all day every day are stretching the truth. Your work days where you ski 4-6 trails to get to your job site doesn't count. Don't fluff it to sound more glamorous than it is. Bums who work food/retail jobs in ski towns are getting way more days on the hill and can back it up. I got just as many days in working at a resort as I would if I were in school and doing weekend warrior trips. If I do it again, I'm going the shop/waiter/bartender route.

yea, no shit. congrats buddy, but cmon' level with us, it's daddys company right?

I'm a lifty and I get an hour for my lunch and usually some ride breaks on the clock. Probably about 8 park laps on days I'm working, and with the lift line, riding up the lift, and skiing down, that's about 10 minutes per lap. So an hour and a half of skiing on days I'm working is decent I'd say. And those are all ones I'm doing for fun, not including skiing to the lift.

You're clearly not someone who understand NS. Good try, though.

former lifty, bartender, waiter here. i wouldn't trade my 6 years of "ski bumming" out west for anything, but it's nice to have a steady paycheck, gas in the tank, save money, and not live in a house with 3 other dudes. would i rather go ride all day, then drink beer and take bong rips every night with my bros? sure. but i also like going to new mountains via airplane and sleeping in places other than vehicles and on people's floors. it's even better when your shitty corporate finance job pays you while you're there.

I have a sales job that requires me to be visiting my customers. If it's a pow day I sneak out to the mtn for a couple of hours and nobody know any different. There are ways around your dilemma. But you must first move to a ski town.

I mean there's certainly a limit to how much abuse your body can take in the park but that doesn't mean you have to give up on skiing. After bouncing back from season ending injuries I find myself less likely to go and throw down carefree in the park. I also enjoy the little things much more these days. It's almost like getting out on the hill for the first time. Ripping of the groomers, a little bit of powder, a flat box, whatever I just love it. I know my body isn't going to hold up forever. My knees and back are struggling as well as plenty of other stuff. At the same time I don't plan on leaving that world any time soon. You'll have to drag me away from the hill. Injuries and poverty aren't going to be enough.

Sure I could probably find a "better" career and make money, save up for that middle class life. At the same time I wouldn't be able to put a price on that emptiness. There were far too many times where getting out on the hill was the ONLY thing that kept me going. I'll either die doing it, or keep on till I'm old as shit and the closest I can get is the base area with my walker or wheelchair.

Everybody is different, their bodies fall apart at different rates, some people lose the stoke or decide to pursue other aspects of life.(There's nothing wrong with that) I personally feel that if you want to be out there you'll make it happen.

I'm relatively young but I still want to say it's never to late OP if that where your heart is you can make it happen. Best of luck regardless

Thanks. I guess it came across as more of a claim than was intended, but it was supposed to illustrate a point I guess. My company is a precious metals brokerage. Actually got into the business through Craigs List and then partnered up with another dealer once I started to figure out how it worked. It was really dumb luck and a lot of long days.

Embrace the inner weekend warrior!