The New Normal

[Warp daddy]

Hey Warp!

Tenney has not reopened since they closed “due to Covid-19” (really their waterbars had opened up and the snow was melted everywhere) in March 2020. Their social media, which was very active for a time before they reopened in 2018, has been on radio silence. And I have not bothered to skin for Tenney laps (I’m sure the beech whip, puckerbrush, balsam regeneration on the trails is thickening each summer). It’s unfortunate, because it is such an easy, quick sneak away for me.

I haven’t skied Ragged in probably 7or8 years, but have several friends who did the Ragged with Indy pass this year who are enjoying it a lot. Although they were having some lift issues on their 6 pack early on.

I’ve been a Cannon passholder since leaving NY, had Tenney pass too when they were functional in 08-10, and 18-20. And was faithful chaperone of my kids’ winter program at Loon back when they were a bit younger, which got me those days as well as a few comps a year.

At this point I’m basically 100% Cannon days. And whitewater paddling more in winter than I used to…..due to climate change, some better gear, and some friends who prefer it to skiing.

Hey its all good my man

 

[sibhusky]

This is actually great advice too. If you have vacation time you should do this Sno.

Having made such a move close to 20 years ago, my biggest suggestion is, if you're moving for the skiing, DON'T GO DURING SKI SEASON. For one thing, you're going to want to ski, not evaluate the town, the people who actually live there, and what else there is to do in the area. In addition, the entire character and ambiance of the town will change during the off season. You want to meet the actual inhabitants, figure out how far away the places you'll need to go are, read the local papers, see what's open in the off season, check out the medical facilities, look at the available real estate or rentals, etc. Going during ski season you'll get entirely the wrong idea about what it is like to live there. Ideally, a trip in spring, summer, fall, and winter would be the best. Chances are, moving from NE to almost any ski area in the Rockies, the SKIING will be fine.

Next, worry about how to support yourself and check local wages against local living expenses. If you plan to work remote, how good is the internet infrastructure supporting the actual target area you want to live? The house next door was sold to a Seattle couple who thought they'd work and school their kids here. After they moved they discovered DSL to their house was only 1.5 down, less up. Starlink wasn't possible due to too many trees. So back they went to Seattle. If you're single, testing the waters by just showing up sounds possible, but the housing issue in ski areas in the Rockies is huge at the moment. Here there has been an increase of over 30,000 people in 18 months. There was only a 15,400 count increase between 2010-2020. That's just in one county of roughly 100,000 people. Elsewhere, like in Bozeman, the explosion began sooner. It's a totally different place than it used to be and you'll be commuting from pretty far away with real estate and rental prices the way they are now.

 

[Warp daddy]

Having made such a move close to 20 years ago, my biggest suggestion is, if you're moving for the skiing, DON'T GO DURING SKI SEASON. For one thing, you're going to want to ski, not evaluate the town, the people who actually live there, and what else there is to do in the area. In addition, the entire character and ambiance of the town will change during the off season. You want to meet the actual inhabitants, figure out how far away the places you'll need to go are, read the local papers, see what's open in the off season, check out the medical facilities, look at the available real estate or rentals, etc. Going during ski season you'll get entirely the wrong idea about what it is like to live there. Ideally, a trip in spring, summer, fall, and winter would be the best. Chances are, moving from NE to almost any ski area in the Rockies, the SKIING will be fine.

Next, worry about how to support yourself and check local wages against local living expenses. If you plan to work remote, how good is the internet infrastructure supporting the actual target area you want to live? The house next door was sold to a Seattle couple who thought they'd work and school their kids here. After they moved they discovered DSL to their house was only 1.5 down, less up. Starlink wasn't possible due to too many trees. So back they went to Seattle. If you're single, testing the waters by just showing up sounds possible, but the housing issue in ski areas in the Rockies is huge at the moment. Here there has been an increase of over 30,000 people in 18 months. There was only a 15,400 count increase between 2010-2020. That's just in one county of roughly 100,000 people. Elsewhere, like in Bozeman, the explosion began sooner. It's a totally different place than it used to be and you'll be commuting from pretty far away with real estate and rental prices the way they are now.

 

[Warp daddy]

Solid Advice SH

 

[tirolski]

Solid Advice SH

 

[tirolski]

Tenney has not reopened since they closed “due to Covid-19” (really their waterbars had opened up and the snow was melted everywhere) in March 2020. Their social media, which was very active for a time before they reopened in 2018, has been on radio silence. And I have not bothered to skin for Tenney laps (I’m sure the beech whip, puckerbrush, balsam regeneration on the trails is thickening each summer). It’s unfortunate, because it is such an easy, quick sneak away for me.

Lots of stuff with pics about Tenney here.

Defunct Since COVID - NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com

 

[MarzNC]

Lots of stuff with pics about Tenney here.

Defunct Since COVID - NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com

What was really different about Tenney is that when the group that was led by Michael Bouchard didn't buy the land with the idea of re-opening the ski area. Plan was to take down the lifts and move ahead with general development of the land around the base. The story of why the situation switched to an effort to get the lifts re-certified in order to maintain grandfather status was told at several public meetings in the first year or so. The amount of damage done by the previous GM to the snowmaking infrastructure was significant.

Hopefully community support will build and a way forward to running the lifts again will be found.

 

[Campgottagopee]

Having made such a move close to 20 years ago, my biggest suggestion is, if you're moving for the skiing, DON'T GO DURING SKI SEASON. For one thing, you're going to want to ski, not evaluate the town, the people who actually live there, and what else there is to do in the area. In addition, the entire character and ambiance of the town will change during the off season. You want to meet the actual inhabitants, figure out how far away the places you'll need to go are, read the local papers, see what's open in the off season, check out the medical facilities, look at the available real estate or rentals, etc. Going during ski season you'll get entirely the wrong idea about what it is like to live there. Ideally, a trip in spring, summer, fall, and winter would be the best. Chances are, moving from NE to almost any ski area in the Rockies, the SKIING will be fine.

Next, worry about how to support yourself and check local wages against local living expenses. If you plan to work remote, how good is the internet infrastructure supporting the actual target area you want to live? The house next door was sold to a Seattle couple who thought they'd work and school their kids here. After they moved they discovered DSL to their house was only 1.5 down, less up. Starlink wasn't possible due to too many trees. So back they went to Seattle. If you're single, testing the waters by just showing up sounds possible, but the housing issue in ski areas in the Rockies is huge at the moment. Here there has been an increase of over 30,000 people in 18 months. There was only a 15,400 count increase between 2010-2020. That's just in one county of roughly 100,000 people. Elsewhere, like in Bozeman, the explosion began sooner. It's a totally different place than it used to be and you'll be commuting from pretty far away with real estate and rental prices the way they are now.

Yikes
When I moved to ski bum it was the middle of ski season. I drove up on a Friday with 4 pair of skis, 1 pair of boots, and a hockey bag full of my clothes and ski gear. I had 500 bucks on me and the only thing I knew for sure was I had to be at the mountain on Monday morning by 8. Slept in my car for 2 nights before I found a place to live.
To me, it was one big adventure. Wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Brownski]

Yikes
When I moved to ski bum it was the middle of ski season. I drove up on a Friday with 4 pair of skis, 1 pair of boots, and a hockey bag full of my clothes and ski gear. I had 500 bucks on me and the only thing I knew for sure was I had to be at the mountain on Monday morning by 8. Slept in my car for 2 nights before I found a place to live.
To me, it was one big adventure. Wouldn't change a thing.

I was in my GMC Safari in Lake Tahoe because I knew one of the employees at Fallen Leaf Lake Campground from my summer job in Alaska. I was gonna work at Heavenly but everybody told me Alpine Meadows was the place for me- the laid back place the locals liked to ski- so I went and applied there instead. I slept in the van alot longer than two days but hooked up with some other lifties at orientation that were renting a house. Once I unloaded my shit, we went to all the construction sites around Truckee and filled the van with scrap lumber for our wood stove. Fun.

 

[Ripitz]

I was working at the hotel in Big Sky one summer when a long haired kid from Vermont showed up looking for a job. He had grown up near Magic and was surprised I had even heard of it. He was living in a packed full hatchback that he had rallied straight from his high school graduation. He told me he was there to get set up for winter and that he would take any job. I informed him of the company’s grooming policies and offered him a dishwashing job. He didn’t have any money so I took him to the hotel stylist and paid for his haircut. I told him his car was too small to live in and set him up in the Mountain Lodge. He was so grateful. Years later after moving back east I returned on vacation and he was the head pastry chef. I often wonder where he is now.