ski bumming out west

ok so i had a post a while ago about becoming a ski bum for my rediculously long school break, and all the responses i got told me to end life as i know it and get reborn a ski bum, sorry i just can't fucking do that yet and i don't see many of you doig so either. sorry for the hostility but i feel like thats what i want to do, but i just can't.

hoooookay

so does anyone have any connections, tips, tricks, experience in ski bumming? any phone numbers? What to say to people what not to say? What areas? I feel like alta/bird would be the place to be, and then i realize that sage was a bum there and i realize im not qualified. Any places you knwo of looking for peopel mid-november though mid jan??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lax

I feel like alta/bird would be the place to be, and then i realize that sage was a bum there and i realize im not qualified.

---

wtf?
:confused:

TJBrk could give you a tip or two.

K2 message boards

you can get a job @ Alta, w/ pass and employee housing at anytime (for the resort or one of the hotels). If you don't have a car you can pack all your shit, fly there and take the shuttle up. your timing actually isn't that bad because you'll be there to work christmas and leave when it slows down, plus you'll leave well before the final month of the season, when everyone doesn't give a fuck anymore and starts going crazy. so you don't have any excuse, get online and take an hour to find a job, its that easy. Oh, btw most people that work out there are east coasters

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dirtbag

you can get a job @ Alta, w/ pass and employee housing at anytime (for the resort or one of the hotels). If you don't have a car you can pack all your shit, fly there and take the shuttle up. your timing actually isn't that bad because you'll be there to work christmas and leave when it slows down, plus you'll leave well before the final month of the season, when everyone doesn't give a fuck anymore and starts going crazy. so you don't have any excuse, get online and take an hour to find a job, its that easy. Oh, btw most people that work out there are east coasters

---

really? is this common knowledge? done and done if so


EDIT: any idea of what they'd be looking for? like do i want to be advanced, or expert skiier? any idea what jobs are generally in abundance? shouldi try to empahasize my minimal cooking experience?


ADDED: i am filling out an alta app. i just want some feedback first.

what about a couple of friends doing it with me? woudl they be needed? any chance of getting close housing? similar jobs?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lax

so does anyone have any connections, tips, tricks, experience in ski bumming? any phone numbers? What to say to people what not to say? What areas? I feel like alta/bird would be the place to be, and then i realize that sage was a bum there and i realize im not qualified. Any places you knwo of looking for peopel mid-november though mid jan??

---

Connections, yes.

Tips - First chair is overrated.

Tricks - Try the limestone stomp in front of the tourists for extra gnar points.

Phone numbers - 911-435-1248, ask for Jane.

What to say - Can I go in the backcountry with you? I've got a cell phone.

Areas - Afton Alps, MN

Seriously, part of the ski bum experience is learning all that shit while doing it so when you are 50 years old you can talk about how you had to sleep in a hallway because you didn't realize that housing has to be secured early or that some ropes are merely suggestions or that the chick that is digging you in a ski town has already slept with most of the other guys in town and you are merely another number with a pulse. Throw a dart at the map, call around and go. Being a ski bum is an adventure man, not a fucking test.

yup, there's a pretty high turnover rate because people get fired for selling drugs, being stupid, coming to work on shrooms, find better gigs and move to the valley, get real jobs, meet random chicks in the bar and get married 5 months later, ect., ect.

untrackedpowder@hotmail.com if you have any more questions

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ski Monkey

Seriously, part of the ski bum experience is learning all that shit while doing it so when you are 50 years old you can talk about how you had to sleep in a hallway because you didn't realize that housing has to be secured early or that some ropes are merely suggestions or that the chick that is digging you in a ski town has already slept with most of the other guys in town and you are merely another number with a pulse. Throw a dart at the map, call around and go. Being a ski bum is an adventure man, not a fucking test.

---

yea i know man, you just don't realize how much of a fucking mess i am, like have to be all bitchy to make sure this actually happpens, what you described is how i live, i just want this to happen more than anything...there will be plenty of room for this shiz once a job might dort of happen.


who am i calling? jane is....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dirtbag

yup, there's a pretty high turnover rate because people get fired for selling drugs, being stupid, coming to work on shrooms, find better gigs and move to the valley, get real jobs, meet random chicks in the bar and get married 5 months later, ect., ect.

---

There's about 8 or 9, etc. etc. stories here that are probably worth telling...

go for it, the more views this thread gets the better

start in the middle of teh pack, not too good first, not too bad

quit being such a pussy and just GO....that's part of the adventure.....God I envy your youth/age....when i was just outta college i took off for Crested Butte, knowing no one, no job, no place to live, just all my shit jammed into my car, rolling into town clueless....and that's what its all about. Now I am an old fart (34 being old :rolleyes: ) and have responsibilities.....so STFU, quit snivelling, embrace the unknown, rally to Alta/Bird and have the season/time of your life! It will all work out....just o it.

If you are going to college, you might try doing some sort of internship, if your major would cover anything going on in a resort.....if it were....marketing, sales, hotel managment, etc.

If there's something there you can do, start spamming the shit out of some of the resorts' HR departments. Should get you a free pass and a shit ton of work that you do for free.

well, im not really a veteran ski bum yet, but seriously....its not going to matter where you go. you will be stoked on anything. you should just go. most employers are going to want to meet you in person before they give you a job anyway, and some even prefer for you to apply in person. if it's any consellation, i didnt move out west untill jan. and i still found a job (crappy as it was, i still got to ski on every storm day). so getting a job in Nov. shouldn't be a problem. close your eyes, point to a place on a map, HIKE UP YOUR SKIRT, and get your arse out there.

edit: the weirdness is happening again, this should have been the 23rd or 24th post or something, not the 14th......its like the twilight zone in here

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lax

EDIT: any idea of what they'd be looking for? like do i want to be advanced, or expert skiier? any idea what jobs are generally in abundance? shouldi try to empahasize my minimal cooking experience?

---

Unless you're getting a job as an instructor, what does your skiing ability have to do with anything? Do you think they are going to make you take a ski test to let you work in a hotel or something?

Just go and don't worry about how good a skier you are. I don't think everyone skiing at Alta can hang with Sage, you know :)

Yes for Alta!!!
I spent a coulpe of seasone working at the Purvian lodge a while back. They are always looking for help and your time frame should work out great. As for the pass I think you pay up front and if you stay for the season you get a full refund for your pass. So you will have to check what kind of deal you can get for the amount of time you spend there. The living is dorm style at the lodge for you and your buds. You get ski time everyday if you want aswell. Fly out and take the shuttle up the canyon as you will not be allowed to have a car there.
Best of luck and check out their web page.

what the AD said. if you think you aren't qualified to wash dishes like Sage did, maybe you could shovel snow or something. just go man, figure it out when you get there.

"take off your skirt sally" and just go. You wont regret it!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dirtbag

yup, there's a pretty high turnover rate because people get fired for selling drugs, being stupid, coming to work on shrooms, find better gigs and move to the valley, get real jobs, meet random chicks in the bar and get married 5 months later, ect., ect.

---

It's funny 'cuz it's true. Employers can't exactly have high standards in Alta.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BakerBoy

There's about 8 or 9, etc. etc. stories here that are probably worth telling...

---

I guess there are some decent stories. Like the one about the girl who worked there less than a week, slept with 4 dudes in a day, then said that she loved her boyfriend more than ever and quit. I just heard about that one it happened the year before I got there.

People who work at Alfs, and Watsons live up there, which makes them perfect places for the occasional mid mountain party. Its always a good idea to bring your own bottle of Cuervo b/c if there's a keg it will be gone by 9:30 and if there's 2 they'll by gone by 10:45. The hike up can be a bitch (especially to Alf's), but if you're you're real lucky a cat driver will stop and give you a ride. So one night this kid is stumbling down hammered from Alf's and somehow (I have no idea) manages to fall into the snake pit underneeth the Sunnyside lift. He was all drunk and somehow managed to get himself free after an hour. For those who don't know the snake pit is this gully that's permantly closed, even in the summer, because its a super dangerous death trap. I think that he was too hammered at the time to clearly remember getting himself out

Just get out there and do it. I don't know about the other jobs at Alta, but I know that you can pretty much get on being a lifty at any point during the year. If you can breathe and walk, you can get the job. And, thankless though it may be, you do get a lot of skiing in and aren't confined to working the same lift every day (at least at Alta, don't know about other resorts).

What about the kid who decided to ski the Wildcat liftline completely smashed on New Year's Eve when it was pitch dark and storming?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lax

who am i calling? jane is....

---

Just call her, she'll know who y'are. It's like an advanced form of caller id or something that she has.

Oh, and don't forget to pack clean underpants.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 72Twenty

Just call her, she'll know who y'are. It's like an advanced form of caller id or something that she has.

---

Heh. Nice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lax

yea i know man, you just don't realize how much of a fucking mess i am, like have to be all bitchy to make sure this actually happpens, what you described is how i live, i just want this to happen more than anything...there will be plenty of room for this shiz once a job might dort of happen.

---

Dude, take a step back...breathe... To this day I say that the hardest part of it all was deciding to go and packing the car. Yes, it's easy getting bogged down in all the shit before you leave, but stop worrying because your plans will likely change once you pull out of the driveway, then at that rest stop in the middle of nebraska and then again when you get to where ever you are going.

The Canyons has a marketing internship...you can ski bum and be kinda seriousjong about it too...PM me for more...