I'm wondering if it's a similar lifestyle/setup....if there are key differences, etc.
Probably a lot more expensive and harder to make a living right?
I'm wondering if it's a similar lifestyle/setup....if there are key differences, etc.
Probably a lot more expensive and harder to make a living right?
I don't think so, man. After a lot of thought about it, I think there are places you'd go to ski/become a pro-skier, and places you go to become a surfer/pro surfer. SLC qualifies, LA doesn't. I moved west to ski in SLC. Never made it there. Started surfing in NorCal instead, but I didn't move here to become a surfer. I moved here before going to SLC. Damn women.
There are places you can dirtbag, and SLC is one of them. I just don't think anyone dirtbags in LA to be a surfer. It's like dirtbagging in Missouri to be a ski bum. Oh, and spare me the Dora quotes. That's been a minute.
Hawaii=SLC might be a more accurate comparo. LA might compare to Summit County, with Denver=the Valley.
North Shore = Cham or JH ???
Maui = A Basin, Squaw, Telluride, Ajax, Highlands, SLC, etc.
LA/ SoCal = Summit or Vail
Nor Cal/ OR/ WA = New England
Cocoa Beach/ Ponce = Mt Trashmore/ Midwest
That is my take on surfing/skiing
If by being a skier in SLC you mean living in a city with actual jobs and industry while still having world-class recreation within an hour I'd say you're looking to move to the south bay. At least for places within the lower 48.
Wow, I *really* disagree with that one.Quote:
Originally Posted by warthog
Yup. The surf from here north along this coast is wild, rugged, finicky, big and hard to access. Not the feeling I get from New England at all.
And what about Kauai? Or Oz? Or surf out side the US?
Honestly, the whole analogy falls dead on me.
I can see the parallel between SLC and Orange County. Lots of snow/surf industry nearby. Some world class terrain/surf; although there is a bit more gnar in SLC than anywhere near OC. But if you have the rigs, Cortez Bank/ Todas Santos are not too far off. Shit tons of wannabe pros fucking up the lines/lineups. Plenty of bro-brah attitude. Some real soul skier/surfer types in the mix. Plenty of easy terrain/surf to perfect your switch/flip/grab/air/carve/slash/tube/slarve/sticker placement on.
I actually kind of see a parallel between SC/NCal and Sierra Nevada, but that would be too easy.
Surf is flat today. More on the way.
I like the idea of living a fairly normal urban lifestyle intermixed with high-quality recreation.
What I liked the very best about Salt Lake was that there was great skiing very close to totally normal life down in the city...so it was all the skiing of a ski town without the tourism monoculture and the outrageous cost of living.
Agree with all of the above... except the "totally normal" part... Well, normal is relative and SLC's brand of 'normal' remains resistant to transplant influences.Quote:
Originally Posted by YetiMan
Of course... "urban lifestyle" and what's considered good is highly subjective. SLC... nothing wrong with it, but there's a reason cost of living is higher in certain places. Also depends if you want to factor in all of the shit you breath into your lungs as cost of living or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by YetiMan
because people make good money that leaves them without much time to do stuff? or because there's thousands of hangers on looking to make it big?
Hey! California has all that and more! an incompetent bureaucracy, sclerotic "justice" - become a judge, nail your intern in chambers! - all supported by an idiotic populace who're convinced it's still the dream, millions of overpriced tract homes, the finest chain stores mankinds ever known. Fifteen different brands of chain pizza! Not one but TWO! TWO BUDWEISER BREWERIES! 8 LANE FREEWAYS YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DRIVING OVER 5MPH ON! Have I mentioned the taxes and fees? The shakedowns from lowquality service providers of any stripe? Rheams of paperwork that does nothing? Sierra clubers accessorizing their yuppie palace with the finest rare rainforest woods? strict anti-immigrant republicans paying illegals to do everything? law and order ex-car thiefs? building inspectors that moved west from chicago? public employees that make bank being drunk in small towns?
It's still really, really, really nice when the swell pumps on a sunny Thanksgiving day. but as a working man trying to make it it's tough for most.
Yeah, but is that more like vail or new england? Or la grave? come on, play the game. I know you have opinions.
Hugh - I'm kind of waiting for you to move to another state to see what you say about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Conway
He already has.
Seems like life's tough everywhere for ol' Hughey.
I'll differ to your expertise on me.Quote:
Originally Posted by telemike
"Seems like..."
My conclusion based on observation. I could be wrong. Maybe you just give the appearance of being a miserable cunt and you're actually not.
Back to the OP: YM, how big a town do you need? I don't know if you've been to SoCal, but the surf breaks there can be kind of crowded, especially around LA. There are smaller towns up, and even down, the coast where there's less traffic both on and off the water. The lack of snow in the SW recently has had me wondering about moving to somewhere like Cambria (near SLO) or Aptos (near Santa Cruz) and resuming surfing. But I haven't been to those places in a while.
But then there's the employment issue.
Soft snow isn't gnar. Just sayin.
continue with comparisons.
Aptos is nice. But you need to drive through town to get to any where but the beaches. And it isn't the cheapest place around. If you don't mind a short drive, and are looking for budget, I'd lean more toward Watsonville. Not much further of a drive than Aptos, especially in the wee hours, and right near the best beach break around. While there is surf around Cambria, there are way fewer options, especially when the wind is blowing, and they are farther in between. And I imagine you need to at least commute into SLO (40 min?) to get any work. Unless you want to be a docent at the castle.
Cambria has fewer crowds than SC, and town here can be almost as crowded as SoCal. But if you don't mind heading off the beaten path, there are more than a few spots to surf solo between here and SF. Have you though of Pt Arena, and working a boat. A number of good spots up in that area, including a few summer breaks, not too many surfers, and a legit big wave break for the better winter swells. Actually, and pretty damn easy big wave IMO. Surfed it with 25' peaks, fucked up a few times, but never took the beaten I deserved. And the rest of the day was riding giants bliss. Kind of like skiing SLC gnar, with all that soft snow making it easy. ;0
Neither is hard snow you curmudgeon. Rocks are gnar. Gnar is a no fall zone. Hell, RiseToTheTop proved you can fall down an entire slide path and not die. Gnar is where you die (or wish you had) if you fall or fuck up. Gnar is a mandatory 25' exit ollie. As for surf, I basically start calling it gnar when there are serious consequences if you fuck up. The Shoe around here comes to mind as mini gnar, and mavs as gnar. Or maybe twist your ankle cause the surf is breaking in six inch deep beach break. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr brownstone
Being a surfer and living in LA proper would be very frustrating....
Those are just thoughts I've been knocking around in my head. Pt. Arena seems too cold (I went to Humboldt State and am pretty much done with really cold water) and I wouldn't be looking for massive waves - I'm getting old, I guess. I hadn't thought about the wind at Cambria though. Aptos maybe, or I could go live up in Boulder Creek with the hippies. Is it still a hippie haven?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ottime
And work isn't an issue - retired.
Whitedildokinggaperfish is a surfer and he lives in Bishop ( unless his chick finally kicked him out ) BUT he is mentally in pavones,chopes,jaws or ulu on any given post!!!
Boulder Creek still has a few hippies, I guess. some meth, some overflow of (mostly white workers) who can't afford Santa Cruz anymore (like most people who aren't tech turds). Felton more so. Most of the hippie's have upped stakes to elsewhere.
Aptos is expensive. there's various little old hollows in the mountains that are cheaper but they are by their lonesome in the hills and a trek to the beach. Watsonville? It's the overflow for the workers of santa cruz county and migrant farm labor. Poor, majority hispanic, drug/gang issues. One of those pockets of poverty/crime that persist in california proximate to some really nice stuff. Out the Pajaro Valley there are some houses with some space around them that are (comparatively) reasonable but they are kinda far from things. To the south there's Seaside - maybe a bit more salubrious than Watsonville, but mostly beach break surfing and not a great location. Service jobs catering to tourists and the uber wealthy Bathrobe Rich down there.
if you have all of your days free and can surf wherever you want in greater santa cruz. sure, you could be "lonesome". sometimes. Santa Cruz itself has had an epidemic of shitty crime by shitty people - creeper gunning down cops, psycho gunning down a business owner, culminating last thanksgiving with Admitted Prostitute Arrested In Heroin Overdose Death Of Google Executive On Santa Cruz Yacht - stealing from a redditor "This has all the pieces of a perfect Santa Cruz story in one 14 word headline. The only thing that could make it better is if a violent homeless man was in control of the yacht. " Plus suicides, overdoses, all the trappings of a dysfunctional economically stressed "community".
IME the difference between living rural or in a small town versus living in a city was the city had:Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeJ
every movie on the big screen
every type of food all day and lots of options at night
every type of person
pro sports
good public transit
anything you need available cheap/used on craigslist. tools, bike stuff, tires, whatever...on craigslist.
never have to go anywhere for a medical appointment
you know...that kind of stuff. I don't mean urban like gelling my hair and driving my fast-and-furious civic to the club to listen to techno.
Feels like Thanksgivig today.
I am also following this thread closely as I may have to move to LA for residency. Currently interviewing at USC, UC Irvine, and Univ of Utah (with hopefully some nor cal, CO, WA, OR interviews still to come) so the decision is between skiing and surfing. Tougher call than I had originally thought...
If you end up at UCI-just go ahead and pound your dong with a hammer for 30 minutes-Traffic alone is enough to derail any sane person from living in or around that shit hole.
Same with USC. then you can hammer your dick on your board with the 5,000 other bros in the water.
^^^ hahaha, duly noted. I wish I had more choice in the residency selection process than I do. The match is dumb. I prob won't end up there anyway, but they are options, and thanks for the info
SLC- 3 Ogdens
LA- 7 Ogdens
Skiing and surfing? I think you mean working 60 hours a week or working 75. :fm:Quote:
Originally Posted by couloirman
FWIW, from Vermont originally, would never want to be in LA for longer than 8 hours straight. Would imagine most from RI have the same opinion.
Bummer.Quote:
Originally Posted by nest
Utah gets big dumps far more frequently then so cal gets waves. Being a surfer in So Cal would be like being a powder skier or rider in Tahoe the past few seasons. Lots of waiting around..
Most crowded place to surf in the world, more people then Hawaii, Indo etc etc..
I wouldn't do it unless you got the money and time to travel out of LAX, if so you can score epic waves within 5 hour flights to HI or Central America
It was an effort, but not close really at any level.Quote:
Originally Posted by warthog
Bottom line, don't start surfing.
This is the dumbest fucking surf related thread I have ever read. ON THE ENTIRE INTERWEB! SLC? Being a surfer in LA is like being a skier in fucking Africa.
There's a reason why Gerry Lopez surfs the Oregon coast, and it's not because it's like fucking New England? Holy shit that was retarded.Quote:
Nor Cal/ OR/ WA = New England
^^^^^ barney alert,,,, hey kook ( ya you that lives 185 miles from the coast) Gerry didnt even go to the coast the first 3 years when he first lived in Oregon.
as for saying LA is like Africa ,,,,,,,,,,,, you are a full on kook...http://youtu.be/FAzYbJAxMYc
So it's retarded of me to see this and think "hey, maybe living 45 minutes from this would be like when I lived 45 minutes from Snowbird"?Quote:
Originally Posted by splitinbend
I mean, the comparison might not be apt but asking the question isn't retarded. You're retarded.
BWAH! DICKBAG310 chimes in with the stupid! YUP MAN MORE PEOPLE THAN INDO! Post some more "stoke" brah! how fucking stokeless are the idiots buying adds in your shitty magazine?Quote:
Originally Posted by media310
no surfers at all in SoCal, none, because there are no waves. What a fucking idiot.
What the fuck do you even know about barneys? I lived in San Clemente for 22 years before moving to Oregon. I'd love to see you paddle out at lowers and even get a wave kook. Fuck surfing in SoCal with all the other kook cockroaches. Yeah bro there's waves in San Pedro and they're so good. Congrats, you have El Porto, it barely breaks. Malibu? Fagfest every day. Just go to Ventura if you want to surf.Quote:
Originally Posted by whitekingsalmon
LA is a desert when it comes to waves. A few hours north, a few hours south and you have some of the best waves in the world. Oh congratulations the swell direction during a massive hurricane swell made every spot in Southern California that could catch swell look like pipe. Fuck LA. And hurricane Marie was an anomaly. It's never been that good. But if you want to surf in LA and wait for the next hurricane Marie, go ahead, have fun waiting.
Yes...that all seems about right.
FWIW "los angeles", for the purposes of my knocking ideas around, could have meant a few hours north or south too. I probably should have just said southern cal. I mean, there's an awful lot of los angeles' dna all over a lot of media I've consumed my whole life and there's a lot of mystery and wonder tied up in that place for me because I've never really spent much time there. I have no doubt it's a giant shitshow....but really, before I was sort of forced into moving to Salt Lake I thought I'd hate it there and that turned out really, really well for me.
anyway, this isn't serious research here. I'm not gearing up for a move, I'm not going to freak out if somebody is right or wrong, I'm just exploring a thought I had. Please don't get butthurt about it.