How to Stay at the Hill

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:06 AM

As much as I would like to recount the madness and mechanisms pursued long ago by people dumber than imaginable about how to sleaze a nights stay up at the hill, that's not what this is all about.

What it is about is far more mundane. The question is, what's the most economical way for a family of 4 to stay at a ski area.

In one corner, we've got the RV/camper camp.
So a decent camper is going to run you, what 40k? While this seems like an outrageous sum, I'm well past the age where I'm willing to spend inordinate hours writhing around on some wet tarmac or muddy gravel driveway fixing the treadle on the flangewort disc molester. So, I want to buy something that won't require hours of work or result in some roadside reaming.

Anyway, so there's that, gas and maintenance. Seems like a lot to stay in the lot. And after 10 years, that rig is going to come apart somewhere and be an old dog worth nothing.

In the other corner, there's the hotel advocates.
Say we take that $40k and invest is at 4%. How many years can we spend say $5000 per year on hotels? How does that exponential growth go again?
40*(1.04)^x? But then there's spending the $5k per year. O fuck, I need a truss for my head. I forgot how to compute a closed form for ((40*1.04 - 5)*1.04 -5)*1.04 -5.

, but it's gotta be about 10 years? Where those accountants without taste?

The bell rings, the fighters come out of their corners....

**Woodsy** · 10-12-2005, 11:08 AM

have a good friend that runs a fantastic ski in ski out hotel that your family never comes to but you enjoy solo quite often

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:11 AM

Well, should stasis be the appropriate descriptor for the potential events percolating just beyond the horizon, the familial aggregate may venture that way soon.

The other factor of course is plane fare. And the worth of a tofu rub to validate our groovy ecohipness and pollution awareness.

**DBdude** · 10-12-2005, 11:14 AM

Does this question relate to sking at your "home" hill or excursions to other hills?

Currently, I belong to the live close and buy a pass and never go anywhere else camp.

**iceman** · 10-12-2005, 11:17 AM

Well if the real estate market keeps expanding exponentially forever as we all know it will (right?) buying a place would eventually pay you. Not very portable though.

**lemon boy** · 10-12-2005, 11:17 AM

For a family an RV starts looking more plausible $ wise if you compute the cost per head especially against flying and renting a car plus accom.

That said, I think the money aspect is secondary to the emotional satisfaction aspect: would you prefer to have a camping style ski vacation or a hotel style one? Would you like your kids to have camping or hotel memories.

Don't forget that with a camper you still end up paying for slabs/hookups (~10-35/night) and many "campgrounds" are closed in the winter.

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:22 AM

Let X equal a family of four with one epsilon of age 5 and a delta of age 3. Consider the morning scenario preceding a 2 hour drive to the local hill. The vector bundling of small vector fields doesn't adequately describe the Markovian perturbations, gyrations or mastications. Marshalling the arguments across the driveway process space is a far more pro babblistic and more akin to Cabbalistic. Or masochistic. Then there's the 2 hour drive where the whine of the engine is exceeded by the whine of the occu pants. Then there's the unmarshalling of the arguments into the boot up space. And more unbundling and bundling the sheaves and varieties.

The execution time prohibits the consideration of simply driving each morning. Especially when that first chair is a necessity.

**DBdude** · 10-12-2005, 11:25 AM

It depends where you live also. If you live in ski country, a RV can make a lot of sense. If you are far from ski country, buy condo/rent hotels can look better.

**baseWeldr** · 10-12-2005, 11:26 AM

like the flex factor of the RV, respond to storms as necessary, full family forays might stay more regional- but it's there for your southern silver sanjuan whims too... easily parked in a friendly driveway anywhere

planes and hotels or hostels make the travel easier on the fam, but the schedule is more rigid...

buy a gooddeal RV for half the price and do both, zen and the art of chinooking for freshies- and more road trip stories!

**lemon boy** · 10-12-2005, 11:26 AM

home mountain = buy a condo, make intrawest happy.

**DBdude** · 10-12-2005, 11:27 AM

one can get one's marshalling in the night before first chair

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:27 AM

The remote location has already been addressed. The issue is really going to the local hill more than anything.

As for carefully hewing the memories, I guess I'd rather have them have camper memories. I guess I shouldn't miss another opportunity to force my kids to live my dreams, huh?

**lemon boy** · 10-12-2005, 11:28 AM

Ohhhhhhh bussstterrrrr

**assgasorgrass** · 10-12-2005, 11:28 AM

Well self proclaimed cherry popper, pop your own cherry and buy a truck\rv combo.

**DBdude** · 10-12-2005, 11:29 AM

I fantasize about getting a piece of land by said home mountain and putting up a yurt. Prolly never happen, but it's nice to think about on days like this in cube land.

**Woodsy** · 10-12-2005, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

I guess I shouldn't miss another opportunity to force my kids to live my dreams, huh?

dood,
L will never let the nubs sleep in lift shacks

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by lemon boy

Ohhhhhhh bussstterrrrr

I have this puke-uliar feeling that one of these jobbies will cost more than 40k. Am I right? What kinda scheckels we talking for a unit like that? Can I mount a barebreasted ships figurehead on the bumper? A grinder a bumper with a premoistened dumper?

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Woodsy

dood,
L will never let the nubs sleep in lift shacks

That wasn't so bad. But sitting in the sherriff's sled with 30 purple barrels on me after getting caught in the Pervuvian basement is not an experience I'd like to foist upon the nubiles.

**wicked_sick** · 10-12-2005, 11:34 AM

I'm a strong believer in the $1500 converted '65 schoolbus.

**Viva** · 10-12-2005, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

and more akin to Cabbalistic. Or masochistic.

As the function cannibalistic has yet to enter the equation, I'd say, to date, at least, you're doing okie-dokie. Just beware of those hundred year blizzards.

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by wicked_sick

I'm a strong believer in the $1500 converted '65 schoolbus.

I appreciate the romance and occasional functioning, but that is not an option for me right now. I have a whole lifetime of auto tweezing: vw bugs (had a '58 for a while) old detroit sleds (64 impala, 60 rastro galaxie) and numerous offshore death rockets (Datsun 2000 roadster, bmw 2002, alpha romeo GTV).
I've sworn them off, exchanging oil for baby poo.

**lemon boy** · 10-12-2005, 11:46 AM

Plus taxes and a few options you should be right around 200K (you can buy their proof of concept dodge for 85K and a sportsmobile goes for like 45-70K)

If you already have a large pickup you can get a big used slide in camper for ~15K

**Monique** · 10-12-2005, 11:48 AM

Like His Woodsyness the family scenario limits my ability (okay, willingness) to offer mountain hospitality. Should you or you and the missus have occasion to want grom-free accommodations you know how to reach me.

This message does not in any way represent the opinions of Iceman or Iceman, Inc. or its worldwide subsidiaries. Please put on your own oxygen mask first, and then assist your children.

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by lemon boy

Plus taxes and a few options you should be right around 200K (you can buy their proof of concept dodge for 85K and a sportsmobile goes for like 45-70K)

If you already have a large pickup you can get a big used slide in camper for ~15K

200k is gackcercise.

I'll bet those popup units would be warm, huh?

So 40k is a pipe dream. Oh joy.

**Buster Highmen** · 10-12-2005, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Monique

Like His Woodsyness the family scenario limits my ability (okay, willingness) to offer mountain hospitality. Should you or you and the missus have occasion to want grom-free accommodations you know how to reach me.

This message does not in any way represent the opinions of Iceman or Iceman, Inc. or its worldwide subsidiaries. Please put on your own oxygen mask first, and then assist your children.

That's totally cool of you. However, as pundits of Full Contact Parenting, the little grubblers basically never leave one side or the other, with the exception of going to the old family farm several times a week to feed the horses, drive the tractor, bang on a variety of stuff and use power tools. Grandma totally r00lz and my 4 year old loves his drill.

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