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Ski bummin for a year?

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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223

Hey NS,

just need a little advice on my predicament here.  I am a senior in high school and trying to decide what to do in the hereafter.  My options as I see it are to go to college right away, or take a semester or two off and be a ski bum on some mountain and then go to college. My uncle did this and had a blast. My question to you is-can you tell me if it is worth it and how to go about getting a job/life that is skiable around, where to go and any other info you think could help me out?Thanks!

And don't kill me for this, I just want some fellow skiers advice-not ppl hating on me.

Aug 30 2010 9:59PM
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lanny94
Posts: 1374 - Karma: 165

go to rossland community college once u graduate and u can ski bum at the same time

Aug 30 2010 10:00PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
do it. best decision of my life
Aug 30 2010 10:12PM
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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223
^^Where'd you go?
Aug 30 2010 10:15PM
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CBROOKS
Posts: 4979 - Karma: 10,708
College August-December, Skiing January - May, College May - August. Not hard to do. Find a school with good summer programs.
Aug 30 2010 10:20PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
B.C, Colorado, Alberta, New York, Vermont, Quebec, Ontario and skied 140 days that season. Last year in college I only got like 30 days of skiing.
Aug 31 2010 12:48AM
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baz1
Posts: 287 - Karma: -37
Their are lots of people who will tell you about the importance of a good education, I however will not... One day you will be at a point in your life were you no longer have such a great drive and passion for skiing, I.e. kids, wife, mortgage....


Ski now... work later...


think about it...



Aug 31 2010 1:04AM
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Shadows
Posts: 8068 - Karma: 43
honestly dude, do it. it will be the best thing you ever did.
no matter how much advice you get before hand all you really need to know is...
a) get a job
b) get a place to stay
c) ski
---a) - optional

the whole point of bumming it hard is not having a plan.


Aug 31 2010 2:19AM
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masta_LE3B
Posts: 3397 - Karma: 62
thats exactly were im at, i think im gona bum. but im not sure were, or what type of vehicle
Aug 31 2010 3:14AM
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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223
awesome-thanks for the help everybody!
Aug 31 2010 10:27AM
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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223
Also-what towns did you guys go to? Any good suggestions?
Aug 31 2010 10:51AM
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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223
bump
Aug 31 2010 10:56PM
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baz1
Posts: 287 - Karma: -37
British Columbia.
Sep 1 2010 7:19AM
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FoxRiderAR77
Posts: 231 - Karma: 12
Since you have a car and a year I would do some driving around. Go out to Colorado for the early season, get summit county and make some trips down to wolf creek. Maybe work your way to Utah and northern California before ending the season up in Washington, and skiing summer park.

FYI: I've never done this, but have been looking at bumming options for awhile.
Sep 1 2010 10:15AM
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Hansel2
Posts: 55 - Karma: 10
i did it the other way around... i graduated from the top ranked school in the country now im gonna be a ski bum for the rest of my life
Sep 1 2010 10:50AM
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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223
i like that logic
Sep 1 2010 6:54PM
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hablablaha
Posts: 201 - Karma: 15
do it!!!
(no further explanation needed)
Sep 1 2010 7:21PM
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3mania
Posts: 2613 - Karma: 10,361
Be careful. I was just gonna take a couple of semesters off. Twenty five years and 3,000 or so ski days later, i've never had a real job, bought a house, or gotten a wife. Only this skiing addiction that makes meth addiction look like a casual sweet tooth. Or maybe you'll just ski for a season, party too much, work some shitty job and decide skiing is too fucking core, like most of these pussies that move out west.
Sep 1 2010 7:26PM
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Sle
Posts: 20 - Karma: 10
right there with ya hansel2. get a job on the mtn like park staff, that's a good one cause you get paid while you ride. but the raking and shoveling can be a B. Or ski patrol, sometimes you can get on with basic first aid/cpr/aed certs, and it pays better, and technically patrol is supposed to ski every run before opening it to the public so that kicks ass on powder days, but you really don't get to ride that much everyday. do whatever man, if you can afford not work, that'd definately be the way to go though... i have some friends whove been on unemployment for like 2 years now... lucky fucks
Sep 1 2010 7:40PM
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FoxRiderAR77
Posts: 231 - Karma: 12
Exactly my plan
Sep 1 2010 11:15PM
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KenzieMorris
Posts: 68 - Karma: 13
Skiing doesn't start till December in most places, or till its worth skiing everyday, anyways. And if you go to school in Reno, Utah, Colorado, or Montana you will be with tons of people who do the same thing. Take springs off, and you can travel, ski, and do whatever and after 4 years when all of your friends are done with college you will be most of the way there, and have had a better time.
Sep 1 2010 11:31PM
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Jenser
Posts: 375 - Karma: 16
My thoughts exactly
Sep 2 2010 12:19AM
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Skibumsmith
Posts: 5432 - Karma: 11,821
I'm pumped on skibumming this year.
Sep 2 2010 2:01AM
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jca
Posts: 4171 - Karma: 6,311
there's no "rossland community college" there's selkirk college in castlegar and nelson, but not college in rossland.
i reccomend coming to rossland though!
Sep 2 2010 2:10AM
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Campeador
Posts: 7516 - Karma: -1,227
You are my hero.

"i've never had a real job, bought a house, or gotten a wife"

From what I've seen, all that shit is very overrated.
Sep 2 2010 2:51AM
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.nasty
Posts: 10581 - Karma: 11,150
doing this once I get my design degree. figure I can work and ski. win win.
Sep 2 2010 2:58AM
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KLovelace
Posts: 2118 - Karma: 289
yea I did it too at Hood for a winter and summer.. and actually I just stopped college to do it..

my only warning is to beware of never escaping the lifestyle.. it's really hard to imagine not skiing everyday once you've done it for an entire year (especially being spoiled living at a place like hood)
Sep 2 2010 8:45AM
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gaku
Posts: 225 - Karma: 64
did it. loved it.
Sep 2 2010 11:19AM
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.catierob
Posts: 670 - Karma: 15
best thing i ever did. heres a website that i find extremely useful got my ski job and past summer job in wyoming thanks to it,
www.coolworks.com

kind of makes you not want to go to college..
Sep 2 2010 11:39AM
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smuggs
Posts: 6561 - Karma: 1,375
hands down best ski bum experience for a kid right oout of hs is alta. you live at alta, and get food cooked for you. its the ultimate.
Sep 2 2010 12:18PM
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.catierob
Posts: 670 - Karma: 15
hahha yes! i worked there 08-09. josh is awesome
Sep 2 2010 5:13PM
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Sun_Ra
Posts: 983 - Karma: 279
If you don't have enough money to afford to pay for a whole season of ski bumming(lodging, season pass, food), you should take the whole year off. It will be super hard to find a job in January at the peak of the tourist season near. But, if you take the year off, you can work in the fall, and start to work close to a mountain in November or something. And it's gonna be a lot easier to find good lodging too. I'm doing it this year and I'm just about to leave for France.

Think about it, what's the difference between graduating when you'll be 23 or 24 years old ? We're pretty much living the only time in our life that we have no responsabilities. We have to take this opportunity to travel and try some new things.
Sep 2 2010 5:53PM
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information**
Posts: 21 - Karma: 10
Yea im ganna be bumbin around
Sep 2 2010 6:50PM
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rankstank
Posts: 1033 - Karma: 223
eh why not one more bump
Sep 5 2010 8:15PM
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Cam.t
Posts: 134 - Karma: 10
ski bumming rules man, go for it
Sep 5 2010 8:43PM
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DHogg
Posts: 3462 - Karma: 237
Learn from my mistakes. I went straight from School to College and in hindsight it was a really bad call. You'll meet lots of people, not go to college until you find something you actually want to study, and probably do better academically.

Some good places to check out:
-SLC
-Tahoe
-Whistler
-Bozeman
-Vail
-Crested Butte
Sep 5 2010 11:52PM
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Msully
Posts: 575 - Karma: 21
most people who do that wake up half way through the year, realize making 9 bux/ hour isnt shit and get a real job. Smoking pot doing nothing with your life isnt the best way to live your life and most people realize this after they ski bum for a while.
Sep 6 2010 12:02AM
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bigbromskier
Posts: 1175 - Karma: 330
I moved to Tahoe for a year after high school. Definitely the best learning experience I've had--you learn real life skills that are invaluable and that making 8 bucks an hour only gets you so far. I did it so I was already enrolled in college the year afterwards-you can just defer your acceptance-and once that year was up it was kind of bittersweet going back to school, but once you've worked shitty resort jobs for a season you can see the benefit of a college degree. With that said I'm planning on going back once I graduate, hopefully to find something to work on with my degree, but if not that's cool too. The skiing lifestyle is just too awesome! Recommend the year off 300%! PM me if you want more info on how i did it i definitely learned some tricks of the trade and would love to help anyone out...
Sep 6 2010 12:14AM
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TOAST.
Posts: 7481 - Karma: 36,055
Has anyone ski bummed out of their car (or a nice tent would be sick) and successfully had a job at a resort. I'm thinking about doing this sometime and if I do I would also like to have a small part time job so I could save up a little money for college or maybe work at a resort to get free tickets.

Also at resorts that provide housing for employees. What is the ski to work ratio? And how have your experiences been with that.
Sep 6 2010 12:29AM
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Daydreaming
Posts: 1686 - Karma: 48
Definitely do it. I'm in the midst of my year between high school and college and tomorrow I'm getting on a plane and flying to Prague for three months. When I get back home around thanksgiving, it'll be ski season, I'll have a part time gig at a ski shop, and I'm going to ski Alta every day humanly possible. I guess it's not really bumming cause I'll be at home again but still worth it! PM me if you come to SLC.
Sep 6 2010 1:18AM
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stephengillboy
Posts: 462 - Karma: 191

definitely do it... i graduated college and then moved to vail..best decision of my life, but if youre trying to get a real job afterwards good luck...i doubt ill ever leave

Sep 6 2010 11:50AM
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Rumi.
Posts: 1231 - Karma: 556

DO THIS...

Sep 6 2010 11:56AM
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meeesh
Posts: 353 - Karma: 56
I'd say college first, I took my time with school and was still able to ski roughly 60 days a season during... I got my degree and 3 days later ended up in summit county. I can't imagine having a "real" job... or school to take away ski days now that I have them whenever.
Sep 6 2010 12:29PM
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the604
Posts: 1067 - Karma: 10
looks likea riot
Sep 6 2010 12:47PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 7481 - Karma: 36,055
But if you go after college and get hooked on the lifestyle wouldn't college have been a waste of time because you don't use the degree you got because you don't have a "real" job. Which is why I would think it would be better to do before college so if you get hooked you don't have to worry about paying off an assload of debt.
Sep 6 2010 1:20PM
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stephengillboy
Posts: 462 - Karma: 191
yea but if you go before college you won't be 21 and partying is a big majority of the ski bum "lifestyle"...plus you dont want to be the 30 year old in all your freshman year classes
Sep 6 2010 1:26PM
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-Otto-
Posts: 456 - Karma: 40
This!
Sep 6 2010 1:41PM
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STR8W1CKD
Posts: 32 - Karma: 10
thats what im talking about ! ^ then hopefully u can land a job at the mtn eventually =)
Sep 6 2010 1:56PM
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meeesh
Posts: 353 - Karma: 56
Right. Seems silly... but I actually manage 2 ski shops at the base of the mountain instead of using my degree. I ski everyday between shifts and afford my bills. I got 130 days this past season with my fulltime ski-bum job. AND THEN when my knees don't work anymore I can use that sweet degree. **These are my dreams ;) lets not ruin them.
Sep 6 2010 1:58PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 7481 - Karma: 36,055
Fair Deuce
Sep 6 2010 2:05PM
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3mania
Posts: 2613 - Karma: 10,361
If you really love to ski... i mean love it more than life itself. You'll figure out a way to make money and ski everyday. What did you do today that was so fufilling? I skied sunny slush in San Martin de los Andes Argentina. I lapped the park, skied some bumps and switch carved a bunch of groomers, now i'm sitting in cafe drinking expresso and checking out the hottest chicks the in entire world. Maybe ski bumming isn't for you, but it's worked out pretty well for me.
Sep 6 2010 4:31PM
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