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Where to bum the cheapest?

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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
So,

I wanna be a skibum in the US next year.
Now, there's pretty much two things I need to know:

- Where should I bum? I was considering an Epic pass for the versatility, which is nice, but what about the resorts in it? I pretty much want to ride powder as much as I can. What's the cheapest place with a lot of powder, close to other resorts to be able to mix up the places I ski. CO, Utah, Calli or BC? Of course a decent/good park is important too for the days there ain't any pow.

- How easy is it to sleep in your car? Are cops gonna bother you and all that bs? Or can you just park your car somewhere and sleep? And if it's not really possible to sleep in your car, how much is the cheapest lodging there is? Staying in one place all season long is ok.

I was planning on saving up a lot of money, buy an old van, turn it into something you can sleep in.

A ticket from Amsterdam to Denver is 550€ (750$) only (two way). Then I need a place to stay (car?!) and a season pass.
- Average season pass price 450€
- Flight ticket 550€

So that's 1000€. Now, I just need to know how much lodging is. Help me out guys!



Mar 31 2011 12:07PM
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DADDYlongLEGS
Posts: 1574 - Karma: 48
I'm sure you could get away with sleeping in a car if you can actually handle it. I've heard about people staying in the Walmart parking lot without any trouble. I don't know if how many consecutive days you could stay but I think you would be fine if you moved around occasionally. I don't know if I could handle living out of a car for that long but if you can do it would save some serious coin. You probably need to factor some other things into your expenses such as food, gas, etc. Summit and Vail/Beaver had a pretty good year as far as snowfall and the parks at Breck and Key are always top notch. Good luck with your travels sounds like fun.
Mar 31 2011 1:26PM
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washbaugh
Posts: 307 - Karma: 26
Breck, Key, the Basin, Vail, BC, Northstar, Heavenly. all for $650 with epic pass....honestly there isn't a better deal out there.
Mar 31 2011 1:34PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
How much would lodging in Park city or something like that be? I got a PM from someone who said I could stay in SLC for 300$/month easily (which is nothing), but I'd like to stay nearer to the slopes I guess...
Apr 1 2011 8:44AM
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smuggs
Posts: 6561 - Karma: 1,375
get a job in alta. preferably one of the lodges. people cook for you and you can roll out of bed and go skiing.

chances are youre gonna be broke somewhere
Apr 1 2011 9:03AM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
C'mon this is NS. I'm sure someone will provide you with a couch for a small fee.
Apr 1 2011 9:14AM
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nlamx
Posts: 348 - Karma: 10
SLC is like 25-30 mins from all the mountains except snowbasin. Probably best lodging deal, and sick park at PC and powder at solitude, alta, brighton, etc

Apr 1 2011 9:32AM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
This is what I'm actually hoping for. Apart from that it's pretty cheap, it's also just nice to have people to hang out with.

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a job as a ski-teacher in the US? Or is it also resort depended?
Apr 1 2011 3:55PM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
Big sky perhaps? I "bummed" this winter in crested butte which was sick but I had my families condo to stay at and I had connections for a job at a ski shop
Apr 1 2011 4:09PM
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DGski
Posts: 3491 - Karma: 2,328
thats the life i wanna live
Apr 1 2011 4:20PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Ok sweet, thanks for the responses everyone. And how about getting a working visa? Can I, as a foreigner, just get a job? Or do I need like a greencard or whatever?
Apr 1 2011 5:05PM
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ndye
Posts: 3756 - Karma: 7,094
Bozeman is one of the best places to live as a ski bum. It's cheap and the skiing is awesome. Plus, you can get away with alot of stuff you really can't do in the more developed areas like Summit Country and Park City. My friends moved out there last year and i will join them eventually.
Apr 1 2011 5:07PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
But Montana doesn't get all that much snow does it?
Apr 1 2011 5:46PM
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OG.Kush.Budz
Posts: 133 - Karma: 98
you need to eat add another 500
Apr 1 2011 5:54PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
What for?
Apr 1 2011 6:06PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
500 is a lot for food. You could easily do 250 dollars less for 4-5 months thats about 2 dollars a day for food. Ramen noodles and an apple or peanut butter sandwiches.
Apr 1 2011 6:09PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
But aren't there places that get triple that? I mean, that's still a lot for Europe, but I figured for the US it wasn't all that much...
Apr 1 2011 6:47PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
2$ a day? You mad? You want me to starve myself?
Dude, when I ski I'm fucking huuungry. I need at least 10$ a day for food/drinks/beer on average. And that's on the low-low-low side.
I need a solid breakfast, like a lot. Lots of lunch. Lots of dinner. Lots of snacks in between.
I need 3/4 packs of ramen at least for dinner. And besides, I'm not a big fan of ramen. I rather eat spaghetti every day. Cheap and much nicer.
Apr 1 2011 6:50PM
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Rez4frederick
Posts: 4740 - Karma: 40
Dude, just start saving money and get a job at a ski resort. You are going to freeze your ass off trying to sleep in a van. Yea it would be ok for say like a week, but the whole season? Winters get freaking cold in the US. Hell in Montana there was a month of temps at 0 degrees (farenheit) and colder
Apr 1 2011 6:55PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
suit yourself. I can eat like three peanut butter sandwiches in one day and be fine. I spent a week in vermont doing that.
Apr 1 2011 7:02PM
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ndye
Posts: 3756 - Karma: 7,094
Looks like someone will never be able to be a true ski bum. Sorry!
Apr 1 2011 7:12PM
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-ROY-
Posts: 3633 - Karma: 1,503
that diet dor a whole season would be scary
Apr 1 2011 7:20PM
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-ROY-
Posts: 3633 - Karma: 1,503
that diet dor a whole season would be scary
Apr 1 2011 7:20PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
yeah i bet i would probably get sick from having a weakened immune system. Spending $10 a day on food is a lot though
Apr 1 2011 8:18PM
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Flying~Squirrel
Posts: 6494 - Karma: 192
threads
Apr 1 2011 8:23PM
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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
So really you have to decide how much you want to bum, sure it's possible to live in your car, and eat terrible food for almost nothing, but do you really want to live like that? Save up an extra $1000 and find a room to share and life will be a lot more enjoyable.

As for being a ski instructor, it's pretty easy if you have any qualifications/experience, the mountain will sponsor your visa (the type of visa is known as a H2B). It's not a bad option if you have savings, as you can then backline (avoid work), and still get a pass/discounts/housing/flights paid for. It is however, still a job, so sometimes when it's busy, they will want you to work and when the conditions are epic, that can be shit. Also in the States, unless you have a lot of experience, you will be teaching group lesson kids, which equals not many tips, and shitloads of spoilt american brats.

You do have a lot of time until ski season rolls around again though, so if you can, just save hard and go on holiday, if you're doing it as a one time thing, it's definitely the way to go. If you want to make it more of a regular thing, ski instructing is a good way to go.
Apr 1 2011 8:27PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
dont live in a car all winter. the absolute minimum you should do is either a truck bed with a topper or a 4 season tent.

Ideally though you should buy a camper van or a chevy pannel van and camperize it (insulate the shit out of it and it will be a great home-base).

Pannel vans are also a lot more stealth than normal camper vans. Advantage of a windowless one is easy insulation. Windows aren't an issue because you never really will be in it during the day anyways. Advantage of a window one is it looks like ski team vans.
Apr 1 2011 9:24PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
I was hoping to just teach a little bit when it's really busy. Eg Christmas and the like. Holiday-time. Maybe a month in total. But what skischool should I get in contact with. Seeing as the rent is only 300$/month (according to a message I got), I'm sure as hell not gonna sleep in a car.
If I'd get a car I need to insulate it and whatever and that's also gonna set me back a lot. I'll just rent. 1200$ for a whole season is fine by me. Only 850€ that is.
Apr 2 2011 2:52AM
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B-runge
Posts: 16558 - Karma: 361
Click for larger image
Apr 2 2011 3:46AM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Bump.

Apr 29 2011 8:51AM
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clive_bixby
Posts: 1834 - Karma: 499
I know that there are quite a few resorts who aren't doing h-2 or whatever it is for overseas people to come work. def look at whatever resort you might potetially want to work at to make sure they would accept you to work. with that said you could easily just get a job somewhere else, just be careful.
Apr 29 2011 9:41AM
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.RYAN66
Posts: 5381 - Karma: 235
threads for when i become a ski bum. dude bumming costs a lot more then you think. it would be much easier for you to find a job at a resort if you were already in the states.
Apr 29 2011 11:55AM
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MADDECENT
Posts: 5579 - Karma: 951
If I were you I would get the Epic Pass no doubt. Honestly, I don't understand what all the hype about PC is about. Keystone and Breck rape PC as far as park goes, and if you're bumming in Summit, you'll be 10-15 minutes from amazing park and half an hour from endless powder in Vail.

If you get sick of summit, go to Heavenly for a few weeks.

I would buy an old ass van off Craigslist and live out of that.

Colorado won't disappoint you.
Apr 29 2011 12:02PM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
threads
Apr 29 2011 3:50PM
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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
If he had a visa, which is almost impossible to get without a job.

Resorts that have been giving H2Bs and employ a lot of foreigners in ski school are Winter Park CO (I did 2 seasons there and loved it), and Sierra (and a lot of the other Tahoe resorts). Park City also gives out a few, but Vail resorts have cut back on them, as have Aspen.
Apr 29 2011 6:23PM
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Ben.
Posts: 21463 - Karma: 683
I have no idea if montana was ever even considered, but as far as i can tell Big Sky hires quite a few foreign employees every year.
Apr 29 2011 6:30PM
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Skiingsnow
Posts: 1567 - Karma: 797
loads of people came to Whistler as part time holiday staff ski instructors, u just need ur level 1s and u get rent from $315/month, free season pass, all the staff deals(50% off food on the mountain) and pro deals, and ull work like 10 days the whole season

Apr 29 2011 10:06PM
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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
Sounds like a good deal, you can (probably, not sure about the Dutch) get a working holiday visa for Canada as well, making it a bit easier.
Apr 30 2011 8:24AM
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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
Yeah there used to be a big crew of us who would instruct in WP in the northern hemi winter, then go to NZ in the summer, but the government changed the visa rules a few years back and for a few years there were no foreigners. Now it looks like it's pretty much back to normal.
Apr 30 2011 8:28AM
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.squirrely.
Posts: 7563 - Karma: 7,546
lol same here
Apr 30 2011 8:37AM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Montana good place to bum? Not that much pow right?
Apr 30 2011 6:31PM
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