Best Ski City

Its so easy to point out the kids who haven't spent more than a week in SLC...

i appreciate all the input. im sure they would all be awesome. in SLC is the mormon thing really a big deal? cause im just nervous about that getting really annoying but other than that it seems like perfect. but i mean obviously getting a good job is important so whichever i find a job i think id be cool with weather its in the pnw, co, or slc. and does anyone whitewater kayak in these areas? cus along with mountain biking i do that too and a lot of people talked about bike parks but i didnt kno if any of you guys had experience with that too.

Mormon thing isn't big or noticeable except for a few whacky laws that are most likely not going to affect you unless you want to drink liquor on sunday nights regularly. canyons just opened up their first attempt at a bike park last year and there's a few other trails around including one that's partially shuttable via a free bus system in PC. its nothing spectacular by any means but anyone on this site, i doubt will be looking for anything more. its perfect for people just getting into it.

whitewater kayaking?? haha and thanks dude I've heard some people say it's really annoying and some say no big deal

Seattle is a pretty good place to be as far as skiing and overall culture is concerned, most of the people ive met there are pretty chill. I'm about 30 miles north of the city but I've spent a fair amount of time in seattle. If youre not into the hipster scene or are conservative in your views it may not be the best choice, but if youre into puffing trees it's about as good as it gets:) I can think of 4 ski areas within a 2 hour drive or less.

I lived in Utah for a couple years, didnt really see the mormon thing as being an issue. I'd agree that SLC isnt as cool as denver but it definitely makes up for it in proximity and quality of skiing. Also the cost of living value you can get in utah is ridiculously good. compared to other cities. also slc has a great job market right now

Suck a dick.  You don't know me.  I've spent about 10-12 weeks in SLC in the last few years and have plenty of friends that live there that I regularly visit.  If you consider SLC a real city the likes of Seattle, Denver, or Portland than it is probably so easy to point out that you have not spent anytime outside of SLC.  And I'm not a kid, nor have been one for quite some time.

      

I would say Denver, and Seattle, including only cities in the US.

I'm leaving out SLC because of the city factor.  Obviously the skiing is insane.

I think Denver and Seattle come the closest to being true cities that are close to great skiing.  Nowhere back east qualifies, as far as I'm concerned.

Denver and Seattle have been discussed, so I am going to talk a bit about the California cities, San Fran and socal.

San Francisco is actually a great ski city, if you are willing to drive.  Believe it or not, LA is too.  If you can afford a ski lease, and you are willing to put in the miles, norcal and socal are some of the best places to be a skier. 

With San Francisco, you are 4 hours from epic terrain, which is not all that bad of a drive.  I know plenty of people up there who have office jobs and log 30-50 days a year.

With socal, the drive is longer.  From Newport Beach it is 5.5 hours to Mammoth with no traffic.  I go 2-3 weekends a month, and the drive is not that big of a deal.  It is worth it to ski a mountain like Mammoth.  LA also has resorts that are 1-2 hours away, like bear and summit.  They suck, but Mt. Baldy has great terrain and is only 1.5 hours from Newport.  I ski about 40 days a year, 30 at Mammoth and 10 at Baldy, so you can have a ski life and live in socal.

The issue with socal and norcal, when compared with Denver and Seattle, is the drive.  You have to drive a ton in the California cities.  The other issue is the money it costs to get a ski lease.  If you are only 1 hour from skiing you don't need one, but if you are 4 or 5 hours away you will.  Ski leases are groups that go in together to rent a condo for the entire season.  It usually costs 200-400 per month per person, depending on the place.  The ski lease issue is what makes the California cities hard, it takes quite a bit of extra money to pull off a 30-50 day season compared to Seattle and Denver.

I actually have friends who go to Mammoth EVERY weekend.  It can be done, if you want to badly enough.

I've lived in slc for over 7 years and can offer some insight. First slc is crazy close to awesome skiing, as everyone who's ever been here would tell you. I haven't been all over the world skiing but can honestly say that slc has the BEST snow around mixed with unreal terrain of even kind. Also, as stated, slc is a decent place for desk jobs compared to the rest of the world. BUT slc is the most fucked up place when not blindsided by the snow. It's the 2nd driest state in the country, which is why we have awesome snow but also why you wake up with you saliva dried to the roof of your mouth. It's really hot with pretty much no legit water around to cool off in. The mormon thing is here and breaks our constitution; media owned by church? are you fucking kindling me? The new huge city center project doesn't have to pay tax (taxes we really really need, despite the job market utah is hurting A LOT financially) because it is owned by the church. The drinking shit is far from the worst part of slc and will barely affect your life. College life here is weak, but still college life so your not missing out to much. Music is actually ok here. When harry o's and suade were open in pc there were sick concerts but they got shut down. Even in a super conservative rednecky place like utah we actually get awesome shows. Food here sucks, it's all fat fried shit food that people think is good. 1 or 2 awesome mexican food places and a handful of other spots, otherwise everything good is a chain.

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This is spot on.  SLC = retardo skiing.  To me, you move to SLC to shred the best snow on earth and steep terrain.  I am blown away that you can go to Brighton which gets as much snow as Alta and have the whole place to  yourself, even on weekends.  Coming from a very crowded resort in Colorado, I am always blown away by the terrain, snow, and lack of people at Solitude and Brighton.  Amazing.  It's worth the strange living situation of SLC. 

I'm assuming by all of the other posts that you mean an actual "City"

I've spent a lot of time in Salt Lake and in the Denver area and I'd pick Salt Lake pretty much any day over Denver, Salt Lake has the feel of a big city without having to worry about the problems that Denver has. I'd have no problem settling down in both though, probably the only two bigger cities in the US that I would live in. (Vancouver gets my other vote)

But, the small ski town vibe is one that can't be beat. When I packed my bags and headed to Jackson, I wasn't sure of how it would be, but after 4 months it has been the best, and I don't really ever want to leave. The job market is great (maybe not for an engineering student, but there is still a huge market for a lot of other careers), housing isn't terrible, getting around is easy, bike paths are everywhere, great public transit. And you're in the middle of the mountains, you're still close enough to SLC for a weekend trip. Everyone has their own thing, but I love waking up to hearing birds and other animals instead of cars and sirens everyday.

Best on this list by far...

Utah has some best whitewater runs in the country but you need a permit most of the really epic ones like gates of lodore, catarack canyon, and west water. Those runs are all multiday with big water (they usually peak around 15,000 - 40,000 CFS) and people come from all over to run them. the permits are on a lottery system, but you can put 15-25 people on a permit so its pretty easy to find a spot if you get into the local whitewater scene.

as far as non-permitted day runs, there are a couple good class II+ - IV streches within an hour or two of downtown. they are smaller volume and more creeky than other rivers in the state, but still fun. Ogden, which is 30 minutes or so north of slc, has three play parks with pretty fun waves if thats what youre into.

One of the best things about being a boater in utah is being fairly close to the rivers in idaho and wyoming though. I just got back from a trip to alpine canyon on the snake, which is one of the best play runs in the country and only 4 hours away. The payette system in idaho is within a half a day drive too, which has everything from big water class V on the north fork, to fun class III playboating on the main.

being a boater in slc is not as convenient as being a skier, but its still an awesome place to live if you like doing both.

If I could get a visa to US/Canada and finally get out of NZ Vancouver would be my top pick, followed by SF. But I have only been to half the places on your list.

Bozeman is legit. I may be a bit biased because I was born and raised in Montana, but it's pretty hard to find a place as cool.

The skiing is great. Bridger Bowl is just minutes away, and it's a blast. It has short lift lines, really fun OOB skiing and awesome cold smoke powder. Big Sky and Moonlight are about an hour away, and it's worth the drive. They're bigger resorts, so a little pricier than Bridger, but still really great. We also have a ton of places to tour that are really close. To make a long story short, skiing around Bozeman is pretty plush.

Utah is just awful. Stay the hell away from here, you wont have fun. ever. at all. go have fun in denver driving to big flat mountains.

Calgary job wise is probably the #1 city in north america and is probably the most recession proof. There are alot of people I know with jobs in the oil patch and similar sectors starting with wages in the 65,000-80,000 range, and thats straight out of uni.

Skiing wise Calgary would have to be top 5 citys with resorts near by. COP is in town, nakiska 40 mins, sunshine vilalge in banff 1;15, lake louise 1;45, fernie and kicking horse 2;30-3, revelstoke 4. And there are a huge number of other resorts within a few hours I wont even bother to mention.

City wise like other people have said its a typical bigger city, plenty of good lookin ladies, good night life and almost anything you want to do. Only thing its missing is a big body of water like an ocean or a lake. Other than that Calgary pretty much has anything for a young skier looking for a killer job.

Plus drinking in Alberta is way cheaper than in BC.

mittfree on here works as an engineer in Calgary. his firm had an all expenses paid ski weekend in Fernie this winter. What more could you want?