How to ski bum for a season

I'd love to give you the answers but the for life method may not be good one n done style
Wake up gear up go skiing daily
The rest either works it self out or it dont

Don't over complicate it. Can you deliver pizzas? Can you swing a hammer? Can you landscape or run a mower? Can you sling a paint brush? If you answered yes to any of these, you can easily pull this off.

I'd save up enough money for 2 months rent and food/beer/weed, and look on Craigslist or whatever for rooms available.

What kind of skiing do you wanna do? That'll be the big factor for where you go. Do you like a super happening bar and party scene or like a lil mountain enclave small town vibe?

You can for sure pull this off. Im just shy of a decade in making the ski bum thing work.

I ended up ski bumming for half a decade before becoming a weekend yuppie. You want to find a job at night, wait tables if possible. If you have to, wash dishes. You could also try to tune skis at night. I did my years at Squaw, and I worked nights waiting tables and ski instructed to get the pass. You only had to give them 25 days as a part-time ski instructor to get the pass, although I don't know if that is still true. I would caution against ski instructing as you will teach 5 days and ski 2, and you want to ski as much as possible. If you can work at a ski shop on the mountain that is okay. I know some people who did that. They got a 2.5 hour ski break everyday and worked 4 days and skied 3. With a ski break that long and high speed KT-22 right outside the door that program allows you to get a pretty good amount of skiing in. I would caution against working at as shop in Truckee or Tahoe City as you won't get a ski break.

As to cost, it has been more than a decade since I lived up there but at the time Truckee and Tahoe City were doable, not cheap, but doable. You want to get up there as soon as possible to get housing and a good job. If you wait until December you won't find it as easy. I don't know how employee housing is, but I would advise against that if at all possible.

For partying, I would advise you not to worry about that too much. Tahoe has some fun bars, and there are casinos close by, but you are there to ski, not to party. Also, you will be in for a culture shock when you see how bad the chick ratio is up there. There are women on the weekends but you will probably work weekends to that is not a help. I would advise worrying about skiing in the winter, as that is why you are there, and partying/hooking up in college. You have plenty of time in college and in post-college years to chase tail. You might only have a year or two to ski bum so you want to concentrate on skiing,not partying.

As far as mountains, it depends what you want. But even if your are into park I would advise going to a mountain with good big mountain terrain. You want to take advantage of a big western mountain for steeps and pow, you can ski park anywhere. Squaw is one of the sickest mountains out there. It has been in a drought, until the last year, so who knows if that will continue. Statistically speaking you would have to think the drought should end, and historical records would support that, but you simply do not know so it is a crap shoot. I can't recommend Squaw enough. I'm now a weekender who skis Mammoth 35 days a year and I really miss Squaw, although Mammoth is cool too.

I hope this helps, and good luck. I love my life now but sometimes I miss my ski bum years. You might decide to do it forever, which is cool, or it could be something you do only for a couple of seasons. Either way it is a great lifestyle. Skiing 5-7 days a week at a great mountain is really cool.

I wish I could help more with the current housing situation. I just don't know how it is right now.

Check out Alta. Employee housing and meals are available with most of the jobs at the lodges .

fuck summit county

Live cheap, work a little, ski a lot.

live in slc where it's cheap, ski every morning, mount skis all night, party all weekend when the mountain is crowded, repeat

I'm from Bozeman and I think it's the perfect ski bum town. We got Bridger bowl 20 mins away and ginormous big Sky an hour away.

CabbyArrantSo what resorts and towns are the best to work?

100% dependent on what your priorities are. Every ski town has a different vibe and feel. Powder magazine usually puts out a resort guide magazine. That could be a start.

CabbyArrantHow hard is it to find housing?

Almost every ski town in has a lack of low income housing. It's always a challenge but those who really want a place to live will find it.

CabbyArrantWhere do you find housing?

Local papers and Craigslist. In my opinion nothing is better than going to a winter town in summer to get a feel for the place and learn where to go for housing from locals. Just take a week vacation and talk to people.

CabbyArrantAre multiple jobs necessary?

Depends on your lifestyle. If you live in a high end condo slope side your gonna need lots of money. If you move into the lowest slums of town you won't need much.

CabbyArrantHow much money do you need to get yourself situated?

At the very least, $3000-5000 with the assumption your moving into a semi furnished employee housing setup. It will not burden you to save as much money as possible.

CabbyArrantIs it worth it?

For a season? Yes and quite likely the best decision of your life. Putting college and soul crushing debt off for a year won't ruin you for life. Get rowdy and have fun while your young.

Find housing in a place you want to shred. Find a job in a place you want to shred. Shred all day a couple days a week and you will love it so much, you'll find a way to make it work..... If you're going to work during the day, make sure its somewhere you can get ski breaks or that is lax about you not coming in on the deepest of days. Where I work, if it dumps.... they know I'm going skiing. Every ski town has some mom and pop businesses that were started by ski bums who understand what you're trying to do. Try and work for a business that has an owner or manager that will understand you're here to ski, not slave. As for me.... I started out working five 8 hour days during the winter. Now I do three 14 hour or 12 hour days and rip the rest of the week. Sure the days at work suck, but you forget about them as soon as you click in. Once you click in to those bindings, nothing else exists. That's what you'll find and come to love if you decide to get out there and do this!!!