Becoming a ski bum.

J

jaypeakskier

Member
OK so my dream is to live in utah for a whole winter and ski every day. Correct me if im wrong but i beleive that living out of a van would be the cheapest way of ddoing so. I would want to equip my van with atleast a microwave and a place to fit a small matress. I would live cheaply probably cereal for breakfast. Something small and cheap for lunch and maybe a sandwhich or soup for dinner. I am wondering if this is a logical plan. Will the resort even let me stay in there lot overnight. Is this the cheapest way to ski for a year. Im from the east and this is my dream so i just want your input. Will probably either ski at alta/snowbird or the park city resorts

1. Give me tips on becoming a ski bum

2. How does my plan sound so far

3. What is the best way to eat and stay clean(shower) without sprnding too much money,
 
Most people are probably gonna give you a lot of hate in this thread but dude don't listen to them. I have the same dream! Don't really have any advice for you since I'm pretty much in the same boat except get a job while you are there. Unless you have a fuckton of money to start out with for this trip you will need a job. Try and get one with a hotel or even with the mountain. Sounds like it will blow since all you will want to do is ski but you'll need a way to sustain being a ski bum through the whole winter
 
3 meals a day? Ski bums don't eat 3 meals a day. Morning//nothing afternoon//nothing nighttime//ramen
 
^ yes dont expect three meals everyday ha and i dont think you can get a microwave to work in your van, shit uses to much power, look into a toaster oven its healthier. This shit is totally possible though there are places to park (every wal mart allows overnight parking, utahs got some good back roads) and some mountains will let you stay in the parking lot just dont be an asshole, dont ask either just park.

The easiest way to do it is to get a part time job for the mountain they'll give you a locker and a pass and they might even have a shower for you or employee housing is a good alternative if you want some comforts too.

going hardcore is the way to do it though if you just want to shred, in which case you wont need a shower, wash your socks in the sink, its crucial to keep clean feet. My recommendation is to just do it if you really want to, its easy once you start

 
this is now my lifes goal. but i know i want to got to college so i might graduate highschool, telll my parents im gonna take a year to get it out of my system and be a ski bum for winter then go to college, another goal in my life is to actually ski on powder im from the east coast and the closest i get to backcountry is riding 5in of fresh snow at the local country club's golf course with my park and pipe rossi's hahahaha

 
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Save like a bitch before you go, vanning it would be cheap. But ya, try and take as much cash with you as ya can. I like to try and eat fairly well (ish) cos i feel like it helps with skiing and drinking a lot. But, whatever you can manage.
 
I am windering a few more things1. What is the best mountain be a ski bum at (maybe jackson, alta, squaw, baker)

2. What is the best way to keep my self fed

3. how will i be able to shower ( if its necisarry lol)

4. How much would this cost( lift ticket+gas+food+ect)
 
work at night. save money. get a camping stove/ cooler. buy a gym membership or someplace with showers. buy a season pass. start saving your money now.
 
another thing i could do is be an instructor for a few days a week or br a lift operator but then id need a place of my own because id be working with people and i dont wanna smell haha. I like the idea of washing dishes.
 
Too much hate going on here. NS is about skiing, so let the dude ski.

I know virtually nothing about ski-bumming, but if I were you, I would get a job on the mountain or somewhere close bye. Overall happiness would be =]. But, heh, maybe you want to ski as much as humanely possible.
 
Personally, I'd find living in a van to be pretty exhausting for a year. I think that even living in your van would get kinda expensive because you have to find a place to park it, heat it and clean yourself eventually. And if your wheels breakdown, your kinda in a jam. Finding a cheap apartment might be comparable when its all said and done. Personally, I have found its pretty physically taxing on the body to ski more than 5 days a week. Having 2 days a week to work allowed my body to rest.

I think the major lure in the 70's to living in a van was that you can travel to other resorts and ski. But now with the costs of gas/ lift tickets its just not as easy to do.
 
Living in a van would be fun for a few weeks, but I feel like after a whole season you'd really miss having a house, if you're going to save up, you could easily afford a shared room in a skibum house. I like working in ski school, you can be part time, only work a few days a week, and still get a pass etc. Yeah you will ski more in a night job, but night jobs are not as fun as instructing.
 
Step 1. Get sick at skiingStep 2. Win CoLab Edit contest and get 100k

Step 3. Buy a 100k tricked out van

Step 5. Realize you blew all your money on a van and have none for skiing or food

Step 6. Get frustrated and get a night job for the money for skiing and food.

Step 7. Shred Gnar
 
Baker is awesome if you're a jay skier you must like pow and baker has the pow. The north west is way more excepting of the bum life, i hear utah is a little more strict with that shit and its more expensive too. Colorado isnt the best either unless you just shred abay, nothing wrong with that and they're good about parking lot camping. Vail resorts makes it easy to be a "ski bum" if you want a job

The last thing you are going to do is starve to death youll find a way to eat if it gets that bad, but summit county will do $5 dollar meal nights and they'll let you take home loafs of bread and left overs, other places probably do this too. Eat healthy, canned vegetables, beans, pasta and peanut butter.

Honestly the best way to do it, if you have all these question, just get a job at the mountain liftie, instructor or kitchen will get you free food. A lot of people do this and its a good time. They offer employee housing, gives you a shower and some comforts of home like electricity, a stove and bathroom. you'll get a pass this way too. This gives you time to meet people, get the lay of the land and the mountain. Good alternative instead of just jumping into homeless life, but don't get me wrong people pull that off too, it all depends on how you want to live.

Then after a month if the snows right you could say fuck it, stop showing up to work and shred everyday, bong bong!
 
Walmarts let you park cars overnight. Volkswagen westias are pretty big. Soak ramen in the morning, by nightime it'll be soft; prison style. Also, just bring canned soups/pastas
 
Athletic clubs... they have hot tubs, pools, showers... Usually under $80 a month, some as low as $20 a month. There is one bathroom at the main lodge in Mammoth that has a shower, I imagine that there are other ski resorts with this as well.

2 of my friends and their dog lived out of a van for around 4 months. They loved it. They just took advantage of athletic clubs and would do free membership trials at various places.

Another thing to consider (as much as I'm not a fan of vail resorts) would be to do something like get the Epic Pass and the Mountain Collective... you would have something like 16 resorts you could go to for under $1000 across the west. Would be pretty damn amazing.

Also, check out hotel night audit jobs. You work 11 - 7 am and I've never met a night auditor that didn't take naps at work. You also get out of the coldest part of the night, they probably wouldnt care if you left your van in the parking garage a few extra hours (winter hotels usually have parking garages) and you would likely get free meals/breakfasts. Many also give you a free pass or pay for your pass after working for however long.
 
its amazing until you gotta dry out all your outerwear and boots after a pow day, not an easy thing to do in a cold, cramped van. thats when your ski bum skills gotta be on point.
 
1. Buy large bucket/tub thing

2. Melt snow

3. Wash using melted snow

4. Use the excess heat from your boots to dry

5. ???

Boom. Instant shower.
 
1. make friends2. ask said friends if you can sleep on couch (or live in closet)

3. probably pay some sort of cheap rent

4. sleep and shower there

5. make food there and eat there as well

6. go skiing

7. get night job

8. win

a van would be cool, but this way sounds a lot easier, and more comfortable to me...

also it would avoid having to find places to park, and whatever problems might come up from living in a van
 
snowbird treats their employees super well, my roommate was one a few years ago. You get a free tram pass and they have an employee cabin w a kitchen, shower etc. I forget if they have beds but if not their a parking lot at the bottom of the canyon you can definitely van camp in and get the bus up. You can also work the snow guns early season so you could ski all day and work at night. Idk about alta could be similar
 
I hope to get a van like the one in this thread and use it for big ski roadtrips and ski bumming some time in the next decade
 
just get roommates, my rents like 250 a month. living in a van would suck. also bitches aren't down for the van life, unless they're dirty hippies
 
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