 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all - I'm new here. I'm interested in ski/snowboard bumming (never done it before) but wanted to get some advice/thoughts from you experts 
I'm 26 and work in New York City (I also grew up on Long Island and went to school in NYC, so I've been in the NYC metropolitan area my whole life). I've been employed since graduating college so I've saved up a decent amount of money. Maybe I'm burnt out, or maybe it's because I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do in life long-term, but I want to quit my job and take a break from work for a few months.
I was thinking of taking the winter off and snowboard bumming while road tripping across the US, and reading/taking online courses (e.g. learn to program/code) in my free time. I've always wanted to spend a winter chasing the snow and I figure if I don't do it now, I'll never do it. Also, I think it'll give me an opportunity to re-energize, do something I enjoy, spend some time learning/exploring things other I'm interested in, learn more about myself, see a lot of the US, and hopefully, return to NY re-motivated. Considering I've also never left NY for an extended amount of time, I'm hoping it'll also push my out of my comfort zone.
Since I have a decent amount of money saved, I'm opting for not getting a season pass at a specific mountain and living there, but hitting up as many different mountains as possible so I can also see a lot of the US. Given that, I was thinking of just hitting the road with my car, snowboard and laptop.
Any thoughts/advice from any experts?
Some specific concerns I have are:
- I am driving from mountain to mountain, but I do always want to have a bed to sleep on. Any advice on how to do this as cheaply as possible? Airbnb? Hostels? Motels? Also, is there any way to do this on short notice? (e.g. let's say I decide one day to just drive from Salt Lake City to Jackson)
- Any advice for safety while driving alone, particularly in the winter? Should I have snow chains? I don't want to end up stuck on some road in the Rockies in the middle of the night...
- How do I find people to ride with? Particularly if I'll be moving a lot from mountain to mountain? I like doing glades, but I prefer to do them in groups for safety reasons.
- I'm not an expert snowboarding. While I love snowboarding, I only learned 5 years ago and have gone 10-15 times each season. I can get down pretty much any terrain, albeit not necessary fast/smoothly. Should this be a concern? Particularly for finding people to ride with? I'm hoping this experience will make me a much better rider...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This is dead easy. The main factor is cost of lift tickets. The idea of unfettered pow chasing is attractive but with day tickets well in excess of $100 many places in the west its a significant handbrake on getting out every day. Fortunately there are options like Epic Pass, Mountain Collective and Powder Alliance to give you season pass options without confining yourself to one place.
The other factor is solo accommodation in ski towns. Not necessarily abundant or cheap so be prepared to look for hostels or down valley motels. Most places outside holiday weekends you can find motels short notice - hotwire + price line can be your friend.
Hostel is a good route to finding people to ride with or you can go old skool and just talk to people on chairlifts.
Re car easiest thing is to get fitted with snow tires and keep some $40 chains in the trunk in case you get chain controls.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I don't want to end up stuck on some road in the Rockies in the middle of the night...
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Indeed, but in case you do, it's not difficult to have water, some emergency rations and a sleeping bag inside the car. If you have enough fuel and the exhaust is not under the snow, you can keep the heater going.
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if I don't do it now, I'll never do it
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dead right! 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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There are a few rules you'll need to google if you drive north over the Canadian border. I've never had a problem in North America generally doing pretty much this. The culture is car-based, so whilst you may not be (or indeed want to) stay slope-side, there's always a town with a Motel 6 or something pretty close by. Obviously room costs for one are twice what they'd be if you had someone to share with, but tourist stuff aside accommodation is relatively cheap in North America (I'm from the UK, just saying).
The country is big (by UK standards), but you can die on the A66 here easily enough and the North American risk does not feel much worse.
Google stuff you need to do in cold weather. You know: carry the right screen wash; don't put the hand brake on, that sort of thing. If you aren't familiar with driving on snow... well you can mostly avoid driving on it depending on where you go. You would want chains or snow tyres to be legal on many roads - you can check that locally. If you have the choice just use snow tyres and I would not personally bother with chains: snow tyres are magic. Otherwise you'd have your snowboard gear. You'd probably want a shovel to dig your car out if you're lucky. Personally I carry some water; it'll take a week or so before I die from lack of food so I don't generally bother with that. I have enough snowboard gear to sleep in a car.
For riding, I'm not sure. Americans and Canadians are friendly so it's hard to avoid people if you're at all sociable (I'm not, and I still end up riding with people). The internet has various "ride boards", although I'm not sure how you tell how good the other guys are if you use those. Self sufficiency is a good thing to have if you're travelling alone. If you have a "specialist" interest (eg Alpine snowboarding for me) then it's entirely possible to build a network of sofas at resorts around North America for surfing purposes, but that takes years.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks for all the tips everyone! Very helpful!
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The main factor is cost of lift tickets. The idea of unfettered pow chasing is attractive but with day tickets well in excess of $100 many places in the west its a significant handbrake on getting out every day
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Yup, this is definitely something I thought about. I already have the M.A.X. Pass (plan to spend some of the season in the east). I was thinking I would just add on the Mountain Collective and the Epic Local Pass (would be ~$1,700 total for all 3). I would use the Vail Resorts as my main stable while having the flexibility to go to Big Sky, Steamboat, Aspen, Whistler, Snowbird, Jackson Hole, etc through my other two passes. And with Mountain Collective, after my initial 2 visits, I get half off subsequent lift tickets I buy. Obviously not as cheap as a single season pass somewhere, but would pretty much give me access to any of the mountains I'd like to explore... and I'd break even compared to single day passes so long as I got out 22 days, which would be easy (and that assumes $80 single day lift pass, which is probably cheap at most places).
About all the car comments - makes sense. Since I live in NYC, I don't own a car... just have my parents' cars, which they definitely won't let me take...
If I'm thinking of doing a long-term car rental, can you specify snow tires? If not, would I be allowed to change the tires on a rental? And if there is the possibility of sleeping in the car, is it worth getting a larger car (e.g. SUV), despite it being more of a gas guzzler... I was hoping to get a gas-efficient 4-wheel drive sedan.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| lcheng127 wrote: |
If I'm thinking of doing a long-term car rental, can you specify snow tires? If not, would I be allowed to change the tires on a rental? And if there is the possibility of sleeping in the car, is it worth getting a larger car (e.g. SUV), despite it being more of a gas guzzler... I was hoping to get a gas-efficient 4-wheel drive sedan. |
Not most car rental places in the US I've come across even in snowy regions. I guess you might if can search out specialist agencies. I'd be happy with a modern 2wd like a Focus provided I'd checked out the tires before driving off plus buying a set of cables/chains with tensioners at the first autopart store but I've done plenty of winter driving in similar and know many would throw their hands up in horror at this.
Best recipe for a rental is rent it, stop ate nearest snowy/icy parking lot, give it full Ken Block impression, decide if the tires are too sketchy for you or not, return and swap as necessary.
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| lcheng127 wrote: |
Hi all - I'm new here. I'm interested in ski/snowboard bumming (never done it before)
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Humm - what a question! Have you posted in the right forum?
What about butter?
Welcome to Snowheads
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| ... Not most car rental places in the US I've come across even in snowy regions. I guess you might if can search out specialist agencies. I'd be happy with a modern 2wd like a Focus provided I'd checked out the tires before driving off plus buying a set of cables/chains with tensioners at the first autopart store but I've done plenty of winter driving in similar and know many would throw their hands up in horror at this.... |
That's my experience too. Many North American rental agreements I've had preclude you fitting chains/cables.
Quebec law a couple of years ago was that they had to fit all rentals with sensible tyres. Last season in BC I suddenly found it easy to get cars with snow tyres where as in previous seasons it had been almost impossible. I would check precisely, and be skeptical of any information which isn't bang up to date or which comes from offshore call centres.
Personally in North America I always hire the smallest car on their list. In BC they don't actually have any small cars (at least not by UK standards) so I always end up with something I rattle around in. If you're fussy of course you can pick what you want and pay for it: I'm a cheapskate. I'm not sure I'd plan on sleeping in a car other than in an emergency, myself.
If it was me, as a cheapskate, I'd hire some small front wheel drive thing. If I could get winter wheels then I'd do that, otherwise I'd just either avoid driving in blizzards or buy some chains for it. In Canada at least they love renting you SUVs, some of which have 4WD but many of which don't - the rentals for those can be pretty expensive.
More generally, rental-wise, you would be wanting I think to plan in advance what you will and won't insure, as the rental companies like to sting you with hyper-expensive insurance at the pick up desk.
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