Comments on: Ski bum culture hits reality

By: A Mission Field in the Mountains – The Wheaton Record

A Mission Field in the Mountains – The Wheaton Record — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:57:39 +0000

[…] the mountains seeking respite and meaning in their lives. Many workers and full-time skiers live a “ski bum” lifestyle, chasing adrenaline on the slopes and working just enough hours for the next lift ticket. Some […]

By: Max Mogren

Max Mogren — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 12:26:19 +0000

In reply to Alex.

I would agree with you 100% but when the Jackson Hole Daily reprinted it they were able to come up with an even worse headline: “Ski bum culture does a face-plant in tourist town reality”.

I think a better headline would be “Institutionalized insanity further enslaves all Americans, including our beloved ski bums”

By: Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 18:11:29 +0000

Did you find any communities that were working for the middle class, and if so, what were they doing to make it work?

In the 70s, Aspen got out of hand and Jackson was the respite of that model. Now, it’s lost.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 01:02:23 +0000

As someone who lives in a town near Mt Hood Meadows, this article makes some great points but I feel like you picked the absolute worst possible headline.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 15:04:15 +0000

Mountain towns have always been tough places to live (and thrive). Do you think it was easy for Warren Miller and Klaus Obermeyer to get started, do you think it was clear sailing for Dan Bailey in Livingston to make a living as a fly fisherman. Chouinard lived in an old trash burner at one time. I was bumming in the 1970s – the complaints then are the same as now – low pay, high rents, living in trucks and couch surfing. It was easier to find workarounds because the resorts were less corporate but on the other hand many resorts now provide employee housing as I had in Jackson as far back as 1976.
With hindsight it is easy to feel romantic loss about the old days but carving out a lifestyle has always required a commitment and certain amount of toughness. Maybe you drive a quarter million dollar groomer or serve millionaires at private parties. You can still live the dream – maybe today it just looks a little different.

By: steven cahn

steven cahn — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 20:36:07 +0000

I left Aspen after 29 years of living there and working there about the exact same time you came. I could see the writing on the wall it was time to move on. When I came in 1977 you could get a room in town for a little more than $100 and a ski pass was a little more than $200. Jobs were everywhere. In fact I had no more than $500 in my pocket when I got to town. I’m figured now you would need at least $10,000 and that would only be good for about 30 days. Sad, very sad.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 15:35:52 +0000

Very good column and a refresher of the challenges all the ski towns are facing. When I moved to Vail from Durango for a summer job 40 years ago, what I witnessed were people living in the ski towns as a lifestyle with a culture of like minded individuals….. 40 years later what I see is the intensity of getting it before it’s gone, whatever it be, powder, sales, real estate or non profits…. Get the money and keep moving forward. The ski companies and no longer personal representations of the owner and ceo they are money machines trying to figure out how and where to squeeze every dollar out of every potential area of each community for profit and stock value. When CEO’s donate tens of millions to mental health programs but don’t raise the wages of employees it’s a clear bait and switch and lack of values and ethics…. No end in sight except maybe for the small owner based ski areas that still are in it for the love of the sport the lifestyle and people.

By: Chester

Chester — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 18:33:52 +0000

AirbNb & vrbo, contribute to the prospect of being able to rent your place out to vacationers at previously unheralded high rates. This has been a factor in this separation of ‘economic class’ in ski towns like Crested Butte, in beach communities, and for real estate in many other markets. I am a landlord who had utilized these services, but now refuses to do so. These services are too involved in rental rates and approval thereof, especially for returning tenants to whom I try to lock-in annually. I truly do not need these services approval of my rates. If I want to rent at a below-market rate to assure annual tenancy of tenants with which I have a trusting relationship, I will do so. These services seems to have a “it’s my football so we play by my rules” attitude. On the other hand you have a free market. So what is the solution? Do municipalities and/or resorts need to construct ‘low-income’ housing for resort employees?