Where is the cheapest place to live and within a hour drive to great skiing?

Guys,

Where is the cheapest place to live and within a hour drive to great
skiing?

Thanks,

Randolf

wrote in message
oups.com...
Guys,

Where is the cheapest place to live and within a hour drive to
great
skiing?

I'd have to say the Wasatch Front (Salt Lake City area).

Where else is there? Taos and someplace in the east? Everywhere else
has mediocre skiing at best due to the toys they allow now.

But even if you're at a level that you can't tell the difference I
think it's still Salt Lake.

pigo

There are a number of factors to consider: Do you want to live in a city, a
small town, a newly built development or out in a rural area by yourself?
Do you require reasonable access to an airport? Do you need cultural
outlets, either as audience member or as a participant? Coffee shop? What
is great skiing by your definition, lift served or earn-your-turns,
technically challenging or bottomless powder, friendly for the whole family
or dedicated to one hard man? Is this to be a full time place that needs
good summer alternatives or just a ski pad for week-ends? Are you USA
based? Is Canada an option?

I'm in this quest myself and have considered (but not yet settled on) at
least the following:

North Central New Mexico -- areas include: Taos, Angelfire and Wolf Creek --
culture and transportation at Santa Fe -- great outdoor ops year round --
quite cheap outside of Santa Fe itself.

Lake Tahoe -- 22 lift served areas within 2 1/2 hours of Reno airport
including Squaw, Alpine, Kirkwood -- virtually unlimited backcountry -- good
summer and winter -- reasonably cheap on Nevada side down east of the
mountains proper.


Oregon-Washington border area one hour east of Portland -- principal area
is Hood, Baker is within reach -- live in Washington (no income tax) and
shop in Oregon (so sales tax) -- a little more expensive than the above but
with more job opportunities if you need work and access to Portland for
culture -- good year round -- backcountry is there but seems to me to be
more difficult to take advantage of than at Tahoe.

Bozeman, MT -- Bridger Ski Bowl and Big Sky -- college town with college
culture, coffee shops and brew pubs -- summer access to Yellowstone
region -- realtively inexpensive -- regional airport with decent
connections.

Jackson Hole within an hour is pretty well bought up but the Idaho side of
Teton Pass might be of interest with access to Grand Targhee and Jackson as
well as backcountry that rivals Tahoe. Towns like Driggs are going to take
a particular attitude to love, however. Nevada due east of Mammoth and
Yosemite is sort of in the same category.

Most of Colorado is way too expensive, both for property values and for
shopping. Salt Lake City realisitically means living in the City but
especially if you are into backcountry you get the Wasatch. Salt Lake City
is no longer a cheap place to live--Park City is very expensive.

If Canada is an option, central BC is probably the sleeper in the best bet
list. Inexpensive, great but underutilized areas and good backcountry.
Poor access, no cultural ops and no coffee shops might be draw backs.

I've really looked at every possibility in North America in my own search,
from Whistler to Snowshoe, WV and from Ste. Anne to Ski Apache. If you want
my specific thoughts on any particular area as a relocation possibility, ask
for it by name and I'll give you an opinion.

Tommy T.

In article IL3Pd.17234$ya6.10808@trndny01,
"Tommy T." wrote:

If Canada is an option, central BC is probably the sleeper in the best bet
list. Inexpensive, great but underutilized areas and good backcountry.
Poor access, no cultural ops and no coffee shops might be draw backs.

Just to add a small correction: IMO, coffee culture has thoroughly
arrived throughout BC. :-)

--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
"If you raise the ceiling 4 feet, move the fireplace from that wall
to that wall, you'll still only get the full stereophonic effect
if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard."

I love Vancouver. It has everything. My daughter did two years of graduate
work at UBC and we visited several times. I've riden at W/B, climber at the
Squamish Chief, and kayaked off Nanaimo. However, in May of 2003 I drove
from Dawson Creek to Watson Lake and then in September from Watson Lake to
Hazelton to Prince George to Kamloops and I am sure I did not see a single
dedicated, "gourmet" coffee shop.

Franlky, were I not ineligible for emigration, Vancouver would be high on my
list.

Tommy T.

"Alan Baker" wrote in message
...
In article IL3Pd.17234$ya6.10808@trndny01,
"Tommy T." wrote:

If Canada is an option, central BC is probably the sleeper in the best
bet
list. Inexpensive, great but underutilized areas and good backcountry.
Poor access, no cultural ops and no coffee shops might be draw backs.

Just to add a small correction: IMO, coffee culture has thoroughly
arrived throughout BC. :-)

--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
"If you raise the ceiling 4 feet, move the fireplace from that wall
to that wall, you'll still only get the full stereophonic effect
if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard."

In article f8dPd.32800$QS5.10496@trndny06,
says...
I love Vancouver. It has everything. My daughter did two years of graduate
work at UBC and we visited several times. I've riden at W/B, climber at the
Squamish Chief, and kayaked off Nanaimo. However, in May of 2003 I drove
from Dawson Creek to Watson Lake and then in September from Watson Lake to
Hazelton to Prince George to Kamloops and I am sure I did not see a single
dedicated, "gourmet" coffee shop.

Franlky, were I not ineligible for emigration, Vancouver would be high on my
list.

Thanks for the commercial. ;-) But it ain't cheap here.

Rick

Actually Nelson BC which is south-central is a funky little
town in the transition from the log-mine-ranch economy to an
artist and tourism economy. You might find it a lot of fun.

I currently live in Salt Lake but if I were to leave,
Nelson is one of the places I'd consider. I had some of the
greatest powder skiing of my life there at Whitewater.

-- Walt

--
Edit haas at http://www.xmission.com/~haas
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to reply dot com

"Walt Haas" wrote in message
news
Actually Nelson BC which is south-central is a funky little
town in the transition from the log-mine-ranch economy to an
artist and tourism economy. You might find it a lot of fun.

I owe that part of BC a look before we make a final decision on a winter
place. I was using my return from the Yukon River as a scouting trip, but
huge forest fires forced to the east side of Glacier and I didn't see south
central or south east. We visited Kamloops for an orienteering meet in the
early 90's but information form that trip is, admittedly, going to be
out-of-date by now. Canada will let me live there for up to six months per
year, but I can't immigrate because I am neither a worker nor an investor.
Some of our family would be upset if we emigrated anyway, so realistically a
Canadian house would just be a place to ski for four months out the year and
that doesn't quite fit our plans. I've a year-round, vacation house on a
small lake near the Big Thicket Swamp in Deep East Texas and my primary
residence is in the Boston area. Plans are to sell in Boston and buy a
principal residence in the western mountains, with a handful of cash left
over to help live on. We'd use Texas a couple of months at a time in the
Spring and Fall and use the mountain place for skiing in the Winter and
hiking and biking in the Summer.

This thread has probably been more useful to me than to Randolf, the
original poster. Thanks to everybody for the thoughts.

Tommy T.

"pigo" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Guys,

Where is the cheapest place to live and within a hour drive to
great
skiing?

I'd have to say the Wasatch Front (Salt Lake City area).

Where else is there? Taos and someplace in the east? Everywhere else
has mediocre skiing at best due to the toys they allow now.

But even if you're at a level that you can't tell the difference I
think it's still Salt Lake.

pigo

Gardnerville, NV...

Dan

"Dan" wrote Gardnerville, NV...

Interesting. Is that on the road down the south side from the Nevada base
at Heavenly? How far from Carson City?

Tommy T.