garrett Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Heya carving crew! Hypothetically, if you were semi-retired and had $2m to buy a big house somewhere awesome in the US Rockies for you and your family and friends, and especially loved laying turns on high quality snow in the springtime (Feb into May) on perfect steep groomers, but were a little scared of skiers and boarders straight lining it down on top of you so wanted to avoid crowds, where would you live and ride? (Not too far from an airport would also be nice) Currently I’m thinking house in Salt Lake City, Basalt, Aspen, or Summit County CO, and riding Solitude, Snowbird, Park City, Snowmass, Buttermilk, Copper, Keystone, or A-Basin. So far I’ve lived in and loved Summit County but found Aspen and Utah to be a little less crowded… but I would love to hear some wisdom (or foolishness) from this forum! Thanks! -Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Does $2 million buy you a big house in Aspen? Personally if I were buying in the US it would be Whitefish. I love the hill and it’s only a day’s drive from home. I believe it also meets your criteria but honestly Aspen is better if carving is your main goal and you have the scratch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Montana is up there on my list but why would you want to spoil someone else's playground. A case of beer and a meet and greet with the groomer crew can do a lot to make your favorite run better no matter where you ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.E Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Utah areas are easier to get to the airport from. If you havent spent time in those communities, you might want to try that first. All of them are good riding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Donnelly Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Maybe check out Monarch Mtn / Salida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 For me it would be the Sea/Tac area - great riding within an hour and great windsurfing pretty much year round, and the city is really cool culturally. Near Columbia River Gorge would be a second choice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pow4ever Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Right now real estate is at a premium. Imaginary me is living large - been looking at Ogden, Ut, Basalt Co, Sugarloaf Me, Reno/Lake Tahoe, Whitefish, Summit county Co, Jackson Hole, Vitor/Driggs areas before the price took off vertically. Now it's way out of my price range. It might keep going up or maybe there will be a price correction. With that kinda of money; i would just do season rental and chase the snow globally. (try before you buy). Let me know if you need a bellhop lol... Carving/less crowd: typically weekday riding (or early on weekend). Resort gets crowded on dump, holiday weekend. Play the odds to maximized Time on Mountain: hard to beat Carbondale/Basalt area as home base (access to Aspen 4 mountains to choose from). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbootsurfer Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 I doubt there will be any Snow in the west within ten years or so...sand dune surfing may take off however Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west carven Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 howdy cross WHITEFISH off your list … it has changed for the worst … sudden influx of idiots in town … and on the hill ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveo Posted June 21, 2021 Report Share Posted June 21, 2021 On 6/15/2021 at 8:39 AM, west carven said: howdy cross WHITEFISH off your list … it has changed for the worst … sudden influx of idiots in town … and on the hill ... Ouch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shred Gruumer Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 6/14/2021 at 6:39 PM, west carven said: howdy cross WHITEFISH off your list … it has changed for the worst … sudden influx of idiots in town … and on the hill ... Whitefish sux... I would never go back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 I have lived in and out of the Flathead Valley (Whitefish, Kalispell, Columbia Falls) for the past 30 years. For a long long time I wanted to retire there. The ski area is spectacular, the access to Glacier NP, tons of public lands, access to trains and flights all wonderful. Whitefish and the entire Flathead Valley has had horrible urban planning, the traffic is terrible. For those of you accustomed to traffic and packed restaurants and services you will not mind a bit. The Flathead (Whitefish) is off my list off my radar for desirable places to retire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 Didn't any of you listen to your grandpa ? Things are going to hell in a hand bag ! Retired government employees on a pension with benefits are moving to all the "nice" places we working stiffs live and are screwing it up for our kids. Fact of life accept it and move on ! I could live on the access road to Turner but i would want hydro from a pole not a generator but then as soon as that was available the road would be littered with homes. Cherish your peace of heaven before it's gone ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted June 25, 2021 Report Share Posted June 25, 2021 3 hours ago, dredman said: The Flathead (Whitefish) is off my list off my radar for desirable places to retire. That's too bad. A number of years ago when the US real estate market tanked so badly, we considered buying property there but just couldn't swing it. A few years later when we had the resources we checked into it, but by then the values had swung to around the same levels as at Canadian places like Big White. We have to see a significantly lower price to make the hassle of US property ownership worth it, so we bailed on the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted June 26, 2021 Report Share Posted June 26, 2021 3 hours ago, lowrider said: I could live on the access road to Turner Luckily from the Red Dog Saloon to Turner there is very limited privately owned land. There is a small pocket of private land near the Loon Lake turnoff. There are several cabins. There is no electricity, internet or cellular in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted June 29, 2021 Report Share Posted June 29, 2021 On 6/14/2021 at 1:27 PM, pow4ever said: Sugarloaf ME It's ironic that we just doubled down on Sugarloaf and moved to a bigger condo there, but at the same time I wouldn't recommend anyone settle there, lol. Or anywhere else east of the Rockies for that matter. Unless of course you are tied to the region by family, like we are. In that case, it's a special place. There are many awesome groomer days where I simply don't need to be anywhere else. Summer is very quiet as there is no town of significant size within 45 minutes in any direction. That's both good and bad. Edit - then again... if you love the ocean, Maine is hard to beat. There aren’t many places you can live near the ocean and have one of your favorite mountains a two hour drive away. I think if I removed the ocean from my life I would need to get it back eventually. To the OP, I've also heard good things about Sun Valley, like it has perfect grooming and pitch top to bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 Id hook up a couple Condo's. One where I could Snowboard and one where I could Surf/kite/sup... Pinball around between them. 2500HD pick up and a crawler hauler gooseneck/5th wheel with a Side by side and a couple Dual Sport/street legal Bikes. Done Condo's are low maintenance and rent-able when not there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shred Gruumer Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 On 6/29/2021 at 9:00 AM, Jack M said: It's ironic that we just doubled down on Sugarloaf and moved to a bigger condo there, but at the same time I wouldn't recommend anyone settle there, lol. Or anywhere else east of the Rockies for that matter. Unless of course you are tied to the region by family, like we are. In that case, it's a special place. There are many awesome groomer days where I simply don't need to be anywhere else. Summer is very quiet as there is no town of significant size within 45 minutes in any direction. That's both good and bad. Edit - then again... if you love the ocean, Maine is hard to beat. There aren’t many places you can live near the ocean and have one of your favorite mountains a two hour drive away. I think if I removed the ocean from my life I would need to get it back eventually. To the OP, I've also heard good things about Sun Valley, like it has perfect grooming and pitch top to bottom. Cleveland is good... Central Geographicly located from a plane ride anywhere.. Beer is cheap, gotta lake that looks like an ocean.. Cost of living is good, jobs plentiful and no one comes here.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted July 3, 2021 Report Share Posted July 3, 2021 On 6/13/2021 at 9:32 AM, garrett said: if you were semi-retired and had $2m to buy a big house somewhere awesome in the US Rockies for you and your family and friends, and especially loved laying turns on high quality snow into May Hmm....seems like the question is - where can you buy a "Big House for 2m that (is Open and) has High Quality (Lift Service) Snow into May" Depending on how far or little your want to drive to get to the lift that should really narrow your options. I say why buy and be locked in to one geographic location unless I absolutely hated my current location. I would/could have a Hell of a good time with 2m booking ski in/out destinations following the Pow and flying the fam along as wanted. Property taxes and upkeep on a 2m location could be brutal...not to mention living with all the traffic jams twice a day when everybody and their brother is heading to and from the Mtn. on weekends, holidays and pow days. I've seen traffic backed up and deadlocked the whole 8 miles from I80 in Truckee to Squaw Valley CA...........and on those days your 2m palace feels like a Golden Cage cause your not going anywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted July 19, 2021 Report Share Posted July 19, 2021 On 6/29/2021 at 3:00 PM, Jack M said: Edit - then again... if you love the ocean, Maine is hard to beat. There aren’t many places you can live near the ocean and have one of your favorite mountains a two hour drive away. I think if I removed the ocean from my life I would need to get it back eventually. To the OP, I've also heard good things about Sun Valley, like it has perfect grooming and pitch top to bottom. Did somebody say snowboard and ocean? https://player.vimeo.com/video/236068369/?autoplay=1&muted=false (check at 1:10) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted July 19, 2021 Report Share Posted July 19, 2021 Norway looks awesome! Maybe not what the OP was looking for...no groomer carving in this video, but if you put your $$$ into the schooner you can go wherever you want. https://www.furbergsnowboards.com/news/split-sail-norther-norway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnasmo Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 Vacationed in Norway in 2019. Trondheim to the Lofoten Islands. It's like someone cut off the peaks of Glacier Park and dropped them seaside. Spectacular. But skiing near the Arctic Circle sounds dark. Don't write off Whitefish too fast. 2M can still do it here. Come try it on your way to the MCC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopetool Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 I live in Missoula. That's all I'm need to say...haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weather_nerd Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 I think that SLC is the best choice. Big Cottonwood Canyon has way fewer people than Park City or Little Cottonwood. And then you have Snowbasin and Power Mountain too. Some of the best snow in the world, and $2 million would get you a mansion there! Other ideas: Some of the lesser known resorts in Lake Tahoe would be great. Think Homewood and Mt Rose. Bend, Oregon for Mt Bachelor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardguru Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 I wouldn't recommend Utah. 10 or 20 or more years ago it was awesome here. But after the Winter Olympics in 2002 the word was out. Now everywhere at all of the resorts it's packed. And Epic and Ikon passes have made it even worse. Just my 2 cents with being a local here since 1974, moved here after returning from Vietnam. And began surfing "The Greatest Snow on Earth" in 1976. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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